Five Questions about Ethics in Political Communication: Steve Johnston

Steve Johnston is the COO of FlexPoint Media, an audience-centric advertising agency dedicated to helping campaigns, causes, and companies shape public opinion. Prior to joining FlexPoint, he was a member of Google’s Elections Team where he drove the adoption of digital advertising during the 2016 Election. Before his time at Google, Steve directed the digital marketing for Senator Dan Sullivan’s winning Senate campaign in 2014, developed digital strategy for Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and worked on Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Steve also co-founded GovPredict, a startup that received investment from Y Combinator and went on to be acquired by Phone2Action. He was named to Campaigns & Elections Magazine's 2016 "Rising Stars" and the American Association of Political Consultants' 2017 “40 Under 40” list. Steve earned an MBA in Marketing and Operations Management from Wharton and an AB in Government from Harvard. @StevenEJohnston

1) To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?

The trade association for the political industry, the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), has a Code of Ethics for AAPC members. I think the Code outlines a lot of good standards for conducting oneself in the industry, particularly where political communication is concerned. The standards that pertain to political communication really come down to truth, which is an important foundation for ethical political communication. Without truth, I don't think you can have ethical political communication. These days, I would go a step further and also underscore that ethical political communication should not incite violence against an individual or group of individuals. Politics is a tough business and full of conflict because the stakes are so high, but political communication should not result in anyone’s physical harm.

2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically?

Your reputation is everything in politics. If you behave ethically, you will develop a reputation for behaving ethically, and you will attract more opportunities because people will want to work with you. The opposite is true, too: if you behave unethically, you will develop a reputation for behaving unethically, and you will attract fewer opportunities. People who cut corners or sacrifice ethics for short term gain don't do so well over the long run, and they're also more likely to work with similarly unethical people, increasing the risk of ruin. It's much easier to destroy one's reputation than it is to build one, and the world of political communication is a pretty small one, too: people talk and can easily learn if someone behaves ethically.

3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”

The moment when Senator John McCain addressed a woman in Minnesota who said she couldn’t trust Barack Obama because he was an Arab stands out as a “do more of that” moment. Not only did Senator McCain correct her and say he’s not an Arab, but he also acknowledged Senator Obama as “a decent family man” with whom he happened to disagree. He did so without hesitation. Senator McCain was committed to truth and wasn’t going to tolerate falsehoods with a smile, wink, or nod, even if those falsehoods might benefit him. It’s moments like this one that made me so proud to work on Senator McCain’s campaign. He’d tell people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. We need more McCains.

4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?

During one campaign, I discovered social media posts written by a relative of our Democrat opponent that included extremely offensive remarks about President Obama. The posts could have potentially proved harmful to our opponent, but without knowing the person in question, it appeared to me that this relative was going through some sort of mental distress. Confronted with the choice of whether or not to go public with this information, I determined that it would not be appropriate to do so. Political communication professionals are perpetually confronted with ethical challenges relating to whether or not they should weaponize information they have at their fingertips. I don’t regret my decision, not just because our campaign won, but because there is no telling what the unintended consequences might have been had I decided otherwise.

5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?

I can’t underscore enough the importance of one’s reputation in this industry. You build your reputation as someone who is ethical (or not) over time, and it’s much easier to destroy a reputation than to build one. At any point in your career, but especially early on, where you work or who you work for is critical to establishing your reputation. Since you have less experience, the reputations of these places and people can really shape your own reputation. That’s why it’s very important to work in places and with people who are ethical. In the event you find yourself in a situation where you are confronted with unethical practices, there is always a way out, and you certainly aren’t doomed just because you were placed in an unethical situation. How you responded and what you learned can even enhance your reputation over the long run.

Five Questions about Ethics in Political Communication: Andrew Parco

Andrew Parco earned his B.A. in Political Communication from the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. While at GW he interned at the Department of the Interior, Grapevine Health, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Graduating magna cum laude with the Class of 2020, he now works at the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service as a digital design associate.

1) To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?

The good news and the bad news are the same: There is a great deal of gray area. Even in the best of circumstances, the baseline ethical standard for political communication is heavily dependent on context and values, and politics rarely offers the best of circumstances. It feels like an intrinsically personal question that is searching for a universal answer.

The best I can offer is a small thought experiment. Imagine your kids are your audience. (If, like me, you don’t have kids, feel free to imagine any three- to seven-year-old who looks up to you.) You want to do your best to tell the truth all the time, but sometimes you need small lies to protect them in the long run. Similarly, practitioners of political communication might need to lie to protect national security interests. You must be the disciplinarian sometimes, but empathy and warmth are equally crucial. There is nothing they love more than a good story, and if that is what you need to do to keep their attention, then so be it.

