Content area
Full Text
Editorial
While most people accept that communication practitioners are there to present `their side' of the story for their organisations, the ethics of communication have rarely come under such scrutiny before. Indeed, the level of cynicism is such that in some parts of the world, ethical communication by organisations is regarded as an almost oxymoronic statement.
At the time of going to press the controversy rages as to whether the British and American public were 'spun' the truth over the danger posed by Iraq. Political communicators are criticised regularly for their actions, none more so than Jo Moore, Adviser to the then UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, who advised her colleagues to bury any bad news on 11th September, 2001.
In the business world too, there is increasing criticism of corporate communicators who attempt to justify actions by organisations that are clearly not in the public interest. Accusations of greenwashing and highly instrumental corporate social responsibility programmes abound and although those activities may rightly be regarded as organisational flaws rather than those of the communicator per se, the professional communicator is deeply implicated as being either party to the organisational decision making or the defender of the indefensible.
Of course it is easy to get things out of perspective. For every ethically suspect communication there are many more that are prompted by a deep commitment to engage in genuine dialogue, to build relations of trust based on truth and integrity, and that play a positive role in building communities and a society that are supportive of all their shareholders, not just those with power and voice.
But it is the failures in ethical communications that are focused on, especially by the media, and unfortunately much of the legitimate work performed by highly professional communicators goes unnoticed....