By MARK PEARSON Follow @Journlaw
I had the honour of delivering an online plenary address on mindful communication last week to a seminar organised by the Bhawanipur Education Society College in Kolkata, India.
The seminar’s coverage in Edugraph
The topic was ‘Applying Buddhist principles to communication law and ethics: a mindful approach’.
The paper linked key principles from Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path to best practice in communication law and ethics.
It explained how a mindful and reflective approach to the ethical and legal consequences of professional communication can strengthen the credibility of communication and journalism and serve to minimise suffering and karmic consequences – both for the practitioner and the audience.
Special attention was paid to the practical and secular application of the key Buddhist principles of wise intent, wise speech, wise action and wise mindfulness in the professional communication process. Techniques for reflection in the midst of busy communication workplaces – including brief mindful reflections, journalling and mindmapping – were flagged and considered.
I drew upon my authored and co-authored books and research articles to offer illustrative examples of the application of such tools to legal and ethical problems including defamation, invasion of privacy, and breach of confidentiality.
Different religious approaches to truthfulness and honesty were also considered.
The starting point for students to identify their own ‘moral compass’ – the key biographical influences that inform their own system of morality – was explained.
Also crucial is the ability to recognise the point at which an ethical or legal dilemma is arising and then to pause to reflect upon its implications and a suitable course of action.
The elements of Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path offer a starting point for this analysis because they are straightforward principles that can be distilled from most religions and philosophies but can be presented in a simple list form to offer a moral lens through which the professional ethical rules and the media laws of society can be assessed.
For some of my related research, please see:
Pearson, M. (2024). Chapter 3: Tools for reflection in a communication context. In Pearson, M. (2024). The Communicator’s Guide to Media Law and Ethics – A Handbook for Australian Professionals (Routledge, London and NY). Pp. 49-76. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003372752-4
Pearson, M. (2014). Towards ‘mindful journalism’: Applying Buddhism’s Eightfold Path as an ethical framework for modern journalism, Ethical Space 11 (4): 38 – 46. http://www.communicationethics.net/journal/v11n4/feat1.pdf
Gunaratne, S.A; Pearson, M. and Senarath, S. (eds) (2015). Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era: A Buddhist Approach (Routledge, NY). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315723341
Morton, T. and Pearson, M. (2015), Zones of silence: Forensic patients, radio documentary, and a mindful approach to journalism ethics. Pacific Journalism Review. 21 (2): 11-32. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v21i2.113
Pearson, M. (2015). Enlightening communication analysis in Asia-Pacific: Media studies, ethics and law using a Buddhist perspective. International Communication Gazette, 77 (5): 456-470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048515586945
Pearson, M. (2019). “Spirituality in Journalism”, in Bernadette Flanagan and Lazlo Zsolnai (eds) (2019) The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality and Society, Routledge, London. pp. 419-426 [ISBN 9781138214675 ] https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315445489
Pearson, M., McMahon, C., O’Donovan, A., & O’Shannessy, D. (2021). Building journalists’ resilience through mindfulness strategies. Journalism, 22(7), 1647–1664. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884919833253
Pearson, M. (2023). Student perceptions of mindful reflection as a media law teaching tool. Australian Journalism Review. 45 (2) pp. 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajr_00132_1
Disclaimer: While I write about media law and ethics, nothing here should be construed as legal advice. I am an academic, not a lawyer. My only advice is that you consult a lawyer before taking any legal risks.
© Mark Pearson 2024 – the moral right of the author has been asserted.