ethics of digital communication
BY SORIN NASTASIA, NEWSLETTER EDITOR
On October 28, 2022, a man fraudulently entered the San Francisco home of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, hit the political leader’s 82 years old husband in the head with a hammer multiple times, and repeatedly shouted, “Where’s Nancy?” The question had also been yelled on the hallways of Congress during the January 6 insurrection in 2020.
The perpetrator had a highly active social media presence, posting about the QAnon and the stolen elections conspiracy theories and making racist and misogynistic comments. In the past two decades, he had shifted from propagating 9/11 conspiracy theories to undergoing the extreme right radicalization which led to the violent attack on Paul Pelosi.
Students in my undergraduate as well as graduate courses that I teach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville had numerous questions regarding the ways in which this case is linked to ethics in communication. How does disinformation become so powerful as to contribute to political radicalization? How can government representatives and entities as well as media and social media venues curb disinformation while also remaining mindful of freedom of expression? How can we all contribute to public spaces and online spaces in which the reliability of the news is maintained while civil engagement is also fostered?
In the submissions to the 2023 AEJMC conference, many of us will address such questions and examine the negative impact of the spread of fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories on individuals and communities.
At AEJMC conferences and in additional academic, professional, and community settings, many faculty teaching communication ethics courses and pursuing communication ethics research offer recommendations on strategies for improving the quality of public discourse as well as policies needed to increase the accuracy of publicly available information. We make such recommendations primarily with the hope that better strategies and policies will contribute to a sounder and healthier communication ecosystem, one in which attacks due to misinformation and radicalization - such as the attack at the Pelosi residence in San Francisco in October, 2022 or on the U.S. Congress on January 6, 2020 - will never occur again.
As you teach your courses, prepare your presentations and publications, and engage in service during this fall semester, please continue with the important work of addressing questions that students, alumni, professionals, and those in the broader community might have about the links between violent rhetoric and violent action and the means to prevent and stop both of these forms of violence.
In this issue of the MED newsletter, you will read articles by the division’s leadership on how communication education, media literacy, and ethical thinking as a research practice have potential to contribute to the detoxification of the public communication climate. Please feel free to reach out with information about your activities and activities at your universities pertaining to ethics in communication and media, particularly for inclusion in the next issues of the newsletter.
The perpetrator had a highly active social media presence, posting about the QAnon and the stolen elections conspiracy theories and making racist and misogynistic comments. In the past two decades, he had shifted from propagating 9/11 conspiracy theories to undergoing the extreme right radicalization which led to the violent attack on Paul Pelosi.
Students in my undergraduate as well as graduate courses that I teach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville had numerous questions regarding the ways in which this case is linked to ethics in communication. How does disinformation become so powerful as to contribute to political radicalization? How can government representatives and entities as well as media and social media venues curb disinformation while also remaining mindful of freedom of expression? How can we all contribute to public spaces and online spaces in which the reliability of the news is maintained while civil engagement is also fostered?
In the submissions to the 2023 AEJMC conference, many of us will address such questions and examine the negative impact of the spread of fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories on individuals and communities.
At AEJMC conferences and in additional academic, professional, and community settings, many faculty teaching communication ethics courses and pursuing communication ethics research offer recommendations on strategies for improving the quality of public discourse as well as policies needed to increase the accuracy of publicly available information. We make such recommendations primarily with the hope that better strategies and policies will contribute to a sounder and healthier communication ecosystem, one in which attacks due to misinformation and radicalization - such as the attack at the Pelosi residence in San Francisco in October, 2022 or on the U.S. Congress on January 6, 2020 - will never occur again.
As you teach your courses, prepare your presentations and publications, and engage in service during this fall semester, please continue with the important work of addressing questions that students, alumni, professionals, and those in the broader community might have about the links between violent rhetoric and violent action and the means to prevent and stop both of these forms of violence.
In this issue of the MED newsletter, you will read articles by the division’s leadership on how communication education, media literacy, and ethical thinking as a research practice have potential to contribute to the detoxification of the public communication climate. Please feel free to reach out with information about your activities and activities at your universities pertaining to ethics in communication and media, particularly for inclusion in the next issues of the newsletter.
