Communication Ethics Literacy and Counterterrorism

Abstract

Communication ethics involves practices that yield social literacy about what matters to persons and organizations. When applied to social artifacts, the literacy of communication ethics provides a lens for collecting, interpreting, and making sense out of data. The U.S. currently faces a unique threat as terrorism presents professionals with demanding challenges to national security. The challenges resulting from terrorism are both complex and dynamic. As professionals develop means to respond to threats, new challenges arise. Thus, efforts are ongoing in the fight against terrorism. In response to this challenge, this chapter begins with the assumption that communication ethics literacy can assist researchers in navigating the terrains of counterterrorism practices by broadening the scope of research and opening new avenues for creative response. Creative response, which, this work argues, is made possible by active and continued reflective communicative practices, prevents terrorism from achieving its aim of crippling persons to inaction through terror, violence, and fear.