Video Conversations

ChatGPT and related artificial intelligence bots seem to be everywhere - and they raise ethical questions everywhere they go. The Project on Ethics in Political Communication hosted a discussion about the ethical questions raised by the use of AI and bots on political campaigns. 

Our panel was:
Prof. Dave Karpf, a leading expert on digital politics and historian of the digital future;
Zainab Choudary, a strategic communication and campaign consultant who has been thinking about these questions a lot lately; and Yvonne Liccione, a political communication student whose coursework includes political communication ethics.

The Project on Ethics in Political Communication and the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication cosponsored a conversation about if, and if so how, journalists in Qatar for the FIFA men’s World Cup should cover issues off the pitch. Soccer journalist Grant Wahl and Gulf region expert Prof. Neha Vora talked to School of Media and Public Affairs director Prof. Silvio Waisbord about the responsibilities of journalists covering global sporting events.

There was a glitch with the video recording. Thanks to Prof. John Shrader at the University of Nebraska, this is a link to most of the audio recording.

Project director Peter Loge joined Prof. Sandra Borden, the director of the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society at Western Michigan University on Nov. 5, 2021 to talk about the 2021 elections, political trust, rhetoric, and ethics.

Project on Ethics in Political Communication director Peter Loge sat down with George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs assistant professor Ethan Porter, CNN analyst and Democratic strategist Karen Finney, and GW student Samantha Millar to talk about prof. Porter’s recent research on the effect of elite public rhetoric on democratic norms - and what we can do about it.

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

On April 27 Project director Peter Loge joined the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State University for a discussion about ethics in political communication.

"rhetoric has...ethical consequences. If it's going to have ethical consequences, I don't see you can evade also having ethical responsibility." - Prof. Mary Stuckey, Penn State University

On April 7, Project director Peter Loge joined the Harvard Kennedy School Communications Program to talk about the often unseen ethical choices and challenges in strategic advocacy communication.

(the Q&A has been edited out of respect for the audience’s privacy).

The Project on Ethics in Political Communication and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University hosted a discussion about politics, civil religion and the “soul of the nation.” The panelists were Project director Peter Loge, Center interim director John Carlson, director of the Black Church Studies Program and associate professor in the practice of sociology of religion and culture at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University Nichole Phillips, and Truman -Albright Fellow and US Senate staffer Andre Gonzales. The discussion was moderated by Type Media Center fellow Rozina Ali.

Project on Ethics in Political Communication director Peter Loge spoke with American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) president and Democratic consultant Rose Kapolczynski, AAPC ethics committee member and Republican Consultant Dan Hazelwood, and School of Media and Public Affairs student Sydney Register about how we can make political campaigns more ethical.

Leading Democratic consultant Oren Shur (media advisor for Biden for President, oversaw paid media for Hillary for America), leading Republican consultant Susan Del Percio (MSNBC political analyst, senior advisor to the Lincoln Project) and George Washington University graduate student Nikita Sibley joined Project director Peter Loge for a conversation about what political consultants can do to improve politics (or at least make it less awful).

Former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno leads a conversation with Project director Peter Loge and George Washington University student Anthony Thomas about Loge’s new edited volume, Political Communication Ethics: Theory and Practice.

Digital and tech entrepreneur and best-selling author Cheryl Contee, digital campaign veteran Bradley Engle, and political communication professor at Emerson College and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Vincent Raynauld joined Project director Peter Loge to talk about digital and online campaign ethics.

George Washington University philosophy professor Joseph Trullinger and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors candidate Jevin Hodge join Project director Peter Loge to talk about ethics, civil religion and the reality of running for office.

Rhetorical scholar Dr. Mark Lawrence McPhail joins Projecdt director Peter Loge to discusses racism and the limits of rhetoric.

What are the ethics of running for office in a pandemic? Project on Ethics in Political Communication director Peter Loge is joined by former US Secretary of Agriculture, former US Representative and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program Dan Glickman; veteran political reporter and co-owner of Campaigns & Elections Shane D'Aprile; and George Washington University philosophy professor Jeffrey Brand to discuss campaign ethics during COVID-19

On March 11 the Project on Ethics in Political Communication hosted a conversation with the former director of speechwriting for the Romney/Ryan campaign Lindsay Hayes of Redpath Writing, Clinton White House speechwriter Vinca LaFleur of West Wing Writers, rhetorical scholar David Frank of the University of Oregon, and the director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication Peter Loge.

A panel of bipartisan political operatives, an Emmy Award-winning news director, a student activist and a philosopher convened at the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs on Tuesday, March 5, to launch the Project on Ethics in Political Communication.

Project Director Peter Loge talked to former US Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) about a new, old GOP, making politics less divisive, and the need to “talk about things that unite us.”

Learn more about Congressman Dent’s Our Republican Legacy here.

US Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) joined Project director Peter Loge to talk about why candidates and elected officials should behave ethically. Congressman Kilmer talked about his role as Chair of Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress and incentives for candidates and elected officials to behave ethically.

Jennifer Jenkins, founder of Educated We Stand and Anna Hochkhammer, head of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition for a Zoom conversation about ethical approaches to political communication in this pivotal moment.