Geez, is the semester over already? It feels like just yesterday that I was dreading coming into this class. I know that seems harsh, but to someone who considers herself to be extremely conscientious, a mandatory course in ethics can initially seem pointless. But I have to say that by the end of it all, this class proved to be indeed valuable, and I am thankful that I was forced to take it.
I had taken a course in philosophical ethics back in junior college in 2006, so I was familiar with most of the ethical theories (however, considering the time lapse, a refresher didn’t hurt). In that class we mostly applied these theories to general life situations, which made for some very interesting class debates when we got to topics like assisted suicide and homosexuality. Although in this class the situations to which we applied the theories were more professional, I feel that this kind of study seems more real in the fact that many of the cases we examined will be similar to experiences I will encounter in the real world as an advertiser.
I learned, much to my dismay, that a lot more unethical, underhanded behavior occurs in the communications industries today than I would have imagined. This was a bit disheartening, and I hope that I do not someday work for a company that makes some of the more heartless decisions that we have discussed. While most of the cases we looked at were issues of tremendous impact, I know that at the very least, there will be issues of a smaller scale that I will encounter everyday in my professional pursuits. As we joked about in class, I will probably never sit down and make out a Potter’s Box to assess all the facets of the situation, but being familiar with the different methods of ethical evaluation will prove useful in making a decision in which I will be confident.
I learned quite a bit form the coursework, too. Although there were times that the case studies seemed like an absolute nightmare, this kind of group writing taught me a lot (mostly that people can’t write). I feel that a group paper is one of the hardest things to do and even harder to do well. Depending on so many different people with different schedules and work habits was nerve-racking at times, but it was satisfying to get all of our ideas together in a cohesive manner in the end. Since I will be starting graduate classes in journalism next spring, it was good practice to write with others and spend hours editing my brains out.
I have also enjoyed writing these blogs. I firmly believe that to be able to write conversationally is an important skill to have, and these assignments provided some great practice for just that. While I write my own personal blogs about the craziness behind the service industry and weekly write blog entries for the web development agency for which I work, I liked creating work that was actually graded. This constructive criticism has really helped me to become more aware of some of my more common mistakes, and I truly hope to continue to grow and improve as a writer (thus the grad school immediately following graduation). I enjoyed the challenge of writing in an attempt to meet the rigid standards and from this, have truly learned a good deal about writing just in the course of this class.
As droning as the legal stuff towards the end of this semester seemed, there was much with which I was not familiar. Not only did I learn a lot by studying the legal aspects we examined in class, I also learned that there is much more for me to learn in order to be well versed in the industry regulations by which I will have to abide. In order to move forward, one must understand the past, and these regulations are in place because of past mistakes and abuses of freedom. To ensure that I do not unknowingly repeat these mistakes, I now realize that I need to thoroughly understand the legal implications of advertising. I want to work in a way that is not only ethical, but also legal. I would hate to one day be in the midst of a crisis like one of those presented in class simply because of uninformed negligence.
As the industry faces a new set of challenges ushered in by the Digital Age and the rise of social media, the rules of privacy, slander and libel are forced to quickly evolve to regulate the relatively new online world. This creates a whole new realm of ethical dilemmas, and as a part of the new generation of communications professionals, I will help in shaping the future of this budding medium. I feel that the knowledge I have acquired in this class has prepared me to direct this medium in a positive direction.
While this course sometimes proved stressful, looking back I see that I have truly learned from it in a way that will make me a better and more ethical advertiser. Maybe I just will make a Potter’s Box at work sometime in the future, who knows?
I had taken a course in philosophical ethics back in junior college in 2006, so I was familiar with most of the ethical theories (however, considering the time lapse, a refresher didn’t hurt). In that class we mostly applied these theories to general life situations, which made for some very interesting class debates when we got to topics like assisted suicide and homosexuality. Although in this class the situations to which we applied the theories were more professional, I feel that this kind of study seems more real in the fact that many of the cases we examined will be similar to experiences I will encounter in the real world as an advertiser.
I learned, much to my dismay, that a lot more unethical, underhanded behavior occurs in the communications industries today than I would have imagined. This was a bit disheartening, and I hope that I do not someday work for a company that makes some of the more heartless decisions that we have discussed. While most of the cases we looked at were issues of tremendous impact, I know that at the very least, there will be issues of a smaller scale that I will encounter everyday in my professional pursuits. As we joked about in class, I will probably never sit down and make out a Potter’s Box to assess all the facets of the situation, but being familiar with the different methods of ethical evaluation will prove useful in making a decision in which I will be confident.
I learned quite a bit form the coursework, too. Although there were times that the case studies seemed like an absolute nightmare, this kind of group writing taught me a lot (mostly that people can’t write). I feel that a group paper is one of the hardest things to do and even harder to do well. Depending on so many different people with different schedules and work habits was nerve-racking at times, but it was satisfying to get all of our ideas together in a cohesive manner in the end. Since I will be starting graduate classes in journalism next spring, it was good practice to write with others and spend hours editing my brains out.
I have also enjoyed writing these blogs. I firmly believe that to be able to write conversationally is an important skill to have, and these assignments provided some great practice for just that. While I write my own personal blogs about the craziness behind the service industry and weekly write blog entries for the web development agency for which I work, I liked creating work that was actually graded. This constructive criticism has really helped me to become more aware of some of my more common mistakes, and I truly hope to continue to grow and improve as a writer (thus the grad school immediately following graduation). I enjoyed the challenge of writing in an attempt to meet the rigid standards and from this, have truly learned a good deal about writing just in the course of this class.
As droning as the legal stuff towards the end of this semester seemed, there was much with which I was not familiar. Not only did I learn a lot by studying the legal aspects we examined in class, I also learned that there is much more for me to learn in order to be well versed in the industry regulations by which I will have to abide. In order to move forward, one must understand the past, and these regulations are in place because of past mistakes and abuses of freedom. To ensure that I do not unknowingly repeat these mistakes, I now realize that I need to thoroughly understand the legal implications of advertising. I want to work in a way that is not only ethical, but also legal. I would hate to one day be in the midst of a crisis like one of those presented in class simply because of uninformed negligence.
As the industry faces a new set of challenges ushered in by the Digital Age and the rise of social media, the rules of privacy, slander and libel are forced to quickly evolve to regulate the relatively new online world. This creates a whole new realm of ethical dilemmas, and as a part of the new generation of communications professionals, I will help in shaping the future of this budding medium. I feel that the knowledge I have acquired in this class has prepared me to direct this medium in a positive direction.
While this course sometimes proved stressful, looking back I see that I have truly learned from it in a way that will make me a better and more ethical advertiser. Maybe I just will make a Potter’s Box at work sometime in the future, who knows?
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