What is the Importance of Ethics in Political Communications
Political communications is the “the process by which political leaders, officials and opinion leaders communicate and engage with citizens and stakeholders for a defined purpose, campaign, or agenda.” ~ Sola Abulu.
Just like in the development space or energy sector, in the political sector, communications is important to achieve meaning and understanding between political leaders and the citizens of a state. As such, political communicators ensure that political leaders adopt a strategic and citizen-centric approach to communication which is marched with the proactive and deliberate effort to fulfill promises to the citizens.
A citizen-centric approach to communications prioritizes citizen’s interests and needs in stakeholder engagement in such a way that achieves a win-win approach in terms of the political agenda.
Political communicators therefore have the responsibility to ensure that every communications effort is strategic and leaders represent the best interest of the citizens without necessarily adopting biased, deceptive and manipulative tactics known as spinning.
The Global Alliance led an initiative that provides a universally agreed set of principles aimed at promoting ethical conducts in communications and public relations. To emphasize the importance of ethics to communications professional in any sector, these principles are backed by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).
Nine (9) of the guiding principles as published by The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) are:
- Guiding principles
- Working in the public interest
- Obeying laws and respect diversity and local customs
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of media
- Honesty, truth and fact-based communication
- Integrity
- Transparency and disclosure
- Privacy
As far as I can tell, majority of political players are very strategic in terms of fulfilling their personal ambitions and ensuring their career longevity and influence within the public space. What is left unattended is the commitment to the people.
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There is room for improvement in terms of how political communication is handled at the state and national level but in a context where the election process is inherently flawed, how you communicate may not affect electoral outcomes one way or another, considering that there are several opportunities available to “game” the process unethically.
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However, in a context where those opportunities do not exist or one is up against an equally or more formidable opponent, then there is opportunity to lean on the proper use of strategic communications that is based on a thorough stakeholder mapping of all citizens and stakeholders and an approach that is tailored towards transparently addressing their issues and concerns. And working hard to fulfil commitments as agreed or stated.
The above excerpt is from an article by our Principal Consultant, Sola Abulu on Effective Public Sector Policy and Political Communications. This excerpt describes the following as some of the major problems affecting ethical political communications as:
- Lack of transparency in communications
- An inherently flawed electoral process which often leads to aggrieved citizens
- A refusal to fulfill the political agenda.
As seen in this article, communications professionals have a responsibility to be ethical and uphold the universally accepted principle of professionals in the industry. Therefore, it is important for political communicators to highlight the importance of ethics in communication as they discharge their duty to political leaders.
Sola Abulu and Associates (SA&A) is a strategy and communications consulting and training firm. The Training arm of SA&A has been running its 2025 Program Brochure with a focus on 3 areas of operations i.e. the SA&A LIVE Online ZOOM for 5 accredited courses, the play-on-demand pre-recorded courses available 24/7 on it’s unique learning platform – learn.solaabuluassociates.com and its be-spoke and highly customized trainings and workshops for clients in the public sector on various topics around strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation management.
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Sola Abulu Associates (SA&A) is a strategy and communications consulting and training firm focused on enabling businesses, brands and institutions to achieve their desired objectives through strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation management.
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