#EthicsMatter in the era of moral economy
Communications ethics taps into the core strategic purpose of our profession - to build and maintain trust across key stakeholders. Over the recent years, we have seen extraordinary world events – the turmoil caused by the pandemic and the geopolitical tensions, along with the increased use of innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) – bringing new considerations on ethics and challenging the trust.
During the #EthicsMonth 2023, we have discussed and shared experiences on the dilemmas concerning ethics in our daily work as professional communicators. We have tapped into emotions and how those impact the interpretation of the messages for instance in a crisis, we have explored how trust and reputation of enterprises and public sector organizations have evolved during the past years as well as elaborated on the new role of enterprises in this context.
According to the global Edelman Trust Barometer 2023 – we as citizens and consumers - expect companies to take an active role in overall development of our societies and take a firm stance on issues even outside their core business. Times are gone when companies could stay neutral e.g., regarding discrimination or on geopolitical issues. In fact, the neutral zone for companies has been shrinking significantly – which on the other hand, also enables differentiation through corporate activism. The acronym VUCA – V for Volatile, U for Uncertain, C for Complex and A for Ambiguous – well describes our current business environment. Organizations need to take an active role in navigating in this new normal and define their own future - built on their values and ethical principles.
For communications professionals this means new approaches; new ways to address the challenges and build trust under the context of radical transparency enabled by social media and other digital platforms. Building trust today is increasingly about inviting everyone to join the dialogue - allowing multiple voices and engaging stakeholders in a continuous open conversation.
My sincere thank you to all contributors to the EthicsMonth 2023 activities and content creation. Let us continue sharing our learnings, advancing responsible communications as we further explore the era of moral economy!
Yours,
Kia Haring
Director, Ethics & Standards
Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management