Panacea, placebo or prudence: Perspectives and constraints for corporate dialogue

Ihlen, Øyvind; Levenshus, Abbey Blake

doi:10.1177/2046147x17708815

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…My aim in this section is not to comprehensively review the considerable field of PR literature in this area, but rather to highlight examples of significant trends and offer insights on transparency from other disciplines. Public relations scholarship has extensively explored issues of engagement and deliberation in which institutions reach out to the public with information and possibilities for informed dialogue and influence on decision-making (Edwards, 2018; Ihlen and Levenshus, 2017; Lee, 2015). There is an interest in politics and the lack of transparency in political practices (Cave and Rowell, 2014; Davis, 2002; Lloyd and Toogood, 2015); analysis of PR ethics including truth-telling (Jackson and Moloney, 2019); interest in (a lack of) transparency in corporations (Miller and Dinan, 2008) and in CSR reporting (Coombs and Holladay, 2013).…”

Section: Transparencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The secrecy−transparency dynamic: A sociological reframing of secrecy and transparency for public relations research

Cronin

2020

Public Relations Inquiry

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This article offers a sociological account of how we might analyse the relationship between contemporary practices and discourses of secrecy on the one hand, and those of transparency on the other hand. While secrecy is often framed in popular and political discourses as the antithesis of transparency, in reality, their relationship is more complex and co-constitutive than may initially appear. The article argues that understanding the interface between secrecy and transparency as a socially embedded dynamic can offer public relations scholarship productive avenues for both theoretically oriented research and empirical studies. In its role in the management of the secrecy−transparency dynamic, PR plays a significant role in actively creating social relations. This article aims to provide resources for assessing the strength of this dynamic in acting to structure social, political and economic relations, and offers new perspectives on how techniques employed to manage the secrecy–transparency dynamic – including public relations – are both embedded in such relations and act to shape them.

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Section: Transparencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The secrecy−transparency dynamic: A sociological reframing of secrecy and transparency for public relations research

Cronin

2020

Public Relations Inquiry

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“…This approach to rhetoric draws on agonistic theory to place high hopes on practitioners and their autonomy (Moloney & McKie, 2015). Ethical limits are imposed on practitioners stemming from social norms, relatedness, and socialization in the work place, as well as the political-economic systems in which corporations are embedded (Ihlen & Levenshus, 2017).…”

Section: Societal Level: Citizenship As Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical grounds for public relations as organizational rhetoric

Ihlen

Heath

2019

Public Relations Review

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“…In addition, the principles of dialogic communication have also been challenged by practitioners who fail to see value from the dialogic approach in daily practice, or are constrained by their issue positions or organizational resources to implement dialogic communication (Sommerfeldt, Kent, & Taylor, 2012). Others have criticized the theory for failing to account for power imbalances between organizations and their publics and the influence of factors such as social, political, and economic contexts on dialogic communication (Ihlen & Levenshus, 2017;Roper, 2005). Additionally, as technological innovations continue to revolutionize communication processes, emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning may all pose new questions and challenges to dialogic communication and require the theory to evolve and adapt-or risk becoming irrelevant.…”

Section: Criticisms Of the Dialogic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Notes on a dialogue: twenty years of digital dialogic communication research in public relations

Sommerfeldt

Yang

2018

Journal of Public Relations Research

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Historically speaking, the use of mass communication channels in public relations practice has mirrored the diffusion of new technologies. Early 20th century public relations efforts largely relied on newspapers and magazines as channels to promote clients and causes. Radio and television became staple tools for public relations upon their introduction and mass diffusion through society. By and large, these technologies were one-way communication tools for public relations to transmit information to publics, and most often content must have first passed the scrutiny of media gatekeepers. However, with the introduction and widespread penetration of the Internet, public relations practitioners could communicate directly with publics on an unprecedented scale without the approval of media gatekeepers or conformity to their rules. Through so-called Web 1.0 platforms, like websites and early blogs, practitioners could create their own content and directly reach their publics-and they had no idea what to do. Early research on the adoption of Internet-enabled technologies by practitioners suggests they were indeed confused about what to make of this fledgling communication tool. Some embraced the new platform; others viewed it as a distraction. By the turn of the century, it was still considered noteworthy for public relations practitioners to utilize websites for public relations purposes, and many regarded the technology with skepticism as to its strategic value (Hill & White, 2000). It was within this murky and uncertain technological environment that Kent and Taylor (1998) proposed the five principles of dialogic communication in their article, "Building Dialogic Relationships Through the World Wide Web." The article was the first comprehensive theoretical framework to guide the field of public relations in its use of digital communication. Their work was among the earliest public relations studies to recognize the relationship-building potential of digital communication technology (at that time, mostly websites) and to provide strategies for communication professionals seeking to build relationships with publics. In the 2 decades since the article's publication, the dialogic principles have become a touchstone for the public relations literature, and Kent and Taylor's (1998) article outlining the principles is among the most cited and influential articles in public relations history. The principles have been applied in fields such as public relations, advertising, marketing, management, organizational communication, and information studies. Hundreds of studies have used the dialogic principles to analyze various types of organizational websites (

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Panacea, placebo or prudence: Perspectives and constraints for corporate dialogue

Cited by 24 publications

References 39 publications

The secrecy−transparency dynamic: A sociological reframing of secrecy and transparency for public relations research

The secrecy−transparency dynamic: A sociological reframing of secrecy and transparency for public relations research

Ethical grounds for public relations as organizational rhetoric

Notes on a dialogue: twenty years of digital dialogic communication research in public relations

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