Ethics in the Age of Mobile Media Messages

The Strategic Communication ethics codes are written very purposefully. However, I don’t think everyone in the communications field is bothering to read them. I believe some newsrooms don’t do their due diligence, and once that has been discovered, take very little accountability for it. For example, a journalist should adhere to loyalty, fairness, independence, honesty, and advocacy practices. However, I do not see a lot of advocating for the actual public interest. There seems to be an ulterior motive or separate agenda for most major national news programs. Now, they are capable of spreading their ideologies much faster thanks to social media. Another code that I think is overlooked stronger thanks to social media and mobile information is the honesty value. At this point in time, information spreads faster than it ever has before; courtesy of social media-- you can learn more about this phenomenon here: https://ualr.edu/socialchange/2017/03/01/blog-riddle-social-media/  It reminds me of the saying, “a lie can travel the world three times before the truth even has its shoes on”. I have seen the media manipulate the truth and bend it just enough to suit their narrative and agenda. I think this shows when we switch between two articles and see the same story told differently. This seems to be the case regardless of the platform. 

Cartoon about social media advertising by Bok Bluster

Outside of the news, advertisers seem to play a major role in the manipulation of the public. I have noticed a strong correlation between advertisements and politics—which is unsettling. Here is a good article about ethical marketing on social media:https://socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/4-layers-of-ethics-insocialmediamarketing/#:~:text=Social%20media%20marketing%20should%20be,the%20company's%20reputation%20over%20time.  Right now, we are seeing a plethora of public relations nightmares in the media—from allegations of infidelity, racism, and sex trafficking among Hollywood’s elite, it is hard to tell if all of the responses have been ethical. An interesting aspect of the PRSA Code of Ethics is the value of loyalty to their clients while also serving the public interest. I’m not sure that these things actually correlate. If this were the case, there would be a lot more honesty in the clients’ responses to any and all allegations. However, because of the quote I used earlier, “a lie can travel around the world three times before the truth even has its shoes on” public relations is a very necessary field. I just wish we saw more from them than just cleaning up the messes of their clients.