By Sheeva Azma
One way to communicate more ethically is to educate yourself about unethical communication. Learn more by reading these answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about unethical communication.
Fancy Comma’s dual mission includes providing science communication services as well as mentoring and training aspiring communicators. As the founder of Fancy Comma, I am trained in a variety of overlapping subfields of communications including science communication (SciComm), crisis communications, strategic communications, and more. I have also crafted political communications for two winning US Senate campaigns. Through my work, I have come to understand the importance of ethical communication. The best part about ethical communication is that it can be used as a force for good in the world. A first step to understanding communication ethics is to know about what’s not ethical in the communications world.
At Fancy Comma, we’ve previously written about unethical communication and given some examples of unethical communication from science. In this post, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about unethical communication.
Navigate to a specific question in the list:
What is unethical communication?
What does unethical communication mean?
What is an example of unethical communication?
What are the types of unethical communication?
Where does unethical communication happen?
What does unethical communication look like in different contexts?
What are the consequences of unethical communication?
How does one respond to unethical communication?
How does one prevent unethical communication?
How can I overcome unethical communication?
How can one handle unethical communication in an organization?
Work with the Ethical Communicators of Fancy Comma, LLC
What is unethical communication?
Unethical communication refers to communication that does not adhere to the ethical standards needed for effective, clear, truthful, and free communication. Unethical communication seeks to deceive, promote misinformation, or slander. Unethical behavior in communication can also include actions such as plagiarism which go against ethical standards. Unethical communication behavior can also include any communications hindering civil or political rights, such as freedoms of speech or religion.
What does unethical communication mean?
Unethical communication means communication that fails to be ethical, either accidentally or on purpose. Unethical communication can be thought of as the flipside of ethical communication, defined by Wikipedia as “how a person uses language, media, and journalism and creates relationships guided by an individual’s morals and values.” Ethics in communication involves being aware of ways that one’s communication behavior may lead to consequences, as well as respecting disagreement and others’ points of view.
What is an example of unethical communication?
As we’ve blogged, “Examples of destructive unethical communications include unwarranted attacks, vicious criticisms, or unethical use of harmful information.” We’ve also talked about examples of unethical communication in the scientific enterprise – you can read that here.
High-stakes, high-impact communicator Goran Tomsic gave several examples of unethical communication on Quora. They include:
- Talking about outcomes that you know are unrealistic in marketing communications (Tomsic cites, as an example, a “get rich quick” scheme)
- Misrepresenting facts to potential investors as a business owner (for example, Tomsic relates, saying you have 100 million in revenue when it’s closer to 10 million)
- Paying for biased research, then using those results to promote products that are harmful to people.
- Sharing information you promised to keep private.
- Spreading lies about a political candidate in an effort to make them lose their political race.
What are the types of unethical communication?
W.C. Redding is widely acknowledged as the father of organizational communication. In 1996, he published an academic article in which he called on organizations to communicate more ethically. In the article, he also described six different forms of unethical communication. They are: destructive, coercive, manipulative-exploitative, deceptive, secretive, and intrusive communication. Learn more about Redding’s six types of unethical communication here.
Where does unethical communication happen?
Unethical communication behavior can occur in many different organizational contexts: examples include in school, on social media, in the workplace, in corporate and business settings, and in marketing.
What does unethical communication look like in different contexts?
Below we list a few examples of unethical communication in each context. Keep in mind that these examples are not meant to be an exhaustive list of types of unethical communication in each context.
In school, one example of unethical communication behavior is plagiarism: using another’s writing without attributing it to them.
On social media, unethical communication can include promoting misinformation, attempting to slander others on the site, making threats to people, and deliberately seeking to mislead people.
In the workplace, employees engage in unethical communication when they are “spreading rumors, talking behind someone’s back, discussing a customer’s financial or personal information with someone outside the company, or relaying information that was given in confidence – all examples of unethical communication in business – can sometimes be legal violations, too,” writes Jayne Thompson for Chron. One’s superiors at a company can also engage in unethical communication through lying to employees and discrimination. according to Valde and Henningsen’s 2015 article in the International Journal of Business Communication, these two subtypes of unethical communication are actually quite common forms of workplace abuse. What’s more, the two researchers argue, “pressures to conform, impersonal systems, hierarchy, and the complexities of organizational life” make unethical behavior widespread in the workplace.
