Blog Post 2: Codes, Procedures, and Standards In Communication Ethics

The idea of codes, procedures and standards in the context of communication ethics is important to discuss. This concept is one of the six total theoretical ways of understanding communication ethics as listed in the beginning of chapter three- Approaches to Communication Ethics: The Pragmatic Good of Theory. Standards are difficult to set because everyone has a slightly different set of experiences or views about something which may lead them to find certain topics or behaviors more or less sensitive, respectful, offensive, etc. than others. 

When talking on the corporate scale, for example, how do you begin to set equal and representative standards of ethical communication? Codes, procedures and standards aim to set the criteria for a corporation, creating a guideline for what is considered ethical, measuring each individual situation against a controlled model of conduct. When codes, procedures and standards are in place, they regulate the expectations for moral and appropriate behavior. 

An example that demonstrates the value of codes, procedures and standards can be seen in an American reality television show, Survivor. This idea serves as an example here, not because they have a solid criterion of ethical communication, but rather the complete opposite. Survivor is a show that is largely based on social strategy. Each player has varying opinions about what is considered moral, and how important the determined morality is in deciding whether to carry out a behavior or not (like voting off an ally, someone you swore to stand by in the game). 

Some of the items listed in the textbook as "responsible behaviors" in the context of codes and standards are: integrity, fairness, social/professional responsibility, confidentiality, respect for self and others. In Survivor, if there was a standard and expectation that you are loyal and honest to others, that you vote people off based on merit and not based on strategy, and that you do not disclose information to others that is told to you in private, most people on the show would be in a lot of trouble. Since there are no standards of communication ethics on Survivor, you can play the game however you want, and with as much or as little ethical communication as you want. 

    References:

ARNETT, RONALD C. COMMUNICATION ETHICS LITERACY: Dialogue and Difference. KENDALL HUNT, 2017.