MonCAS

Monkayo College of Arts, Sciences and

Technology

MIDTERM
Answer Sheet 2
COMMUNICATION ETHICS
Learning Objectives:

1. know how to communicate in an ethical manner; and

2. apply these ethical principles to their communication process.

Activity (Getting to Ethics)

Read the article below entitled ‘What is Ethics’ written by: Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre,
Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer. Take note of all the important points discussed in the said
article.

What is Ethics?

Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer
Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights,
obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

Some years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, "What does ethics mean to you?" Among their replies were
the following:

"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong."

"Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs."

"Being ethical is doing what the law requires."

"Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts."

"I don't know what the word means."

These replies might be typical of our own. The meaning of "ethics" is hard to pin down, and the views many people have about
ethics are shaky.

Like Baumhart's first respondent, many people tend to equate ethics with their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of
following one's feelings. A person following his or her feelings may recoil from doing what is right. In fact, feelings frequently
deviate from what is ethical.

Nor should one identify ethics with religion. Most religions, of course, advocate high ethical standards. Yet if ethics were confined
to religion, then ethics would apply only to religious people. But ethics applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of
the devout religious person. Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical behavior. Ethics,
however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as religion.

Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens
subscribe. But laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. Our own pre-Civil War slavery laws and the old apartheid laws of
present-day South Africa are grotesquely obvious examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical
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Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens
subscribe. But laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. Our own pre-Civil War slavery laws and the old apartheid laws of
present-day South Africa are grotesquely obvious examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical.

Finally, being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever society accepts." In any society, most people accept standards that are, in
fact, ethical. But standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire society can become ethically corrupt.
Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society.

Moreover, if being ethical were doing "whatever society accepts," then to find out what is ethical, one would have to find out what
society accepts. To decide what I should think about abortion, for example, I would have to take a survey of American society and
then conform my beliefs to whatever society accepts. But no one ever tries to decide an ethical issue by doing a survey. Further,
the lack of social consensus on many issues makes it impossible to equate ethics with whatever society accepts. Some people
accept abortion but many others do not. If being ethical were doing whatever society accepts, one would have to find an
agreement on issues which does not, in fact, exist.

What, then, is ethics? Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example,
refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include
standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are
adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social
norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable
and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and
striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.

This article appeared originally in Issues in Ethics IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987). Revised in 2010.

Jan 1, 2010

(Source: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/what-is-ethics)

Abstraction

Communication Ethics
“Ethical communication is fundamental to responsible thinking, decision-making, and the development
of relationships and communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media. Moreover,
ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness,
responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and others. We believe that unethical
communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well-being of
individuals and the society in which we live.” US National Communication Association (NCA, 1999),
Credo for Ethical Communication

The US National Communication Association Credo for Ethical

Communication

1. First Credo
“Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of
communication” (NCA, 1999)
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Nowadays, social media and speeches in public have been so filled with black propaganda and
whitewashing that there is a call to reiterate the need for truth and honesty. It is important to be
accurate when we communicate, and to have facts and figures to prove our assertions, it is important to
be reasonable, rather than to be too emotional or threatening when we communicate.

2. Second Credo
“Freedom of expression, diversity or perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the
informed and responsible decision-making fundamental to a civil society” (NCA, 1999)

In certain political climates, people may feel threatened to the point that they no longer feel
that it is safe to express what they feel or think. This is not a good environment to live in. We fully agree
with NCA that to have a vibrant democracy, we must be able to hear different perspectives and have a
high tolerance for views that are different from ours. It is important to foster environment where people
feel safe enough to express what they think and feel, and for these expressions to be met with
reasonable dialogue and debate, rather than outright censure or violence.

3. Third Credo
“Condemn communication that degrades individuals, and humanity through distortion,
intimidation, coercion, and violence, and through the expression of intolerance and hatred” (NCA, 1999)

This condemnation is important because it safeguards society from racism, sexism, and violence
against oppressed peoples. History has shown us that a tolerance for hate speech, as well as speeches
that incite violence and the act of killing, have often instituted such violence in society, whether this is in
the context of slavery, colonialism, or misogyny.

4. Fourth Credo
“Accept responsibility for the short-term and long-term consequences of our own
communication and expect the same of others.” (NCA, 1999)

All too often, there have been people who do not feel accountable for their actions. Therefore, if
one risks to communicate maliciously, spread false news, or incite hatred or violence, he or she should
be ready to face the consequences of such actions. States are beginning to realize this, especially in the
porous medium of social media.

Reference: Uychoco, Marikit Tara A & Santos, Maria Lorena (2018). Purposive Communication. Manila.
Rex Bookstore Inc. (2018)

(Read Lesson 2: Communication Ethics, pages 10 to 12 to the get the full lesson)

Analysis

TASK 1: Answer the following questions:

1. For you what is “Freedom of Speech”?

2. Why we need to condemn and filter communication?

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3. When to speak and when to listen? How important is this to build communication?

4. As student, how to build Communication Ethics?

Application

TASK 2: A Picture That Tells A Thousand Words

Take a picture (you need be in the picture) without a caption or text (pure picture of you). Explain how
the knowledge of the communication ethics is important to the speaker and the audience and talks
about Communication Ethics.

Sample:

Explanation:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________.