Strategic Silence

Roumen Dimitrov is Senior Lecturer of Public Relations and Advertising at the School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Roumen has conducted various international research projects such as for the European Commission, United States Agency for International Development and UNESCO.

Is strategic silence simply strategic inaction, hiding something from someone, not telling the truth, overall bad thing? Or it is a more complex concept and central to the PR theory and PR practice as Rumen Dimitrov argues in his ground-breaking publication Strategic Silence: Public Relations and indirect communication? After reading the book, one is left definitely with a new understanding and vision on the enormous power of silence in communication - silence of public relations about its silences, the relation between strategy and silence, silence and indirect communication and strategic silences in plural.Irina Bokova, Director-General, UNESCO This book shows that much remains to be done in the field of strategic communication, since for the first time silence as indirect communication and its fitting in the strategical dimension are analysed in detail. Dimitrov's work is not only pioneering; it is the most innovative and critical essay published in recent years. From a broader perspective, it is already an indispensable book for communication theory.Jordi Xifra, Professor, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, SpainThis is a welcome addition to the stock of public relations literature, addressing a topic that is central to public relations practice, but has been widely neglected in scholarship until now. The importance of silence is continually under-estimated in public relations research yet, as Dimitrov points out, its presence saturates public relations work and merits investigation. Taking the reader on an eclectic journey characterised by an analytical approach that is both forensic and creative, Dimitrov incorporates traditional scholarship as well as insights from a sociology, psychology, philosophy, business, cultural studies – to name just a few of the disciplines – in order to understand the object of his attention. The result is a complex, engaging and academically rigorous book that should grace the shelves of anyone interested in public relations and promotional communication more broadly. Lee Edwards, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.

• Table of ContentsForewordAcknowledgmentsI INTRODUCTIONII 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 JÜRGEN HABERMASStrategy 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 COMMUNICATIONSilence and invisibility The sayable and the seeable Presence and absence Image and representat