Future ethical challenges as seen by communication professionals in Finland
Lind, Anna (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120727034
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120727034
Tiivistelmä
Communication ethics has risen in professional discussion and communication research during 2010’s. Ethics in communication is described as “How we do right” concerning consequences to all involved. Values attached to ethical communication are truth, justification and honesty of information, and the questions of duty and consequences for and against communicating.
The Finnish Communication Code of Ethics was published in 2015 by the Council of Ethics for Communication. Similar codes have been published in marketing and journalism, close fields to communication. As communication environment, arenas and tools have changed, the Council decided to gather data for the renewal process of the code.
Main research question in this study was “What kind of ethical challenges communicators expect” in the future and what they have met already. Other questions were how well the Council of Ethics for Communication is known and how the Communication Code of Ethics has been used by communicators. The objective was to collect data for the renewal of the Code.
The empirical part uses case study methods and foresight research tools. Finnish communicators were invited to answer the survey in Finnish and answers of 151 respondents provided a survey data. The survey was open for three weeks in April 2022. The findings consist of expected ethical issues chosen by respondents. The private sector communicators emphasized verifying claims when public sector and NGOS concentrated on dis- and misinformation and information influence. One third of respondents were not members of the constituent organizations of the Council, they were less aware of the code and had used it less.
Open answers revealed other challenges and new phenomena like people entering the communication profession with no common educational background. Communicators alone cannot create ethically sustainable communication: the whole organization must operate ethically and others in the organization must understand ethics. Self-regulating codes are found good, as legislation is be renewed slower than, for example, technological advances are made.
As future recommendation for the Council, the results suggest promoting renewed ethical code beyond constitutional organizations and their members, as ethical communication needs all in an organization to understand ethical requirements of ethically sustainable communication.
The results of the survey show the ethical challenges of communicators have changed even in the fleeting period between establishing the Council of Ethics for Communication in Finland in 2015 and today. The changes in the communication environment are why the question is an important subject to be studied. When we think and analyze future features and factors of change in communications, we also prepare for future changes.
The Finnish Communication Code of Ethics was published in 2015 by the Council of Ethics for Communication. Similar codes have been published in marketing and journalism, close fields to communication. As communication environment, arenas and tools have changed, the Council decided to gather data for the renewal process of the code.
Main research question in this study was “What kind of ethical challenges communicators expect” in the future and what they have met already. Other questions were how well the Council of Ethics for Communication is known and how the Communication Code of Ethics has been used by communicators. The objective was to collect data for the renewal of the Code.
The empirical part uses case study methods and foresight research tools. Finnish communicators were invited to answer the survey in Finnish and answers of 151 respondents provided a survey data. The survey was open for three weeks in April 2022. The findings consist of expected ethical issues chosen by respondents. The private sector communicators emphasized verifying claims when public sector and NGOS concentrated on dis- and misinformation and information influence. One third of respondents were not members of the constituent organizations of the Council, they were less aware of the code and had used it less.
Open answers revealed other challenges and new phenomena like people entering the communication profession with no common educational background. Communicators alone cannot create ethically sustainable communication: the whole organization must operate ethically and others in the organization must understand ethics. Self-regulating codes are found good, as legislation is be renewed slower than, for example, technological advances are made.
As future recommendation for the Council, the results suggest promoting renewed ethical code beyond constitutional organizations and their members, as ethical communication needs all in an organization to understand ethical requirements of ethically sustainable communication.
The results of the survey show the ethical challenges of communicators have changed even in the fleeting period between establishing the Council of Ethics for Communication in Finland in 2015 and today. The changes in the communication environment are why the question is an important subject to be studied. When we think and analyze future features and factors of change in communications, we also prepare for future changes.