Chapter 5: Ethics
Learning Objectives
- Explain the three levels of the ethics pyramid and how they might be used in evaluating the ethical choices of a public speaker or listener.
- Apply the National Communication Association (NCA) Credo for Ethical Communication to the context of public speaking.
- Apply ethics to your public speaking preparation process.
- Describe free speech as outlined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution and how free speech relates to other guaranteed freedoms.
- Discuss patterns of media ownership, the relationship of media and globalization, and the effects of diversity (or lack thereof) or media representations.
- Employ media-literacy skills to evaluate media messages.
Key Terms
prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly
occurs when someone purposefully twists information in a way that detracts from its original meaning
those outcomes that you desire to achieve
developed by Elspeth Tilley; involved three basic concepts: intent, means and ends
according to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law, free speech entails “the right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations (as the power of the government to avoid a clear and present danger) esp. as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution” (Freedom of speech)
a complex system of interconnecting structural and cultural forces that aid the spread of ideas and technologies and influence the social and economic organization of societies
a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships
to be an ethical listener or speaker, one must begin with ethical intentions; for example, if we agree that honesty is ethical, it follows that ethical speakers will prepare their remarks with the intention of telling the truth to their audiences
the tools or behaviors we employ to achieve a desired outcome
refers to the merging of technologies that were previously developed and used separately
the domination of other countries through exported media and the values and ideologies they contain
involves our ability to critique and analyze the potential impact of the media
using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit
a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
claims that media portrayals influence our development of schemata or scripts, especially as children, about different groups of people
prejudice or discrimination based on sex