But what is most important is that you care about your audience. Political communication ethics should be grounded in compassion and a sense of responsibility because all the other factors you need to behave ethically—trust, sincerity, fairness, and more—stem from there.

2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically?

For starters, you shouldn’t behave ethically because it is the politically convenient option or because your coworkers or boss want you to. That is not to say that ethical behavior is always inconvenient and unpopular, but that well will run dry eventually.

I will also say you should not behave ethically because it feels like “the right thing to do.” At some point, you will be professionally wronged, and you will be nothing but vindictive and vengeful and out for blood. Whether it is deserved or not, behaving ethically will not feel like the right thing. That basis, too, is fleeting and unreliable.

On a practical level, political communication demands you behave ethically because it is one small, everyday measure you can take to preserve our political system. It is not the case that ethical behavior benefits everyone; it is just that it does not hurt everyone. Unethical behavior demeans the work we do, disrespects the people we do it for, and deteriorates the very institutions in which we operate. Ethical behavior leaves those institutions unscathed. Even if doing the right thing means you are taking a hit today, it means you have the chance to fight again tomorrow.

On a personal level, behaving ethically also preserves your dignity. It is easy to play dirty in politics; keeping your back straight, chin up, and conscience clear is much harder.

3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”

To me, a good example of ethical political communication is White House Press Secretary Jerald terHorst’s resignation from the Ford administration after the pardon of Richard Nixon. He contrasted the pardon with the lack of amnesty at the time for young men who evaded the draft. In his resignation letter, he admitted that “it is impossible to conclude that the former President is more deserving of mercy than persons of lesser station in life.” After only a month at the podium, he stepped down from his position rather than sacrifice his ethical position.

4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?

I work at a nonpartisan nonprofit. What is great is that we manage to avoid controversy most days, and generally, we keep our nose out of the day’s bill, politician, or rally taking up headlines. What can be frustrating and ethically challenging is the exact same thing. To avert even the appearance of partisanship, our response to politics is sometimes disappointing.

I remember one occasion when a Partnership for Public Service press release about a national political event felt underwhelming and even out of touch. In response, I contacted the head of my department that same day and made a case about why I thought our organization’s response was inappropriate. I was not asking for an apology or revised press release, but I felt responsible—even as an entry-level employee—to speak up against what I viewed as substandard ethical behavior. To their credit, they fully heard me out and engaged in a meaningful discussion about the thought process. Although I did not agree with the final determination reached by upper management, the discussion nonetheless gave me a more rounded out perspective, and I was able to recognize the driving forces behind their decision.

As a young professional, you cannot expect to necessarily influence the direction of your organization, but personally, know where your principles lie and be prepared to defend them.

5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?

Be nice to people. Personally, it makes the job more fun, and professionally, it makes the job a whole lot easier.

Five Questions about Ethics in Political Communication - Sandra Borden

Dr. Sandra L. Borden is a professor in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University, where she also directs the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society and coaches the Ethics Bowl team. Her work has been published numerous scholarly journals, and her books are the award-winning Journalism as Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics and the Press, Ethics and Entertainment: Essays on Media Culture and Media Morality (co-edited with Howard Good, Making Hard Choices in Journalism Ethics (with David Boeyink, Ethics and Error in Medicine (co-edited with Fritz Allhoff), and The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty. @WMU_Ethics

 1) To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?

Political communication should be ordered to the common good; that is to say, to the conditions needed for all to have worthwhile lives and for the chance for all to contribute to a society characterized by such conditions. The ethical standard is one of moral excellence, what some political philosophy traditions call civic virtue. Politics – and thus political communication – is not an elective pursuit. It is fundamental to being authentically human. So setting the terms of the conversation, recruiting citizens to your cause, appealing to their values, shaping social relationships conducive to those values, and so on, are all weighty moral matters in this perspective.

2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically? 

We have become cynical about politics, for good reason. But politics is, in fact, a high calling. Politics concerns how we live well together by creating conditions for all to flourish, both as individuals and as members of communities. And we know that communication is vital for doing politics well. It’s how we deliberate together about the common good. It’s how we identify possible solutions to common problems and possible projects for achieving things that we can only do together. For this, political communicators need to help citizens see that the common good does not pit their self-interest as a person against their self-interest as a community member. These are two sides of the same coin.

