Communication Citizenship

From the time all of us begin school to through our adult years, the importance of us being good citizens is one of the constant themes we hear. It is a refrain inspired by the recognition that for our country to remain as viable and values driven as we would like, all of us need to be actively engaged in our political process and engaged in doing all we can to ensure we and our elected officials subscribe to the highest principles. (How well we and they are doing at that I will leave, for the moment, for others to decide.) Nevertheless, citizenship remains a key element in our nation's survival kit.


Professional communicators can and should play an important role in this effort. Granted, they are hired to represent clients, organizations, etc. that often place their own interests either ahead of others or, for the matter, the nation itself.  Such a reality, while not exactly one folks would be eager to concede, exists. In the not-to-distant past, examples of this have included the tobacco company, banks, and even presidential candidates. For our nation to be the best it can be, it is vital that those called upon to promote the services, products and messages of its members subscribe to principles that speak to the best of us.


Honesty, free flow of ideas, transparency, and respect are among the values that professional communicators need to keep at the forefront of their efforts regardless of the directives they receive from those who hire them. It goes without saying there may be times when doing this may not be easy. It may even cost a communicator their job or keep them from gaining a desired promotion. Still, at the end of the day, our nation and its people are only as good as the values they practice and to which they adhere. It falls upon the shoulders of professional communicators to help ensure this happens.