In 1984, on behalf of more than 130 petitioners, James Jaksa from Western Michigan University submitted a request to the administrative committee of the Speech Communication Association— now known as the National Communication Association (NCA)—to establish a Communication Ethics Commission. In the petition, Jaksa noted that "ethics is central to [the communication] field and has been an indispensable part of our tradition since our beginnings." Jaksa went on to add the following:

[The] search for truth, truthfulness in communication, and the moral obligations of speakers, listeners, third persons, and society as a whole are concerns of scholars in communication. However, events in contemporary society have presented a real threat to confidence in "the word."…The tendency to accept lies and deception as the norm in parts of our society is increasing. Yet truthfulness must be the norm for communication to exist and for...