AND ETHICS
PROFESSIONALISM THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS WHAT ARE PROFESSIONAL ETHICS? ARCHIVO
CODE OF ETHICS OF ENGINEERS VENEZUELA CODE: MEDIA CODE OF PRACTICE
AND ETHICS
AND ETHICS
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THE PHILOSOPHY BARQUISIMETO C.A. RIF: J-12345678-9 CC THE SOURCES, 5TA AVENUE 138-A-58 BARQUISIMETO-VENEZUELA +58-251.123456 / +58-424.5709559 W W W . T H E P H I L O S O P H YA N D E T H I C S . C O M
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What is a profession?
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Professional Ethics
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Venezuela Code: Media Co Practice
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What is a profession? Given the purpose of this treatise, a mere attempt to define or simply to conduct an examination of design professionalism would, I believe, be inadequate. In order to responsibly define design professionalism we must first fundamentally understand what a profession is and what conditions are required for it to exist. Let's examine the vital, identifying characteristics of a profession and see how, as a collection, they combine to create something distinct from the average vocation. pro•fes•sion Pronunciation: /prə-‘fesh-ən/ Function: n a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation the whole body of persons engaged in a calling As a concise and very general definition, this one above serves quite well. There is, of course, much more to a profession. During my research, however, I found the many lists describing the characteristics of professionalism to be filled in every case with irrelevancies, contradictions, non sequiturs, errors, or all of these! Never in my wildest imagination did I expect to encounter such a troubling situation and it left me with a crucial task to accomplish here. Given that (apparently) all other such examples are lacking in logic, integrity, and morality, I have undertaken the task of assembling what I submit as the essential list of characteristics of a profession. It differs from what you will find elsewhere by way of its integrity. Moreover, it will serve as the body of characteristics used in this treatise as the baseline for reference throughout. The fundamental characteristics of a profession: Great responsibility
Professionals deal in matters of vital importance to their clients and are therefore entrusted with grave responsibilities and obligations. Given these inherent obligations, professional work typically involves circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or breach of ethics would be significantly damaging to the client and/or his fortunes.
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Accountability Professionals hold themselves ultimately accountable for the quality of their work with the client. The profession may or may not have mechanisms in place to reinforce and ensure adherence to this principle among its members. If not, the individual professional will (e.g. guarantees and/or contractual provisions). Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge Professionals render specialized services based on theory, knowledge, and skills that are most often peculiar to their profession and generally beyond the understanding and/or capability of those outside of the profession. Sometimes, this specialization will extend to access to the tools and technologies used in the profession (e.g. medical equipment). Institutional preparation Professions typically require a significant period of hands-on, practical experience in the protected company of senior members before aspirants are recognized as professionals. After this provisional period, ongoing education toward professional development is compulsory. A profession may or may not require formal credentials and/or other standards for admission. Autonomy Professionals have control over and, correspondingly, ultimate responsibility for their own work. Professionals tend to define the terms, processes, and conditions of work to be performed for clients (either directly or as preconditions for their ongoing agency employment). Clients rather than customers Members of a profession exercise discrimination in choosing clients rather than simply accepting any interested party as a customer (as merchants do).
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Direct working relationships Professionals habitually work directly with their clients rather than through intermediaries or proxies. Ethical constraints Due to the other characteristics on this list, there is a clear requirement for ethical constraints in the professions. Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or ethics specific to the distinct profession (and sometimes the individual). Professionals also aspire toward a general body of core values, which are centered upon an uncompromising and unconflicted regard for the client's benefit and best interests. Merit-based In a profession, members achieve employment and success based on merit and corresponding voluntary relationships rather than on corrupted ideals such as social principle, mandated support, or extortion (e.g. union members are not professionals). Therefore, a professional is one who must attract clients and profits due to the merits of his work. In the absence of this characteristic, issues of responsibility, accountability, and ethical constraints become irrelevant, negating any otherwiseprofessional characteristics. Capitalist morality The responsibilities inherent to the practice of a profession are impossible to rationally maintain without a moral foundation that flows from a recognition of the singular right of the individual to his own life, along with all of its inherent and potential sovereign value; a concept that only capitalism recognizes, upholds and protects.
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A definition of professionalism The short definition is that professionalism means behaving in an ethical manner while assuming and fulfilling your rightful responsibilities in every situation every time, without fail. To get a bit more granular, one can say that it means, in part, conducting your affairs in such a way as to engender trust and confidence in every aspect of your work. It means having the requisite ability to be worthy of the confidence others place in you. It means having already made the right choices so that you attract the right sort of client and work under good circumstances rather than having to continually make the best of bad circumstances and take whatever is tossed your way, regardless of its quality. Perhaps most importantly, professionalism means, in every situation, willfully gathering responsibility rather than avoiding it. Doing so is important because if you don't acknowledge and assume the onus of responsibility in every aspect of your work you will seldom if ever make the right choice to do what is necessary to achieve consistent success for your employer, your employees, your clients, or yourself. Quite simply, if the buck doesn't stop with you, you're not a professional. Professional Ethics In every area of our life we ​acquire rights and obligations , I can contract them naturally or by the acceptance of a contract or regulation, having on one side to the Explicit Rules consist of laws or written regulations issued and promulgated by an authority in a particular field , while on the other hand we Implicit Rules revolve around the customs which point to a coexistence or Social Welfare of a particular group . The latter group is often related to generally look for a pleasant social environment , where we find an atmosphere of respect and coexistence, and that we can find in each of the stages of life , from the Family role of each of the subjects of a family , applied to the Workplace , respecting individual freedoms of others . It is here that we find the so-called Ethics , being closely linked to the Ethics , which is the establishment of a customs or rules that do not necessarily must be enacted by a registered agency.
