The values we share : towards an inclusive ethics of dialogic communication

Eberwein, Tobias (author), Rozgonyi, Krisztina (author), Biljak Gerjevič, Romana (author)

Digital media offer significant opportunities for dialogue and participation in democratic processes, but they also foster dysfunctional communication patterns such as hate speech and disinformation. While journalism ethics increasingly addresses these challenges, defining “good communication conduct” beyond professional contexts remains difficult. This paper examines the role of dialogic communication in ethical codes and guidelines across various forms of public communication. A comparative study of eight European countries (Austria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Switzerland) analyses 429 documents from a wide range of national and international institutions. The content analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, reveals that most codes focus on journalism, whereas only few address the needs of media users. However, the study identifies good-practice examples that prioritise different aspects related to dialogue and participation, offering insights into principles of an inclusive ethics of dialogic communication. The findings contribute to the academic discourse on communication ethics in the digital age and provide guidance for media practitioners and policymakers.

• Language: English
• Keywords: participation, dialogic communication ethics, inclusive accountability, codes of ethics
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 353-372
• Numbering: Vol. 51, iss. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-186477
• UDC: 070.11
• ISSN on article: 1613-4087
• DOI: 10.1515/commun-2026-0011
• COBISS.SI-ID: 289725955
• Publication date in RUL: 02.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Communications
• Shortened title: Communications
• Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter
• ISSN: 1613-4087
• COBISS.SI-ID: 54964739

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mediji, novinarstvo, sporazumevanje, etični vidik

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101094816
• Name: Fostering capacity building for civic resilience and participation: Dialogic communication ethics and accountability
• Acronym: DIACOMET