The Ethics of User-Generated Content in Political and Commercial Strategic Communication Campaigns

The Ethics of User-Generated Content in Political and Commercial Strategic Communication Campaigns
Dec. 5, 2011

Political organizations and commercial firms are increasingly using social media and user-generated content to promote their causes, candidates and products. UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication professors Daniel Kreiss and Daren C. Brabham discuss how these strategic actors disseminate content that appears to be user-generated, create undisclosed partnerships with blogs and other new media outlets, and profit from the appropriation of voluntarily-produced cultural content. They argue that these practices are increasingly part of the strategic communications landscape across many domains of social activity, and raise troubling ethical issues with respect to the transparency of political and corporate speech.

Presented by the UNC Parr Center for Ethics, the Lunch & Learn program is a series of workshops where experts discuss ethical issues in their areas of expertise. They are open to all members of the community.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• UNC
• Parr Center for Ethics
• ethics
• media ethics
• Daniel Kreiss
• Daren C. Brabham
• strategic communication
• political communication