The ethical behavior has long been a subject of the strategic communication discipline, but in South Africa, there are scarce empirical researches of ethical practice to date. In this paper through interviews with ten South African strategic communication practitioners in diverse organisations. We examine what constitutes ethical communication and the roles of practitioners in guiding the organisation toward considering ethics during a crisis. Findings reveal ten moral compass roles which are categorized into ethical counsel and advocacy role types. Although marked (...) with legal, leaders/clients who want practitioners to compromise on ethical counsel roles, practitioners were defining organisation's ethics role. (shrink)

This longitudinal study examines changes in the moral identity of 48 emerging-adult U.S. college graduates in media-related fields from their first year after college to three years later as they progressed into early work life. Results from four moral psychology survey instruments reflect significant shifts in moral reasoning, relativistic thinking and idealism, coupled with stability in personality traits and character strengths. A fifth instrument found largely positive assessments of workplace ethical climate. The findings suggest that emerging adulthood is an important (...) time for the development of a robust professional moral self that is characterized by growing maturity in moral judgment that intersects with a foundation of character developed through a variety of influences before, during and after college. Findings have significant implications for young practitioners entering the workplace, media managers working with them, and media pedagogy. (shrink)