Committing to Ethical and Legal Communication (17-25)

Being that this is my first blog I would like to focus on the ethical and legal concerns associated with creating and publishing this form of communication.

As stated in the textbook, Business Communication Today, “Any groups affected by a company’s decisions now have tools to give voice to their opinions and needs, and companies have many more conversational threads that need to be monitored and managed” (Bovée and Thill). A prime example of a conversational thread being utilized by companies is a blog. Blogs are a great way for companies to interact with their customers and other readers via the Internet. Not only do blogs support an informal means of communication, they allow readers to participate and comment in the conversation initiated by the company. However, when employing a blog site one must be cautious of the ethical guidelines required by the company and legal regulations bound to any form of communication.

To ensure ethical communication, one must first understand what their employers have deemed ethical and/or unethical. To assist with this overall question, businesses have established a code of ethics. Unless those in executive positions follow the code of ethics, lower level employees will not feel obligated to communicate or act ethically either. In regards to writing a blog, one must ask themselves a series of questions before posting their write-up. For example, and as stated in Business Communication Today, “Will the message achieve the greatest possible good while doing the least possible harm” (Bovée and Thill)? Or in other words, is what you are posting beneficial to the company whom you are posting for, or will the post negatively affect the audience and the company?

Furthermore, in addition to the ethical aspects of communication and blogging come the legal implications associated with any form of writing. One particular area that bloggers must be cautious of is law concerning intellectual property such as patents and copyrighted material. Using another’s work requires citation and without the proper form of credit, legal actions will be taken. Blogging creates a relaxed and comfortable environment for writers, however one must always give credit where credit is due.

Lastly, my question to you, as bloggers and active readers, is what actions can you take in the future to always ensure ethical and legal communication?

Reference:

Bovée, Courtland L., and John V. Thill. "Achieving Success Through Effective Business Communication." Business Communication Today. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2014. 17-25. Print.