3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”

I am a former journalist, and my research focuses on journalism ethics. One way for journalism to contribute to the common good - that is, to be political - is to provide resources for deliberation, including venues for exchanging ideas and clarifying values. Our current media environment, with its echo chambers and misinformation, works against such deliberation and undermines the moral bonds among citizens.

Research has shown that the steep decline in local news has actually contributed to political polarization. An example of ethical political communication I appreciated was the decision in 2019 by The Desert Sun to stop running national op-eds for a month in response to this research. And what they found was that traffic to the opinion section doubled. This reminded me of when I was an editorial page editor at a small Gannett paper in Tennessee. I sold the publisher on publishing more letters to the editor. The more letters we published, the more letters we got. Having a robust local discussion of public issues in local news spaces, rather than relying on national syndicated columns, is a simple, but powerful, idea. However, I should note that this is hard to accomplish in the strapped local newsrooms that remain. We have lots of local news deserts and are adding more ever year.

4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?

Sticking with journalism ethics, I’m dismayed at the extent to which horse-race coverage continues to dominate political news. For example, the coverage on President Biden’s infrastructure bills has emphasized the political infighting and the price tag, rather than the substance of the proposed policies. These include major expansions to the social safety net and measures to reduce the harms of climate change. Here is an opportunity to facilitate a robust conversation about what we value, what we need for all to thrive in our society, what the role of the government should be in promoting the common good. And instead we have endless headlines about political “setbacks” and politicians’ Twitter barbs.

5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?

Develop a clear sense of what you think the purpose of politics is. Morally speaking, it has to be about more than winning. How can you honor the contributions of those who make our shared life better? I’m thinking here of how we change the conversation about “who matters” in our society. I think the pandemic has shown us how “essential workers” – who often are not valued in our consumer-driven culture – actually are those who make our lives livable. How can you help people to have hard conversations about their differences so they can reason together about common purposes and share a sense of belonging? Figure out the ends first, and let them guide your actions.

Event: How Politicians Talk About Politics Matters

UPDATED

On Tuesday, November 2nd at 2:00pm ET the Project on Ethics in Political Communication is hosting a conversation with Ethan Porter, an assistant professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University, political strategist and CNN analyst Karen Finney and GW student Samantha Millar about Prof. Porter’s recent research on the importance of elite political rhetoric on support for democratic norms.

Register for the event here.

Ethics and Email Fundraising - Watch the discussion here

On October 19th the Project hosted a conversation about email fundraising ethics with:

• Shane Goldmacher, NY Times

• Caitlin Hartman, The George Washington University

• Mike Nellis, Authentic

• Patrick O'Keefe, Anedot

• Prof. Andrew Thompson, The George Washington University

An interesting discussion and a lot to think about. You can watch a recording of the discussion here.

Ethics and Email Fundraising

The Project on Ethics in Political Communication is hosting a conversation about ethics and email fundraising on Tuesday, Oct. 19th at 11:00am ET - details and registration are here.

The Project is not alone in raising alarms about alarming fundraising practices. Those who have written about the topic include:

• Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times (and one of our panelists) has written several piece on the topic, including here, here and here.

• Mike Nellis (another one of our panelists) has warned that “scammy fundraising practices should concern both sides.”

• Bryan Metzger of Business Insider wrote about a letter more than 50 political professionals and researchers who signed a letter urging “Democratic fundraising company to crack down on 'prolific political scammers' and 'deceptive political emails’.” You can read the letter here.

• Political professional organization Campaigns & Elections picked up the story and has been a consistent voice for more ethical political campaign practices.

• In May, Lachlan Markay of Axios wrote about deceptive “donor match” emails from Speaker Pelosi.

A lot of other journalists, scholars, and professionals have weighed in - what should we add to our list?

Event: Ethics and Email Fundraising

UPDATED

On Tuesday, October 19th from 11:00am - Noon ET join:

• Shane Goldmacher - The New York Times

• Mike Nellis - CEO of Authentic, a Democratic fundraising and digital firm

• Patrick O’Keefe - Director of Customer Success Anedot, veteran Republican consultant

• Caitlin Hartman - School of Media and Public Affairs graduate student.

And moderator, Professor Andrew Thompson - The George Washington University

For a discussion of the ethics of email fundraising.

Shane Goldmacher's New York Times piece on the Trump campaign returning $12.8 million to donors exposed the world of unsavory email fundraising practices. Practices that Mike Nellis and others have been criticizing for some time. This commitment to ethical advocacy is shared by former Maryland GOP Executive Director and digital entrepreneur Patrick O’Keefe.

