The Ethical Importance Of a "Call to Action" When Audiences Face a Hard Truth

Alli B. Westbrook

aw263116@ohio.edu

In an era that has an abundance of media and information the call to action puts power back into the hands of the audience. It can be exceptionally necessary to include when the audience faces a hard truth.

The world is full of topics that are difficult to digest. Yet the norm is, to be productive citizens we must seek them out. This seeking of information can become a positive long-term process that expands well beyond the act of reading the article because the audience is given the tools and information needed to effectively engage in discourse. The call to action only heightens the audiences ability to engage. 

Even when one actively tries to seek space from the media it seems to find them. Some prevalent, almost unavoidable issues are global warming, Covid-19, systematic racism, and war. All of the above paired with the current mistrust of media causes many to feel uncertain about the future as they scrutinize what roles the issues above play within their own live. 

This self-reflective scrutiny without a positive outlet or guidance can be negative for ones mental health. Which is why, despite the uncertainty media is more important now than ever. The ethical importance of a call to action as an outlet for the audience is especially critical during an election time when we as a nation face two global crises. Pro-social calls to action have an understated influence, they can be as simple as "support this local artist" or "engage in this behavior". The last few month have made it clear that a call to action can change and save lives.

From a P.R. and advertising standpoint social marketing has saved countless lives. "Masking up" was encouraged throughout the Midwest in response to Covid-19 as the World Health Organization called upon solidarity (WHO, 2020). This pulls from the PRSSA ethics codes of Advocacy and Expertise.

Those who have the expertise, know the ethical obligation they carry to actively serve in the publics best interest and advocate. Which allowed information surrounding Covid-19 to flood the market in a pro-social way. The faces and names of the lives saved are invisible, and the things we have given up from altering our behavior is very tangible. But at the end of the day society as a whole has benefited from social marketing and the calls to action that came with it. 

The black lives matter movement (like all great movements before it) has caused an expansion of art. The call to action became focused on supporting Black communities and culture. With the strategic use of social media, the allocation of funds and positive attention were being channeled directly into the hands of up and coming artists. 

Soon the journalist followed which allowed for a wider scale of national support. Artists like Ciara LeRoy,     saw her follower count increase by the thousands, especially after Insider magazine featured her art because of the way her designs spoke to the nation about black female femininity in a time of stark uncertainty. 

Picture source: Insider & @Prettystrangedesign/Instragram

                                                

The power of smart consumerism was used to positively impact the careers of many artists in a life changing way. This is because of the calls to action that were promoted throughout various forms of media in response to systematic racism. The call to actions empowered the audience as well as an intangible number of individuals whose lives are forever changed and positively impacted. The call to action allows our society to not be defined by inherent negatives.