Strategic silence : public relations and indirect communication

Author(s)

• Dimitrov, Roumen

Bibliographic Information

Strategic silence : public relations and indirect communication

Roumen Dimitrov

（Routledge new directions in public relations and communication research）

Routledge, 2018

• : hbk

Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Mainstream public relations overvalues noise, sound and voice in public communication. But how can we explain that while practitioners use silence on a daily basis, academics have widely remained quiet on the subject? Why is silence habitually famed as inherently bad and unethical? Silence is neither separate from nor the opposite of communication. The inclusion of silence on a par with speech and non-verbal means is a vital element of any communication strategy; it opens it up for a new, complex and more reflective understanding of strategic silence as indirect communication. Drawing on a number of disciplines that see in silence what public relations academics have not yet, this book reveals forms of silence to inform public relations solutions in practice and theory. How do we manage silence? How can strategic silence increase the capacity of public relations as a change agent? Using a format of multiple short chapters and practice examples, this is the first book that discusses the concept of strategic silence, and its consequences for PR theory and practice. Applying silence to communication cases and issues in global societies, it will be of interest to scholars and researchers in public relations, strategic communications and communication studies.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Foreword Acknowledgments I INTRODUCTION II WHY IS PR SILENT ABOUT SILENCE? The Western bias against silence Logocentrism in the European tradition Binomial separation of silence Problematizing and naturalizing Socialized in public relations How do we measure silence? Silence does not sell Seller's market of PR labour, byer's market of PR product Silence does not violate the senses Silence does not click-bite Silent symbiosis Getting attention or directing attention? The dominance of journalism silences over PR silences Core and periphery The message is the story The messenger is the story The media is the story III STRATEGY AND SILENCE: MICHEL FOUCAULT, JEAN BAUDRILLARD, PIERRE BOURDIEU, STUART HALL, NORMAN FAIRCLOUGH AND JUERGEN HABERMAS Strategy as discursive practice Discursive practice Strategy in silence, silence in strategy Silence and secret Strategy and practice Instrumental and communicative action Action and practice Serious and authentic Practical mastery Instrumentality and finality IV INDIRECT COMMUNICATION Silence and invisibility The sayable and the seeable Presence and absence Image and representation Mediated invisibility and power Communication and silence Silencing communication Communicative silence Structural silence Double articulation The ladder of indirect communication Strategy and silence Communication and non-communication Public and private communication Discursive and non-discursive Direct and indirect discourse Explicit and implicit Indirect discourse Speech acts Silence as indirect discourse Explicit and implicit silence Explicit silence Implicit silence Framing the mix V STRATEGIC SILENCES Strategic silences: A definition Intentional, directed at audiences Communicative Discursive In situation of communication Degrees of indirectness Actionable listening Content provision Stealth marketing PR - from wholesaler to retailer? Consumer advocacy Content creation and relationships building Silence as negation Apophatic silence Silence discourses Small voice and small target The spell of uncompromised reality The apophatic turn Complicit silence Weapons of the weak Embarrassment as strategy Silence as disengagement Non-engagement and disengagement Engagement and resistance Disengagement as explicit silence Presuppositions in implicit silence Frame as omission Strategic ambiguity Iconicity and ambiguity Polyvalence and openness Retail or grand design communication? Ambiguation and disambiguation Silence as attention diversion Taking out the trash Firebraking Stoking the fire Off the record communication On and off the record No comment and off the record Trust and affinity Off the record has rules VI SILENCE BEYOND STRATEGY Silence as system System and strategy Theme and opinion The art of being boring Silence as skillset The credibility to say No Sweat equity Noise curation Attribution and accreditation VII CONCLUSIONS References Personal interviews Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BB25722254
• ISBN:
  • 9781138100039
• LCCN: 2017020372
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Abingdon
• Pages/Volumes: xiii, 241 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : HM1221
  • DC23 : 659.2
  • DC : 659.111
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Public relations
  • LCSH : Communication
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BB14707496