Ethics in Professional Writing

Professional writers are tasked with informing, entertaining, or persuading an audience to make a decision or take an action. They must consider multiple facets to plan and present information deliberately. Such communicators strive to rationalize their purpose for writing, gain public confidence, and maintain an ethical accountability, with each element coexisting to deliver rhetoric effectively.

Writers are, in fact, rhetoricians delivering messages that involve potentially conflicting agendas and interests, with objectivity, clarity, and neutrality serving merely as stylistic devices (172). Successful writers are often plagued with ethical dilemmas and conflicting demands that can affect their ideas visibility and authority, leading to diminished credibility and perceptions of irresponsibility from their targeted market and organizational standpoint.  

Taking into account that rhetoric is founded on elocution, presentation, logic, truths, and creativity, how does a writer commit to and ethically bridge together the subject matter, company, and audience in support of a common objective?  Information serves corporations and public interests. Expediency and objectivity play important roles in balancing those interests and can work to conceal processes (185-186). Professional writers determine deliberate disclosure of information to facilitate logos but utilize pathos and ethos to provide the impetus to act (187).

It is ethics that define the behaviors of the writer, company, and ultimately an entire culture or audience. Finding the most suitable means of communicating an intended message it based on thought and reason rationalized by ethical actions. The character of a corporation, in addition to its overall objectives, is demonstrated throughout every writing stage initiated by professional communicators.  Standards and legal obligations also promote ethical interactions with audiences in terms of advice, intervention, and protection, and also involve interweaving opposing principles (209). This instance further implicates the writer’s need for careful deliberation. Judgments must be made by the communicator on behalf of the audience within legal constraints to appropriately and creatively divulge pertinent information as to limit lawful liabilities.

In retrospect, conventions for print and electronic publications differ in the sense that each has its own set of standards for which ethics are based upon. Social norms and ethical behaviors may clash. Therefore, writers focus on what is allowed within the respective writing environment when attempting to remain ethically compliant while simultaneously adhering to message delivery techniques in the form of rhetoric. 

Does a relationship emerge between professional writing, rhetoric, and ethics? The principles of effective communication can derive from the general characteristics (structural, professional, cultural, and personal, and needs of the appropriate social collectives and of the people who work in them (173). There is truly a hierarchy in which professional writers should consider before composing documents; however, all components bridge together to equal one whole eventually. Neither can effectively exist without the other.

Relationship between Professional Writing and Rhetoric

Classical scholars conveyed varying ideologies of the relationship between professional writing and rhetoric.  Some studiers of the art of discourse believed the two stood as separate disciplines, where a second set of theories emerged and identified both specialties to be counterparts, yet able to thrive independently. A third group of intellectuals further developed the notion that professional writing and rhetoric cohabitate; one could not thrive without the presence of the other. These exploratory thinkers employed professional writing as the means of transmitting messages to an audience and rhetoric symbolizing creative methods to translate that information.

When professional writing is considered a rhetorical practice and art, the perceived role of the writer can be established. (45-46). Faigley elaborates on three major theoretical perspectives – textual, individual, and social – to institute the relationship. First, the textual encompasses features of language and genre, readability, and style and format the writer uses to communicate information (48-49). The individual perspective is fluid; they change based on behavior, the development of cognitive thinking, and the evaluation of the writing task (49). The social perspective is impacted by interaction within an environment, comprehension of the philosophy of language, and the understanding of cultural relationships – discourse community (50-52). Since communities change and overlap, academic, work, and public environments, the relationship between professional writing and rhetoric must be modified to accommodate each audience and the level of which information is transmitted to varying audiences.

Miller further constructs the presumed relationship by determining the practical and conceptual application of professional writing (61-63). Richard Bernstein states, “The practical man is one who is not concerned with theory (even anti-theoretical or anti-intellectual), who knows how to get along in the rough and tumble of the world,” (61). To be practical, is to accomplish a task or goal effectively and efficiently, an action founded on directness. On the other hand, a conceptual understanding provides justification for a necessary action. Problems and goals are identified and the appropriate action weighed. Why is this essential to technical writing? Technical writing, in this case, is thought incorporate the practicality of an action due to a well-founded reason for the action. In other words, a writer must know why a message needs to be transmitted, the objectives for writing, and methods for presenting the information in a practical way to evoke the audience’s understanding through rhetorical communication.

Furthermore, Miller examines practice as descriptive or prescriptive – what is and what ought to be – within higher education versus the professional arena (64-67). Students are often equipped with a theoretical understanding of writing but lack consideration of common practice. Institutions have afforded students an opportunity to connect the relationship between vocational preparedness and cultural awareness (65). Work settings create a cultural standard that does not always coincide with best practiced theories. Students who are unable to (and sometime unwilling) integrate their ethics, textbook knowledge, and organizational cultural often struggle with identifying the relationship between professional writing and rhetoric (69).