Details and registration are here

Fall 2021 Update

Project on Ethics in Political Communication

Fall Update
September, 2021

We hope everyone is navigating the sort of post-COVID (but not really) world and politics that seems more committed to bad theater than it is to good public policy. In the midst of it all, we keep making the case for more ethical political communication.

Here is some of what we’ve been up to and what we have planned.

Event: Ethics and Email Fundraising

Join us on Tuesday, October 19th from 11:00 - noon (ET) to talk about ethics and email fundraising with Shane Goldmacher of The New York Times, Democratic digital and fundraising specialist Mike Nellis, and Republican digital and campaign entrepreneur Eric Wilson. The conversation will be moderated by George Washington University political scientist Professor Andrew Thompson.

Details and registration are here.

Other recent news worth noting…

Project Director Peter Loge was quoted in Goldmacher’s major New York Times story on fundraising ethics.

We re-launched our Five Questions series with input from a recent college grad, a veteran educator, a Democratic fundraiser, and more. Want to weigh in? Let me know.

After several semesters as a Selected Topics course, Political Communication Ethics is on the books at The George Washington University. GW is one of the only - maybe the only - school in the US to list this class in its bulletin.

Other recent press includes an interview with Communication Intelligence about ethics in political communication and Business Insider about email fundraising ethics.

There’s More to Come

We are working on more case studies with the Media Ethics Initiative at UT Austin, are planning more events, are doing more media outreach, leading more talks, and writing more writing.

Have an idea, want to schedule a talk or write for our blog? Let us know.

You can keep up with all our goings-on on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Tell your friends.

Thank you as always for your support,

• Peter

  
  Peter Loge
  Director
  ploge@gwu.edu

Five Questions about Ethics in Political Communication: Keith Nagy

Keith Nagy is the digital manager for Holly McCormack, a Democratic candidate running against Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia's 14th congressional district. Originally from rural Kansas, Nagy holds a B.A. in political science from The George Washington University. He is currently pursuing a master's degree from GW's Graduate School of Political Management. Previously, Nagy has held positions with the National Audubon Society, Cardinal Infrastructure, and the Kansas Department of Transportation. @nagy_minaj

1)  To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?
Political communicators ought to be held to a similar ethical standard as journalists. While the Fourth Estate will always be essential to hold the powerful accountable, those in political communications should strive to make that function unnecessary. Like media ethics, political communication ethics must be grounded in truth. While all political communicators undoubtedly make mistakes, they must be committed to correcting their errors. Although the truth is relative, it is not subjective. One should look to the words of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically?
I suppose that the value of conducting oneself ethically is to build a positive reputation amongst peers and potential followers. An unethical political communicator is inherently dangerous in a democracy, as their disinformation leads to the erosion of truth and trust in our institutions. Trust is critical in politics, not just between leaders and their constituencies, but between the political players themselves. Few people want to be allies with a communicator who utilizes unethical methods, whether that be deception or breach of confidence. If even your allies recognize your word means nothing, you should expect your career in politics to be ineffectual.

3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”
Some contemporary examples of ethical political communication that come to mind are the daily briefings by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Yes, to some, her press briefings may just seem more ethical in juxtaposition with her predecessors. It is also true that White House press briefings intrinsically include a partisan slant to the facts. However, I hold great admiration for Psaki’s ability to admit she does not have an answer to every question. So often, when political communicators are put on the spot with a “gotcha question”, they conjure a meaningless word salad, or worse, they outright lie. Being straightforward about the available facts, or lack thereof, is critical to building trust in political communication.

4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?
Like I mentioned, all political communicators will eventually receive a question that stumps them or catches them off guard. The worst possible option is to lie, but it is also the most popular option. Deception is commonly chosen, sometimes in the heat of the moment, to avoid seeming uninformed or unprepared. However, I would contend that either of those labels is preferable to seeming untruthful. More ethical options exist, such as pivoting to a different topic, or perhaps objecting to the premise of the question. There is also enormous value in just a straightforward “I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to get back to you on that.”

5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?
I would urge those pursuing a future in political communications to put themselves in the shoes of someone apathetic about politics, and then ask themselves “Why has this person chosen to avoid our political systems?” Could it be because they are distrustful of political communicators? Are they just tired of the spin and the propaganda? There are millions of Americans who share this sentiment, and their retreat from participatory democracy is not healthy for our country. It then becomes the onus of political communicators to determine how to bring trust back to our institutions. It should be every person’s goal to bring more people into the political process, rather than perpetuate a culture of cynicism.

