PURPOSIVE

COMMUNICATION

LESSON 3: Communication Ethics

LESSON 4: Communication in
Multicultural Setting

*Alejo, Cedric John O.

Cacdac, Jeffrey

Ais, Frenzeil Yna

Buranday, Rhea Mae

Calingasan, Jessica

Nuay, Angel

Perlas, Evangelyn
Lesson 3: Communication Ethics
Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, the learner is expected to,

1. Distinguish the guidelines in ethical communication in listening to a
speech on culture
2. Identify mindfulness communication through sound-seeker game.
3. Practice communication Ethics in Social Media

Setting off

Ethics is the study and practice of what is good, right, or virtuous. Ethical
discernment is the ability to recognize ethical issues and make ethical distinctions in
order to formulate judgments about what is good, right or virtuous. In ethical decision
making, an individual uses those judgments to guide his or her decisions about how to
act ethically. (Anderson & Tompkins, 2015)

Communication brings people face to face to messages that require ethical

judgments. They must decide their purpose, position and behavior to understand the
message and choose how to respond to certain situations. Discovering the Ethical
Element in communication does not mean that people go through a complete ethical
inventory every time they engage in communication. Rather, they make basic
assumptions about the nature of people and their responsibilities to them and then act
on the basis of those assumptions.

Ethics in communication affects everyone in communication process; it

challenges issues of honesty and deception. Ethical communication is fundamental to
responsible thinking, decision making, and development of relationship and
communities enhances human worth and respect for self and other.

Kicking Off

Communication in various contexts is dynamic and challenging. The elements of

communication complete the process while ethics proves the purpose of
communication. Hence, communicators should be guided with following attributes that
would shape their ethical communication.

1. Respectful of their audiences. It is said that a speaker with a clear purpose

tries to achieve his/her intended result using communicative techniques to
persuade his/her target audience. In other words, the speaker’s attitude defines
their control towards their audiences. Preferably, ethical communicator must
consider his/her audience inherent decorum and values. Respect for audiences
includes respect for the ideas and feelings of the people in the communication.
2. Considerate of the consequences of their communication. The process of
communication is not always complete and successful because of many
 considerations (e.g. noise, attitude, etc.) such as unethical communications.
Thus, ethical communicators should be influential in the process to fulfill the
purpose of the communication and to understand the message.
3. Truthful. A great deal of ethics of communication involves a respect for truth.
Indeed, as one has put it, the assumption of truth under grinds the very concept
of communication itself. Honesty remains to be indispensable to humans despite
the absence of other moral values. Again, ethical communication involves
honesty and transparency.
4. Efficient in using information. A respect for truth means being informed on a
topic before posing any kind of authority on the subject. Certain professions such
as law, medicine, and education have formal standards of expertise and
knowledge that must be met before one can be a practitioner. Hence,
communicators should be well-prepared in providing information to others in any
occasion. Accurate information is information that is timely, up to date and
applicable to the situation. An ethical speaker may use quotations, facts, ideas,
and figures with proper citation.
5. Watchful on falsified information. Legally, falsifying documents is a type of
white collar crime. It involves altering, changing or modifying a document for the
purpose of deceiving another person. It can also involve the passing along of
copies of documents that are known to be false. The rise of internet and modern
technology makes distortion of information available to everyone. Relatively,
plagiarism is stealing the intellectual property of people in some falsified
documents. It happens when communicators use the words or ideas of another
and fail to credit the original source. For ethical communicators, due credit should
be given to those who deserve to be recognized with their works.
6. Respectful of the rights of others to information. Media is not only the source
of information, but all members of the communication process. An ethical
communicator respects the rights of others in regard to information and access to
information. Experts and professionals should share their knowledge to students
and researchers through seminars, conferences, trainings and conventions.