Communications, Ethics, and Organizational Rhetoric in the 21st century will be much like they were the 20th century, with the exception of rapid changes in the technological means by which print and the sound and image of audio-visual productions will be produced, transmitted, and consumed. The issues will be the same in communications: how messages are shaped to reflect the interests of a given organization and its clients.
In spite of the variety of amazing changes in communications technology that the Digital Revolution has brought to us at an increasingly rapid rate, the same fundamentals apply. Every message has to have simplicity and clarity, and be able to be expressed adequately by the available technological means. Every medium of communications from oral to written to audio-visual has its own strengths and limitations, and one who aspires to communicate in it must master it by extensive practice. A given organization must decide what information will be the content of its messages, what the target audience for its communications will be, and what media to use to reach the audience. The final stage of the process is to assess the effectiveness of the communication.
"Ethics is the branch of axiology û one of the four major branches of philosophy, alongside metaphysics, epistemology, and logic û which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy", says Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/Ethics 2005).
It is hard enough to be a moral person as an individual, no matter what your ethics are. It is much more difficult for an organization - whether governmental, non-profit, religious, educational, commercial, or military - to act in an ethical way. As an organizational communicator you will be morally challenged on a daily basis. Anyone going into this field must be prepared to deal with the ethical i...