Abe Tullis

Comms 304-002

Hawkins

12/14/24

Personal Ethical Statement

    In a sense, your life truly begins after high school graduation–or so it seemed in my case. For me,  it wasn’t until after walking across the stage in 2019 that I began to grapple with the idea of directing my own life and constructing my own moral framework. While life had previously been a series of right and wrong decisions under the jurisdiction of my parents, church leaders, and teachers, after receiving my diploma, everything was left up to me. This was a slow realization – and one I still regularly have to come to terms with. In the following years, my perception on life and ethical reasoning traversed several paradigm shifts, slight alterations, and complete renovations. With every spiritual prompting, profound conversation with a friend, or short-lived obsession with a new philosophy or school of thought, I take another step forward as I navigate and rework the nebulous cluster which I would call my personal perception on morality. These ideas and life experiences conglomerate and react with one another in a way that continually brings me to new insights on life and constructively redefines and fine-tunes the way I want to live. 

    A period of robust learning for me was on my mission in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Feeling dissatisfied with my limited catalog of approved literature, I – somewhat controversially – acquired the words of philosophers and world theologians which I used to bolster my understanding of spiritual and secular learning. Married with the teachings of the LDS Church, the teachings of Buddha, Mohammed, Neitzche, and Jung were edifying and opened my eyes to new perspectives and terminologies concerning  the same principles I have studied since my days as a sunbeam. Things like chastity, honesty, and kindness are universally taught, yet each individual or religion has their own understanding and way of mastering the principle. Not only was I grateful to learn about these new perspectives, but I felt they also made me a better disciple of Christ.

    Since my mission, I have continued to try to do what is right, and have come to understand that “CTR” isn’t always an objective framework. Every individual must use their own judgment to decide what is valuable to them. In the book “The Things That Matter Most” by Lowell L. Bennion (the former president of the institute at The University of Utah) the author speaks of writing down his values in a hierarchy, and aligning his life to give each of those values the necessary amount of attention, encouraging his readers to do the same. Upon reading this book, I decided to do this exercise for myself. For me, the word at the precipice of my stratified list was “Integrity”. In respect to this word, I committed to making decisions which feel right to me. If I truly feel that something I am doing, regardless of whether it is institutionalized or expected of me, doesn’t feel morally acceptable, I won’t do it. Throughout the scriptures we hear of discernment. Personally, this is my test of discernment. It is futile to do something which you are told is right if it hurts your integrity as an individual. On the other hand, being honest with yourself about what you innately and thoughtfully feel is best to do seems like a healthy way to stay accountable for the decisions you make. You will always know when you feel that you have done wrong, and must confront those feelings and choose to improve. 

    This mental framework which I choose to adhere to falls somewhere under the realm of relativism. Subjective relativism, which defines right and wrong by one’s own approval, is what I consider the closest official framework to the way I perceive morality. A big influence on my subjective viewpoint of reality is my culture – largely influenced by the church and my family’s values. While I don’t always adhere to the official church handbook, I have ideas ingrained in me as a result of my upbringing. And though I wouldn't say that the way that others perceive my actions makes them right or wrong – as would one who subscribes to cultural relativism – I do value the principles which I share with those in my community. I hope to carry that influence with me throughout my life and career.

    As I stated earlier, in high school everything felt black and white. A lens of objective morality influenced every decision I made. Since then, I have found comfort in coming to understand that everyone has their own path in life. Each individual understands ethics in their own biased perspective, whether that bias comes from church, parenting, or anywhere else. What is most important to me is to be genuine to what I think is good. To have integrity. My college and mission experiences have helped me make enormous progress in understanding who I want to be; however, my journey is nowhere near its end. Starting next year I will be entering the workplace in the field of advertising – a profession notoriously known for its off kilter work culture. Entering this field having already made the decision to base my actions on my personal moral code will not only help me make work which serves the general population, but will help me feel secure and sound as I navigate this new chapter of my life.

    Having said all of this, I have a pretty simple model which I want to follow. I believe that this model will help me to make the best decisions and always be true to myself in the workplace and in my personal decisions:

 

1.    Apply Bok’s Model

As I have stated throughout this paper, the most important thing to me is integrity. Having my first go-to be my conscience is paramount to making the correct decisions. I also love this model because it doesn’t rely on one’s own knowledge and ego. It includes going to others for advice if you don’t know the correct path to take.

