Steve Johnston is the COO of FlexPoint Media, an audience-centric advertising agency dedicated to helping campaigns, causes, and companies shape public opinion. Prior to joining FlexPoint, he was a member of Google’s Elections Team where he drove the adoption of digital advertising during the 2016 Election. Before his time at Google, Steve directed the digital marketing for Senator Dan Sullivan’s winning Senate campaign in 2014, developed digital strategy for Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and worked on Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Steve also co-founded GovPredict, a startup that received investment from Y Combinator and went on to be acquired by Phone2Action. He was named to Campaigns & Elections Magazine's 2016 "Rising Stars" and the American Association of Political Consultants' 2017 “40 Under 40” list. Steve earned an MBA in Marketing and Operations Management from Wharton and an AB in Government from Harvard. @StevenEJohnston
1) To what ethical standard should political communication be held? Where should political communication ethics be grounded?
The trade association for the political industry, the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), has a Code of Ethics for AAPC members. I think the Code outlines a lot of good standards for conducting oneself in the industry, particularly where political communication is concerned. The standards that pertain to political communication really come down to truth, which is an important foundation for ethical political communication. Without truth, I don't think you can have ethical political communication. These days, I would go a step further and also underscore that ethical political communication should not incite violence against an individual or group of individuals. Politics is a tough business and full of conflict because the stakes are so high, but political communication should not result in anyone’s physical harm.
2) Why should someone in political communication behave ethically?
Your reputation is everything in politics. If you behave ethically, you will develop a reputation for behaving ethically, and you will attract more opportunities because people will want to work with you. The opposite is true, too: if you behave unethically, you will develop a reputation for behaving unethically, and you will attract fewer opportunities. People who cut corners or sacrifice ethics for short term gain don't do so well over the long run, and they're also more likely to work with similarly unethical people, increasing the risk of ruin. It's much easier to destroy one's reputation than it is to build one, and the world of political communication is a pretty small one, too: people talk and can easily learn if someone behaves ethically.
3) Can you give an example of ethical political communication? What can people point to and say “do more of that?”
The moment when Senator John McCain addressed a woman in Minnesota who said she couldn’t trust Barack Obama because he was an Arab stands out as a “do more of that” moment. Not only did Senator McCain correct her and say he’s not an Arab, but he also acknowledged Senator Obama as “a decent family man” with whom he happened to disagree. He did so without hesitation. Senator McCain was committed to truth and wasn’t going to tolerate falsehoods with a smile, wink, or nod, even if those falsehoods might benefit him. It’s moments like this one that made me so proud to work on Senator McCain’s campaign. He’d tell people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. We need more McCains.
4) Can you give an example of an ethical challenge or question you or political communication professionals in your field have faced or are likely to face?
During one campaign, I discovered social media posts written by a relative of our Democrat opponent that included extremely offensive remarks about President Obama. The posts could have potentially proved harmful to our opponent, but without knowing the person in question, it appeared to me that this relative was going through some sort of mental distress. Confronted with the choice of whether or not to go public with this information, I determined that it would not be appropriate to do so. Political communication professionals are perpetually confronted with ethical challenges relating to whether or not they should weaponize information they have at their fingertips. I don’t regret my decision, not just because our campaign won, but because there is no telling what the unintended consequences might have been had I decided otherwise.
5) What advice about ethics do you have for people studying political communication or starting their careers in the field?
I can’t underscore enough the importance of one’s reputation in this industry. You build your reputation as someone who is ethical (or not) over time, and it’s much easier to destroy a reputation than to build one. At any point in your career, but especially early on, where you work or who you work for is critical to establishing your reputation. Since you have less experience, the reputations of these places and people can really shape your own reputation. That’s why it’s very important to work in places and with people who are ethical. In the event you find yourself in a situation where you are confronted with unethical practices, there is always a way out, and you certainly aren’t doomed just because you were placed in an unethical situation. How you responded and what you learned can even enhance your reputation over the long run.