Companies that communicate unethically to their stakeholders, including their customers, can face consequences such as loss of trust in the company and a worse corporate image, translating to reduced revenue, and even bankruptcy, depending on the severity of the unethical communications behavior.
What are the consequences of unethical communication?
Unethical communication can have a number of consequences, including: reducing trust between the unethical communicator and other parties; legal action (for example, due to libel and slanderous communications); a loss of clients and revenue for businesses which communicate ethically; and worse.
In terms of corporate communications – and specifically, messages communicated “officially” to the public from a corporate organization – unethical communications behavior can derail one’s corporate image, let alone the business itself. That’s what LHT Learning argues in their article, “How Unethical Communication Can Destroy Your Business.” In the article, LHT Learning, themselves corporate communications trainers, delve into a case study of the large and now bankrupt pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharmaceuticals. The article talks about the ways that the company’s unethical communication directly led to its downfall.
How does one respond to unethical communication?
Once you have identified unethical communication, the next steps vary depending on whether you are the audience of the communication or the person who created the message. If you are the person communicating unethically, learning about your behavior and ways to communicate more ethically can be a good first step. If you are the recipient of unethical communication and you realize it – congrats! Not everyone is so lucky.
Responding to unethical communication is tricky and depends on the context. Valde and Henningsen, in a 2015 article in the International Journal of Business Communication. They examined various strategies guided by politeness theory, which focuses on the idea of being able to “save face” in a social communication interaction. Politeness theory involves affirming the other party’s self-esteem and value when communicating with them.
Valde and Henningsen tested three approaches to dealing with unethical communication, all grounded in politeness theory. They found that the type of unethical communication influenced the type of response needed. Therefore, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with unethical communication. It is important to consider responses to unethical communication on a case-by-case basis.
How does one prevent unethical communication?
One way to prevent unethical communication is to familiarize yourself with the six main types, so you can learn to recognize unethical communication quickly and deal with it rapidly.
What’s more, preventing unethical communication from happening is the best way to avoid all of the pitfalls of dealing with the fallout of a miscommunication or unethical communications crisis. If you are a communicator, consider crisis communications training so that you can use your work to prevent the next communications crisis before it happens. I recommend the crisis communications online courses from Warren Weeks.
How can I overcome unethical communication?
The best way to overcome unethical communication is to prevent it. Once unethical communication has happened, dealing with it is much more complex and may even need the help of a trusted communications expert. As science communicators trained in the crisis communications space, Fancy Comma can help – please get in touch.
Prevent unethical communication before it happens. Familiarize yourself with the six different types of unethical communications behavior and read our other unethical communications blogs. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about unethical communication.
How can one handle unethical communication in an organization?
The answer to this question depends on the specific circumstance. For example, if you are a company dealing with the fallout from unethical marketing practices, you may need to hire a seasoned marketer and/or crisis communicator to pick up the pieces. (By the way, Fancy Comma, LLC offers crisis comms-informed marketing – get in touch to see how we can help you.)
On the other hand, if your unethical communication behavior involves discrimination or abuse at work, reporting the behavior and even legal action may be the best option. It all depends on the specific circumstance. Fancy Comma, LLC can help people and organizations communicate more ethically and generally better, but we are not lawyers or organizational psychologists.
That said, the best way to handle unethical communication is to prevent it – by educating oneself about it to prevent it from happening. If unethical communication is a concern for you, you can read all of our articles on unethical communication to be more informed. You can also subscribe to the Fancy Comma blog to stay updated on best practices for communicating ethically and effectively.
Work with the Ethical Communicators of Fancy Comma, LLC
Fancy Comma has a dual mission as a boutique science communications (SciComm) company that also provides SciComm mentoring and training. Fancy Comma’s Sheeva Azma is trained in crisis communications, has written a book on public relations in SciComm (check out all of our books here!), and also works as a strategic and political communicator. Learn about our SciComm mentoring and training services, or visit our services page to see all the ways we can help you in science communication. Feel free to contact us to ask about how we can help you!
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