Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism

Social Movement Organization and Communication Ethics: An Ethic al Analysis of Consumer-Directed Health Care Communication Campaig n of Tea Party Patriots (TPP)

Abstract

Pokhrel L

Review of literature shows that the current scholarship lacks research on the ethicality of the social movement organizations. This paper examines the moral and ethical paradigms of a well-known social movement organization of America-tea party patriot (TPP), and its consumer directed health care social movement. This paper employed a textual analysis approach and used the communication campaign materials of TPP’s social movement to find whether the TPP’s communication campaign met five ethical principles, called TARES. The research found that truthfulness and authenticity of TARES principles are the strengths of the campaign, while equity and social responsibility of the campaign are not strengths, and respect for the audience is highly controversial. The paper recommends that TPP as a social movement organization should attempt to strike a balance between a consequentialist focus on health outcomes and costs, and a due respect for autonomy and integrity of individual freedom of choice.