Those who do political communication for a living tend to think of themselves as generally ethical people doing the best they can to make the world and our country a little better. To find out more about those ethical foundations we are asking political communication professionals, and those who study political communication, what, if any, ethical responsibility political communication professionals have, and to whom or what they have that responsibility.

All participants answer the same five questions (more or less). We want to know what ethical standards should be, why someone should be ethical, examples of ethical and unethical behavior, and what those just starting out should think about. We might also ask another question or three, depending on what’s in the news, how the conversation is going, or because we think it’s interesting.