Post-Truth Public Relations: Communication in an Era of Digital Disinformation

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Illustrations
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
	Peak public relations
	Post-classical public relations: a new style for the post-truth era
	Uneven vocality in the marketplace of ideas
	References
2 Classical public relations
	An introduction and some definitions
	The historical roots of classical public relations
	The emergence of classical public relations in United States and Europe
	Growth of a new industry of communicative labour
	Public relations and post-war transnational institutions
	Conformance for relational advantage
	The public sphere and classical public relations: the centre ground
	The media and classical public relations
	Classical public relations and the post-war consensus
	The peak of a “monstrous industry”?
	References
3 Post-classical public relations
	Convergence
	The role of social media
	Mediums and messages again
	The power of the platforms
	Trust in media and the public relations of distraction
	Centrality of media in the public relations of distraction
	The return of inauthenticity
	Front groups: public relations and inauthenticity in public sphere
	The rise of the political technologists
	Russia’s use of post-truth public relations to project power
	Owned media, weaponing news and other digital mischiefs
	References
4 The mixed public relations repertoire for the age of disruption
	Incivility as public relations campaign tactic
	The new entrepreneurs of political communication
	The right messages to the right people: technology and targeting
	Emotion, promotion and “truthful hyperbole”
	Dossier-based public relations: weigh the facts, don’t analyse them
	The role of race in reputation laundering
	Undermining mainstream media
	Owned media and post-truth public relations on behalf of the nation state
	The revival of religion in public communication
	Contesting the facts: the booming industry of public relations, law and investigation
	References
5 The rhetoric of certainty and division
	Introduction
	Divisive public communication in the age of anger
	Partisan media and absolutist opinions
	Mediatisation and speech acts
	Confrontational and uncivil language as a positioning tool
	The online spaces of hyper-confrontation
	Creating division: the alt-right digital PR ecosystem
	The role of the platforms
	Conclusion: the contested effects of divisive rhetoric
	References
6 Facts don’t matter
	Introduction
	Post-truth and the media
	Historical roots of post-truth: the Sophists and the inauthentic rhetoric of persuasion
	Technology as an enabler of fake news
	Anti-vaxxers: fighting the facts
	False equivalence and belief in “people like me”
	Emotion, superstition and collective narcissism
	Epistemic volatility and post-truth
	Fake news and pseudo-events
	The interplay of media and public relations in the post-truth era
	MisIndiainformation: fake news in the 2019 Indian election
	Conclusion
	References
7 Performativity and public communication
	Introduction
	The performative element of post-classical public relations
	Performativity and the media: “I love your show” and other stories
	Channelling Trump and the public relations performances of distraction
	The triumph of showmanship over statecraft?
	Reality TV and other low brow entertainment in the economy of attention
	The comedic public relations performances of political clowns
	Retrospective military messaging and performance
	The business of showmanship
	References
8 The digital mixology of online engagement
	Introduction
	Computation, data and online engagement
	From optimistic beginnings to a “cesspool” of misinformation
	Facebook: social network or people-centric propaganda engine?
	Likes, content and the flywheel of social media engagement
	The most powerful marketing tool an extremist could hope for
	Computation, emotion and attention
	Wikipedia and online public relations
	From press officers to content producers: the new digital work of engagement
	Social media influencers
	References
Conclusion
	Making sense of post-classical public relations
	The scope of modern communicative labour
	The practice of post-classical public relations
Index