..whether they choose to or not, they must be able to analyze critically the ethical implications of the meanings they contribute to," (Slacke)
Being in the field of professional communication, I often find myself wondering what kind of responsibility I have to contribute meaningful, ethical ideas to the public. I would consider myself a mix between a public relations specialist and technical communicator. This is because in my experience, I have worked as both and find myself most adapted to these two titles.
When I interned for the public relations department at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, one main project I worked on was a survey that collected data about how effective communication from the University to students were. This is a mix between public relations and technical communication, as I had to distribute this information as well as find a way to appeal to students. At the same time, I used the survey to fuel myself as a technical communicator as the questions asked were to gather more information about the way students felt about how the school communicates.
Another experience that classifies me as a technical communicator would be my work in the Research office at the University. I constantly take information that is hard for a person outside that specific field of research to read, and I turn it into something more palatable/accessible for the general public. This is important as a lot of the research coming through affects the general public, but it is simply not known by them or communicated to them in a way they understand.
This is where the quote I have provided comes in. In my experiences I have constantly thought about the implications of what I am doing as a professional communicator. I find myself put off sometimes by the idea that public relations seems to be considered a corporate-protection profession, rather than a profession that helps companies reach their audience in more effective ways. This all comes down to the ethics of the job, and how much we, as communicators, work to serve multiple communities rather than the one we are getting paid to serve. I think that topics that really interest me are corporate communication, University communications, and public relations, especially in the digital age and times of crisis. This is because I struggle so much in debating the ethics of some career paths I am interested in.