Regli bases the relationship on knowledge, collaboration, and application in the writing field. Knowledge has typically been thought of as a noun and to some technical writers the transmittal of information in no more than seen as a product, an invention (71). However, the transmittal of knowledge is considered a verb to the rhetor. Rhetors treat knowledge as an activity, elaborate process of developing, producing, and testing (73). To master a connection of writing and rhetoric, collaboration, communication, and articulation must occur (74-77). A problem must be identified, followed by conducting analyses of the situation, audience, and structure to adhere to constraints and satisfy expectations. Succeeding these steps, changes or revisions can be successfully articulated prior to production – the representation of knowledge.

Slack, Miller, and Dock explore the relevance of the communication theory, providing the framework of the transmission view of communication, the interpretation and reinterpretation of messages, and the articulation aspect of communication (81-94). This theory credits technical writers as mediators of communication through interpreting, articulating, and transmitting information to an audience via power, authority, and expertise in their respective industries. They are foremost neutral facilitators of message and negotiate the relationship with receivers of information to avoid miscommunication (81-82).

Since communication is not a linear act and more of a negotiation, both the sender and receiver can possess power over meanings, either negative or positive; communication is an ongoing struggle for power, unevenly balanced toward encoding (87). The sender has power when the message is encoded effectively and the receiver respond in the intended manner (83). The receiver establishes power when the message interpreted appropriately and can initiate a correlating action, or practice (86-89). When effective articulation, or rearticulation, occurs meaning and discourse are transformed (90). In cases where messages are not encoded or decoded properly, technical writers reevaluated and revise information. They edit transmissions in support of ever-changing social practices, cultures, and situations to maximized application.

Writing is producing useful context allowing senders to express and readers in specific situations to interpret messages (105). Organizational and rhetorical situations guide decision making (118). The culture and values, as well as ethics help formulate writers’ ability to communicate within given situations. Yes, they can follow a communication model and previous document designs to transmit information; however, when writers do not have full knowledge of industry standards and organizational beliefs, his ability to convey information may fail. Rules are constraints that writers must find creative ways to conform to and overcome to limit personal and organizational liability. They must contend with personal, social, and situational authority, with each building on the other 124-125). Effective writers employ such strategies in a rhetorical manner; thus, classical intellectuals’ ideas regarding the relationship between professional writing and rhetoric have resurfaced, and still serve as models for industry application to this day.

Discovering Professional Writing

The Art of Professional Communication

Professional writing a form of communicating information – instructions, processes, and arguments, among other directives – to an audience in efforts to influence their decisions or actions. It is the literature of science, technology, and systems development, from journalism to advertising, copy writing, and other technical and nontechnical prose. This art of written communication depends on clear, concise language to express easily understood information to an intended audience.

Professional writing relates to the discipline of rhetoric, the act of persuading or informing readers to initiate an approach, in one direction or the other, while considering the measures in which the outcome will impact their existence. Careers and personal lives are affected by word choices and meanings, and empower audiences to bring into account their experiences, projections, and reluctance to embrace what is being advocated through written communication.

Complexities of Communicating to Audiences

Language in Translation

Language may not effectively translate across cultures, international borders, and genders. Therefore, one primary element of professional writing is to consider connotation and denotation in relation to the audience’s innate and developed belief systems, as well as traditions. Readers of communicative pieces are not necessarily located nationally or within an internal organization; global diversity exists. Colors, phrases, and images all suggest varying meanings in disparate parts of the world, in addition to vast nationalities. To appropriately address the target audience while delivering an intended message represents the complexity of professional prose.

Some commonalities, such as figurative language and idioms, are not particularly understood by every reader. Writing in non-English languages tends to be more formal than in English, and some languages rely heavily on passive voice (Weymouth 144). Documents translated in other languages pose special challenges. In translation or in a different cultural context, some words have insulting or negative connotations; for example, in certain cultures, “male” and “female” refer only to animals (Coe 17).

Humor, or lack thereof, also leaves room for messages to misconstrued data. Readers can find humor to be offensive in its approach to information exchange. In appropriate word choice, unforgiving jokes, and imprecise terms and phrases distract the audience interrupting flow and clarity. Although professional communication does not have to be uninteresting to be deemed instructional, credible, or informative, readers are unable to witness body language proposing humor. Avoiding the risk of alienating readers is achieved by focusing on inflections in tone and writing style rather than the use of comedy in written communication.

Experiences and Attitudes

Since audiences reflect upon their experiences and traditional construct when reviewing written communication, they also bring along with them biased attitudes. Our accumulated knowledge and experiences, beliefs and values, attitudes and roles – in other words, our cultures – shape us as individuals and differentiate us as a people. Cultures differ over which behaviors seen appropriate for social interaction, business relationships, contract negotiations, and communication practices (Lannon and Gurak 4-5). An imperative movement toward understanding the complexities of communicating with diverse audiences must concern itself with responding sensitively to global differences.