2.    Reassess

In every decision I make I want to learn from it. I haven’t been gifted my life and cognitive abilities to complacently make the same decisions over and over. I have the opportunity to improve. This is why a self induced return and report system is important to me. If something didn’t go well, I can make it better the next time around. One of my favorite authors, Eckhart Tolle, stated that if faced with criticism, “instead of going into unconscious reaction and negativity, such as attack, defense, or withdrawal, you let it pass right through you. Offer no resistance.” I feel that this also applies to self-criticism. Allowing myself to accept criticism and become a different creature is something I always want to do. 

3.    Don’t just seek to do the minimum

A scripture I love is “Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion”. While this scripture has many possible interpretations, I like to think that complacency is wrong. Even if things are good, without maintaining and building further, they will eventually go bad. In the workplace I want to constantly be engaged in good to avoid frequently falling back into bad. 

4.    TARES Test

After using Bok’s model, I think it is still important to consider if the decision is truthful, authentic, respectful, equitable, and socially responsible. This will make sure that the decision isn't only acceptable, but may be of value to people of all cultures and backgrounds. I find this especially important in advertising where messages will be seen by people of all types. 

5.   Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance

As a final measure of precaution, I will run my decisions through the filter of the Veil of Ignorance. That is to say, I will consider how it would feel to be affected by this decision from the points of view of all parties who may be affected. If I would be comfortable in anybody’s shoes, then I have an additional confirmation that my decision won’t be detrimental to any individual or party.

 

CASE STUDY:

CH. IV-A - The Anchor as Activist

In this case Frank Larue, a local news anchor, decided to attend a protest against abortions. Another reporter noted that he was at the protest in an article which Larue addressed over the news saying that he was there of his own conscience and that this would not affect his ability to report in an unbiased manner. His general manager was unhappy with the situation.

The Question: Is it ethical for Larue to attend the protest?

Analysis:

While an individual has the right to attend whatever events they would like to, having a public position (being a public figure) comes with responsibilities. Filtering this decision through my personal ethical statement, here is my analysis:

Bok’s Model: 

Looking first to my conscience, I would say that there may be some complications in going to the protest. Knowing that my role (putting myself into Larue’s shoes) is to present an unbiased viewpoint for the community, it wouldn’t be considerate to attend such an event and putting my political beliefs on public display. Additionally, learning what experts have to say on the subject would likely reinforce my hunch that this decision is unwise. It is likely that this action would be formally prohibited or discouraged by the news organization which I work for. I would have to also acknowledge that I, as a public figure, represent a larger entity.

The next part of my personal ethical statement which would be applicable in this case would be using the TARES Test. While I think this action would be truthful and authentic, I don’t think it would be respectful, equitable, or socially responsible. I think that it could offend people and alienate them, creating distrust between them and the organization which I represent. This would ultimately work against the mission of journalists in the community.

Lastly, I would consider Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance. If I didn’t know which party I belonged to, I think there would be multiple instances in which I would be offended or disappointed. Being a news consumer, I would have less trust in the news organization. Being Larue’s manager or co-worker, I would be offended by his ignorance and would have to face the consequences of his personal actions. These positions and others reinforce the wrongness of the situation.

Conclusion:

After using my personal ethical statement to assess the ethical implications of this case, I can safely say that I would not have attended the protest if I were Larue. I find his decision unethical as the repercussions affect people of multiple parties and ultimately diminishes trust between the news company and its viewers. 

 

Reflection:

 

In my ethical statement I made several changes, the largest being the addition of steps 4 and 5. These steps include the TARES Test and Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance. These two decision-making patterns stuck with me throughout the semester and have been useful as I’ve made decisions in my major. As I interviewed a media professional for this class, he also brought up the TARES test as something he has used in the industry. 

Having a personal ethical statement is something I find important and I feel that what I have written will be useful as I begin to make professional decisions in the near future.

In conclusion, I learned how to see a decision from multiple angles to come to a well-thought-out final decision. I learned ways to consider the effects of my actions on others and myself and to assess whether my decisions represent an authentic version of me. 

 

AI Statement: I used AI to define terms.