Beyond Post-Communication

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• About the author
• About the book
• This eBook can be cited
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Post-Truth and Distrust in a Sea of Information
• A Perfect Storm Scenario
• The Framework and Context of This Analysis
• Methodology and Sources
• PART 1 Democratic Decline, Deficit, Destabilization
• 1. Brexit, Trump, ‘Hung Parliaments’, and the Collapse of Public Trust
• Truth Decay
• Fake News, Alternative Facts, Misinformation, and Disinformation
• Partisanship and Polarization
• The Crisis of Trust
• Particularized Trust
• Generalized/Social Trust
• Political Trust
• What’s the Problem with Distrust?
• The Role of Communication in Trust
• Engagement and Disengagement
• What’s the Problem with Disengagement?
• The Collapse of Civility
• Lack of Listening
• 2. Post-Truth, Post-Democracy … Post-Politics, Post-Capitalism, Post-Society?
• Post-Truth
• What Is Truth?
• Post-Democracy
• The End of Democracy?
• The Relocation of Democracy
• Post-Media
• Post-Journalism
• Post-Representation
• Post-Politics
• Post-Capitalism
• Post-Society
• Living in the Age of Post-Everything
• 3. Post-Communication
• What Is Post-Communication?
• The Growing Pervasiveness of Post-Communication
• Spin
• Merchants of Doubt
• Toxic Sludge Is Good for You
• Citizens for a Free Kuwait
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• ‘Black PR’
• Advertorial and Pay-to-Play
• Native Advertising
• Merged Media
• Greenwashing
• Behavioural Insights—A Tool for Good or Evil
• Bell Pottinger
• Astroturfing
• Covering Up Corporate Corruption
• Communication “Tricks” of Public Companies
• “Washington’s Worst Communicator”
• Churnalism
• Yellow Journalism—Muckraking, Sensationalism and Fabrication
• Partisan Journalism
• Targeting and Micro-Targeting
• The Marketization and Politicization of Government Communication
• Social Media Influencers
• Fake Accounts and Trolls
• Weaponizing Social Media
• Bald-Faced Lies in Advertising
• Spin, Clickbait, Fabrication, Disinformation—The Escalation to Post-Truth
• 4. Technologies Turbocharging Post-Communication
• Social Media—The New Media Monopolies
• Big Data
• Data Analytics
• Cambridge Analytica and Co.
• Automation
• Algorithms
• Bots
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Deepfakes and Fake Text—Next Gen Disinformation
• A Perfect Datastorm Brews
• PART 2 Rehabilitating Public Communication & the Public Sphere
• 5. Strategies for a Communicative Society
• Strategy 1: Self-Regulation by Communication Professionals—Reining in Spin
• Journalism Futures—Beyond Opinion, Partisanship and PRization
• Remodelling Public Relations
• Incorporating Corporate Communication
• Transparency in Corporate and Owned Media
• Advertising and Marketing Standards and Codes
• Government Communication beyond Marketing
• Political Communication to Address the Relocation of Democracy
• Strategy 2: Responsibility and Transparency by Publishers and Platforms
• Human Rights and Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence
• Technology as a Guardian of Technology?
• International Cooperation—Globalization for Good
• Strategy 3: Media Literacy for Consumption and Production
• Overcoming Dunning-Kruger and Third Person Effects
• Inoculation through Media Literacy for Critical Consumption
• Media Literacy for Production—Beyond Likes and Follows to Tagging and Snoping
• Refuting Misinformation and Disinformation
• Obfuscating as a Way to Sabotage Surveillance
• Strategy 4: Public Media to Protect the Public Interest
• The Case for Public Funding of Broadcasting
• Philanthropic Guardians of Democracy
• Media Development
• Strategy 5: Activism and Social Movements
• The Arab Spring
• Occupy
• The Umbrella Movement
• Climate Change Mobilization
• Anti-Gun Lobby
• MySociety
• LGBTQI+
• #MeToo
• Black Lives Matter
• Fixers—Fixing Themselves
• Alt-Right
• Shareholder Activism
• Strategy 6: Corporate Responsibility and Social Purpose in Business
• CSR—Responsibility, or Turning Pigs’ Ears into Silk Purses
• Purpose
• Responsibility of CEOs—Where the Buck Stops
• The Rise of CCOs—The Case for Communication Leadership
• Strategy 7: Research and Analysis
• The Social Construction of New Realities
• A New Vision and Narrative
• Strategy 8: Refuting and Resisting
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Strategy 9: Self-Responsibility—It’s Up to You and Me
• Check Up, Speak Up, Act Up
• Strategy 10: Regulation and Legislation
• Advertising and Marketing Regulation and Legislation
• Public Relations—Uncharted Territory
• Data Protection and Privacy
• Regulation of Social Media Platforms
• Algorithmic Accountability
• Anti-Trust Action—The Big Stick
• Freedom of Speech and of Media
• The Need for Balance
• Carrots and Sticks
• 6. Conclusions
• Complicity
• A Troubling Technology Track Record
• A Tipping Point
• 10 Strategies to Address Post-Communication
• Our Shared Responsibilities—An Action List
• Bibliography
• Index