Five Questions about Ethics in Political Communication: Jeff Harris

Jeff Harris is an accomplished non-profit executive who is passionate about civic engagement surrounding racial justice and equality. He heads JB Harris Consulting, which was founded to support organizations bringing programs and resources to BIPOC communities working to mitigate the effects of poverty, violence, and trauma that can prevent young people from achieving their full potential. He previously served as chief executive officer of the Junior State of America Foundation a national, non-partisan, non-profit helping to develop citizenship and civic involvement for high school students. Under his leadership, Harris oversaw the expansion of JSA to the nation’s largest student-run action-civics organization serving 15,000 students annually.

Most recently he was director of School and Community Partnerships for the Compton Unified School District, where he brought resources to the district supporting arts, STEM, literacy, athletics, and other co-curricular programs for the 35 campuses serving over 20,000 K-12 students while managing over 55 partner relationships.

1) To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?

In thinking about the ethical standards for politicians holding elected or appointed positions, there's no question that they should adhere to and be held to the highest ethical standards. The stakes are too high when serving as official representatives of local, state and/or federal governments. We, the people, deserve and depend upon timely and accurate accounts of policy decisions and administrative actions as well as the political processes that yield them. Messaging that comes from official sources can have life or death consequences, but mostly, the public's trust and confidence in government is at stake. Unfortunately most Americans feel that "the government lies" no matter which political party is in control. This erosion of trust has lowered the bar for the ethical standards to which voters hold candidates to the point that most voters feel that a candidate's past or present behavior is OK if they support the candidate and "disqualifying" if they oppose the candidate.

That said, is it acceptable to hold political candidates to a lower ethical standard than office holders? That's a question that political communications professionals must grapple with. Their job is to get candidates elected. Communications professionals must determine that any questionable past behavior of a candidate doesn't run afoul of their own personal ethical standards. During the campaign, both "spinning" the truth and "evading" uncomfortable questions seem to be in bounds ethically. Particularly because the candidate/campaign isn't deliberately promoting falsehoods. The art and science of campaigning involves skillfully accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative while all the while, being honest and consistent with messaging.

2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically?

At the foundation of a healthy democracy are healthy, honest and robust discussions and debates. In communicating with voters, political communications professionals are providing the essential information that, for many people, form the core elements of those discussions and debates. Especially in the digital age when the trust in the media is low and the electorate is bombarded with information from social media and other online sources, more people take messaging from the candidates and campaigns they support as fact, base their decisions on that messaging and spread that messaging to friends, relatives and "followers." The old saying "garbage in; garbage out" could apply here. When communications professionals taint our political discourse, voters base their decisions on tainted messaging and the outcomes produced by elections will not necessarily accurately reflect an well informed opinion of the majority. As Americans have historically low opinions of government institutions and politicians in general, political communications professionals must consider their role in helping to elect unpopular, untrusted politicians and in weakening our democratic institutions.

3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”
I am going to succumb to my own cynicism here in that I fear that as soon as I point out an example of ethics in political communication, some scandal or cover-up will be exposed. I can say some criteria I look for when considering ethical communication, especially when the stakes are high. First of all, honesty. Not only is it the right thing to do ethically, in today's society, the truth will always be revealed somehow - it seems that it is impossible to cover up anything in the public domain. Second of all, transparency. Just as important as communicating the facts, is communicating "who knew what, when." Additionally, the phrase "we don't know that, yet" is acceptable when true and preferable to unfounded speculation. Third of all, humility. If a mistake has been made, admit it, apologize and lay out a plan to fix it. In the long run, taking responsibility for an error and working to correct it will work out better than blaming others or pretending that everything is OK, when it isn't.

4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?

It's easy to be ethical when things are going well. The real challenge is sticking to your ethical principles when there's trouble brewing. Often it comes down to when and how to release bad news to the general public. Telling the truth, telling it quickly and telling it completely is the ethical thing to do, but also the smart thing to do. The era of cover-ups is over; in the digital age, someone is always watching and posting to Twitter. Rather than trying to orchestrate a cover-up, use your skill and expertise to manage the aftermath of releasing the bad news. Do so on your terms and control the narrative as best you can.

5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?

We all learned the difference between right and wrong around kindergarten or first grade. When confronted with a dilemma, check your inner ethical compass and do what's right. The more experience and skill you acquire in the field, the better you will become at persuading and maybe even manipulating public opinion. Keep in mind your responsibility to ensure that our American democratic systems are strong and that the people can have trust in the process now and in the future.

Jeff Harris