Tone

Tone can affect professional writers’ ineptness to relate information to audiences. When speaking to someone in person, expressions, body language, and other visual cues are signals for the listener – and the presenter. Each interacts with the other and has the opportunity to alter comments and vocal tones due to such indications. However when communicating through written language, words, data, diagrams, charts, and images do not enable visual or auditory clues. Professional writers must establish and maintain a “you” perspective, be polite and tactful, use plan English, and decide upon a strategic organizational layout for their work to manage information control of their documents to achieve proper tone (Lannon and Gurak 381-383).

Effective Communication and the Writer

In every industry, nearly every employee compose a professional document, whether an e-mail, a memorandum, or a proposal. However, some highly skilled communicators choose professional writing as a full-fledged career. Fields including marketing and advertising, medicine and health care, academia, law, and so forth, rely on qualified writers to converse with audiences (Lannon and Gurak 5-6). Foremost, successful effective professional writers determine their: 

• Purpose for Writing/Intended Message
• Target Audience
• Possible Counterarguments
• Writing Style 

Purpose for Writing/Intended Message

Professional writers deliver information related to internal/external policies, services or products, financial operations, organizational progress, among other pertinent news. They work with personnel and executives to conclude the information to be presented and how it would be used (Sims 2-3). Once the initial motivation is defined, professional writers are plagued with: 

• Gathering facts or statistic that should be included within the document.
• Determining if the document should exhibit more visuals – diagrams, charts, and images – rather than statements.
• Realizing information that should be emphasized rather than passively addressed.  

Analyzing the Audience

Professional writers must keep in mind their target audience, whether they are writing for the majority or for the minority. In other words, they identify readers who will be in the position to enforce a decision or promote an action. Writers also ascertain backgrounds and experiences readers have, as well as the audience’s level of expertise of the subject matter, and a multitude of other impacting factors (Sims 4-7).

When trying to persuade the general public within predetermined demographics to purchase a product, writers often use cues and visuals, in addition to verbiage from a particular era. These cues serve as manipulations and promote a sense of nostalgia to influence an audience’s decision or action.

Professional writers who need to communicate good or bad news to employees – from hourly to lower management – usually produce e-mail, memos, or short letters to be distributed internally. Yet to provide explanations to executive teams and external partners, writers tend to delve deeper in more confidential data from company records. They perform in-depth research to collect specifics, alter industry language/jargon, and procedure with more formal documents related to operational strategies (Lannon and Gurak 53-56). 

Because writers are tasked with modifying what is being presented and the measures they employ to present information, it is essential to understand individual audiences in order to utilize motivational techniques to acquire desired results in support of their writings.

  

Possible Counterarguments

Effective written communicators consider an audience’s level of skepticism about an issue (Lannon and Gurak 583). Professional writers place attempts to think as their audience and formulate questions such as: 

• Why should a customer purchase product from Company A when Company B is less expensive?
• How will adding the expense of hiring and training new personnel benefit efficiency – and increase revenue?
• Will productivity improve if the company purchases the new equipment? If so, what will be the projected improvement?
• If the grant is approved, how will the funds be used and in what ways will local communities benefit?
• Which numbers listed represent third-quarter growth? 

Professional writers determine counterarguments during the research phase, gather data to answer inquiries, and coordinate cumulative documents to proactively address those doubts. They are constantly thinking ahead to prevent delayed process implementations or sales strategies that could take effect immediately.

  

Writing Style

Once preliminary SME collaboration and initial research has been conducted, the writing stage commences. Successful professional writers coordinate an indirect or direct approach to deliver to their intended audiences. This stage comprises an introduction with brief background leading to the subject matter, a message, argument, or proposal, advantages or disadvantages, costs and statistics, previous methods attempted, and other relative factors.

They provide supporting evidence through ethical, clear, concise language catering to their audience and perspective to the industries for which they write. Professional writers take great measures to make certain statements are not choppy, unordered, or too wordy, which eliminates waste and additional printing expenses (Rude 382). They also ensure documents are visually appealing, including white space, headings, and fonts and sizes that enhance readability and flow (Rude 115-116).

Editing is usually the final phase to the writing process. Professional writers evaluate semi-final copies followed by reorganizing sections, and in many cases, submittal to a secondary department for final edit (Rude 240).  Afterward, audiences are then able to analyze the information presented to formulate a decision, initiate an action, and occasionally, both.

Works Cited

Rude, Carolyn, D. Technical Editing. New York: Longman, 2002. Print

Lannon, John M. and Laura J. Gurak. Technical Communication. New York: Longman, 2011. Print.

Blake, Gary and Robert W. Bly. The Elements of Technical Writing. New York: Macmillan. Print.

Sims, Brenda R., Technical Writing. Dallas: University of Texas Press, 1995. Print.