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Professional Ethics (who shall control the Professional Activity ) but simply uses are given in the Job Opportunities we have chosen for our lives. In the case of ethics or morality , it is considered as such compliance with the professional work to achieve Voluntary Action , considering itself to one that allows us to perform a good deed , and often depends on the appreciation and subjectivity who engaged in the profession , according to his knowledge and what he believes to be well done, and what should be omitted to avoid evil. Contrary to Professional Ethics , for the concept of ethics is linked to Personal Insights , and hence there is no explicit rules that can apply a penalty or sanction according to professional activity we are doing , but is simply a criterion who each must perform and only depends on the Individual Consciousness and linked to the will and moral evaluation.
Venezuela Code: Media Code of Practice "Freedom of information requires as an indispensable element the willingness and capacity to employ its privileges without abuse. It requires as a basic discipline the moral obligation to seek the facts without prejudice and to spread knowledge without malicious intent. Efforts to establish universal ethical guidelines have led the 20th General Assembly of UNESCO to adopt the special declaration relative to the responsibilities of the media of mass communication, Article 8 of which states that:
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Venezuela Code: Media Code of Practice "Professional organizations, and people who participate in the professional training of journalists and other agents of the mass media and who assist them in performing their functions in a responsible manner should attach special importance to the principles of this Declaration when drawing up and ensuring application of their codes of ethics." The journalist, in his or her position as professional intermediary, is an important factor in the informative process and his or her professional ethics will be manifest in the correct execution of their work, as well as contributing to eliminate or reduce distortion in the informative media. This is highly important because some people in the profession tarnish our name, calling themselves “journalists” and applying pseudo-ethics driven by the precepts of commercial benefit. The ethical guidelines established in this document are based on principles contained within national codes, in declarations and resolutions of the UN and its affiliates, and also in the Declaration of Principles of the Latin- American Federation of Journalists (FELAP) which proclaims: “The freedom of the press is understood as the right of our people to be properly and accurately informed and to express their opinions without any restrictions other than those imposed by the public interest. It declares that the journalist possesses political and ideological responsibility derived from the nature of his or her position, which influences the conscience of the masses, and that this responsibility is unavoidable and constitutes the essence of his or her social function.” FELAP is conscious of the difficulties inherent in the application of an ethical rule system within the current information system ruled by private companies, which has converted news into a commodity.
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Venezuela Code: Media Code of Practice FELAP is convinced of the existence of moral progress and that, through the succession of historical ages, humanity has achieved and imposed ethical points of view that express common interests and which are valid for the human race. In addition to the fact that moral individual freedom is only possible in light of a social context, FELAP takes the view that professional ethics must be conquered from within in order to establish an authentically free press. In the certainty that professional morality will help to achieve this objective, FELAP proclaims the following: 1. Journalism must be a service of collective interest, with a socially important function directed at the integral development of the individual and the community. The journalist should actively participate in social transformation aimed at the democratic perfection of society. He or she should also establish their conscience and professional tasks by promoting respect for freedom and human rights. 2. Journalism must contribute to the strengthening of peace, coexistence, self-determination of towns and cities, disarmament, international dĂŠtente and the mutual understanding between all places in the world; to fight for the equality of human beings without discrimination on the grounds of race, opinion, origins, language, religion or nationality. It is an ineluctable duty that the Latin American journalist must contribute to economic, political and cultural independence for our people and towards the establishment of a new international economic order as well as freedom of information. 3. There are more essential duties of the journalist: To promote, consolidate and defend freedom of expression and the right to information. This is understood as the right all places have to inform and be informed. To promote conditions to enable the establishment of free and balanced global, national and regional communication
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Venezuela Code: Media Code of Practice To fight for a new information order in accordance with the interests of our people which will take over from those which actually rule in the majority of South American countries, deforming the truth? To fight for the democratization of information in order to allow the journalist to exercise his or her mission as professional mediator and agent of social change and in order to allow the people to have access to that same information. To repel propaganda of the inevitability of war, threats and the use of force in international conflicts. 4. In his or her professional work, the journalist will adopt the principles of truth and impartiality and will fail ethically when he silences, falsifies or distorts the facts. He will provide the public with contextual information regarding events, with wide-ranging viewpoints, so that the reader may understand the origin and perspective of the facts. In the diffusion of ideas and opinions, the journalist will advocate the conditions by which they can be expressed democratically and will not be cut short by commercial interests, advertising or anything else similar. 5. The journalist is responsible for his information and opinions and will accept the existence of the right to reply as well as the confidentiality of his sources. 6. The journalist should execute his tasks in a manner of integrity and dignity worthy of his profession, and will demand respect for his beliefs, ideas or opinions as well as respect for the nature of his work. He will also fight for access into the decision-making process in the media. Legally-speaking, he will procure the establishment of judicial statutes which establish rights and professional duties.
7. The following actions are in breach of professional ethics: Plagiarism and lack of respect for intellectual property Bribery and extortion . The omission of information which is in the public interest Defamation and libel Sensationalism
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Venezuela Code: Media Code of Practice 8. Participation or complicity in the repression of the press or workers in the media by journalists are considered a breach of professional ethics of the highest magnitude. 9. The journalist must strengthen the organization and unity of unions and trade unions where they exist and help to create them where they do not and must forge links with the working class of his country. 10. The journalist must promote and keep watch over the defence of national values, especially language as a form of cultural expression and as a general factor in new forms of culture. 11. It is a journalist’s duty to contribute towards the defence of nature and the denounce that which causes the contamination and destruction of the environment.
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