This document discusses communication ethics and outlines some key principles and challenges. It addresses why ethics are often not discussed, some basic ethical principles involving motives and outcomes, common ethical dilemmas around secrecy and truth-telling, and how to control information gathering and dissemination as well as develop an ethical organizational culture.

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Communication Ethics
I think that failures in ethics and
integrity here are less excusable than
errors in performance.
- Frank Cary, Former Chairman IBM

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1. Why won’t we talk about it?
 Fear of imposing morality on others
 Not related to the bottom line
 The “it depends” philosophy

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2. Basic Principles
 Ethics can not be avoided
 Ethics involves both motives and results
 Ethics is a matter of:
 who
 what
 when
 where
 why

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3. Ethical Dilemmas
 Secrecy
 Whistleblowing
 Leaks
 Apology
 Rumors & Gossip
 Lying
 Euphemisms
 Ambiguity

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4. Controlling info. use
 What information should be gathered?
 How is the information gathered?
 How is the information disseminated?

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5. Imparting the spirit
 Corporate Culture
 Organizational Policies
 Individual Responsibility
 Discretion
 Relevancy
 Accuracy
 Fairness
 Timing