Activist practitioner perspectives of website public relations: Why aren’t activist websites fulfilling the dialogic promise?

Kent and Taylor proposed five dialogic principles for mediated public relations in 1998 and numerous studies of activist groups, corporations, and educational institutions have shown that most websites fail to meet their dialogic potential. This study explores some of the reasons why activist organizations do not integrate dialogic features into their websites. Thirteen activist public relations practitioners were interviewed to determine their perceptions of websites as tools for information dissemination and resource mobilization. Three consistent themes emerged from the interviews: (1) website communication is perceived to be most effective when tied to issue-specific events and issue currency, (2) websites cater to existing and highly involved publics, and (3) websites are viewed as passive communication tools that must be supplemented with traditional public relations practices.     

Organizational listening: Addressing a major gap in public relations theory and practice

An extensive body of literature theorizes public relations as two-way communication, dialogue, and relationships between organizations and their publics. Although there are alternative views, including public relations as advocacy, most theories emphasize dialogue, co-orientation, and relationships incorporating satisfaction, trust, and control mutuality—even to the extent of symmetry. Critical perspectives propose a sociocultural turn that further emphasizes stakeholders’ and societal interests. This analysis draws on a three-country study that reveals a major theory-practice gap and proposes a significant expansion of public relations theory in relation to listening to realize normative notions of public relations and give effect to claims of dialogue and engagement.     

建立中国-东盟城市科技文化发展战略的对话关系

建立中国—东盟城市科技文化发展战略的对话关系,以“共同的需要,共同的未来”为主题,加强经济技术合作,提高中心城市的综合竞争力,面向东南亚,发展国际科技教育产业,建设自由贸易区,推进东南亚经济、文化和社会的繁荣、发展和稳定。1、在中心城市建立信息化社区,现代科技教育信息化,建立十里科技文化长街,增强城市的国际综合竞争力;2、创新发展跨国文化教育产业经济,加强与东盟的科技文化合作,把广西中心城市打造成华南国际经济贸易、科技文化城,并带动周边经济的发展。     

伊斯兰视阈中的文明对话与全球伦理

关于开展文明对话、构建全球伦理的讨论,是自20世纪90年代以来国际学术界的重大议题,中国学术界也积极参与有关讨论,发表了不少独到的意见。但中国学术界对伊斯兰文明在开展文明对话、构建全球伦理方面所具有的独特价值和意义尚缺乏必要的理解和研究。本文通过对伊斯兰文明及其内在精神的揭示,特别是从伊斯兰文明之源的《古兰经》和圣训的原则精神出发,指出倡导文明对话不仅是伊斯兰文明固有的人文精神,而且也是伊斯兰文明的历史传统;同时,构建全球伦理也是伊斯兰文明始终追求的重要目标,伊斯兰文明丰富的伦理思想为今天的全球伦理建设提供了重要的思想资源,开展平等的文明对话,是构建全球伦理的必由之路。     

Reimagining dialogue in public relations: Bakhtin and open dialogue in the public sphere

Over the past several decades, public relations scholarship has added significant richness to its understanding of dialogue. Such research has followed a theoretical trajectory centered on the “I and Thou” philosophy of Martin Buber. Drawing from Mikhail Bakhtin’s Dialogic Imagination, this essay puts public relations dialogic scholarship into conversation with the concept of dialogue in a broader societal context. Bakhtin’s work provides additional understanding of public relations’ roles in dialogue, particularly in regards to facilitating public conversations. Bakhtin’s emphasis on contextual and individually generated meanings illuminates the nature and structure of public conversations and the potential for public relations practitioners to play a more active and positive role in the enactment of open dialogue.     

Toward a normative social media theory for public relations

Social media might represent the greatest social innovation/revolution in the history of communication, fundamentally altering how humans communicate, and the practice of public relations, journalism, advertising, marketing, and business. Dozens of theories and concepts including dialogue, engagement, identification, social presence, uses and gratifications, conversational human voice, and many others inform social media. However, what has commonly taken place in social media contexts and public relations has been the importation and application of other theories and concepts, rather than exploring and clarifying the unique features and capabilities of social media per se. This essay argues that social media represent a new communication paradigm, and this essay takes up the challenge of building social media theory for public relations by identifying features of social media that have emerged from existing research as fundamental to understanding social media, and eventually developing a theory(s) of social media for public relations.     

When crowdsourcing in CSR leads to dialogic communication: The effects of trust and distrust

In this study, we explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) crowdsourcing on dialogic communication considering trust/distrust as a moderator, as well as the role of dialogic communication in causing positive CSR and company evaluations. A 2 (crowdsourcing vs. non-crowdsourcing) × 2 (trust vs. distrust) between-subjects experiment was conducted using real company names. The results show that trust generated a higher perception of dialogic communication, CSR, and company evaluations than distrust. We also identify accessibility and grounding as the dialogic communication outcomes induced by crowdsourced CSR. A moderated mediation test shows that crowdsourced CSR leads to positive evaluations only when conducted by a trusted company through accessibility/grounding. As expected, distrust nullified such mediation effects.     

治理走向何处: 基层社会治理的单位选择和范式转向 ——兼谈《被困的治理（1980—2009）》

“基层社会秩序如何可能”一直是中国研究的议题之一,《被困的治理》某种程度延承和回应了这一蕴味十足的议题。在对基层研究“村落、县域以及乡镇研究单位”的审慎性反思后,它从容地选择既兼顾乡村生活复杂性又兼顾科层组织制度分析长处的乡镇作为田野研究起点。在深描河镇近30年的历时性事件变迁时,《被困的治理》也试图与传统基层治理研究中的主体范式和规则范式对话,并结合当前多元化治理主体、双重性治理规则以及治理媒介资源的基层结构化情境变迁,构建“复合治理”概念借以弥补传统基层治理研究范式的遗憾。虽然复合治理为我们提供了理解基层社会变化的新视角,但基层社会本身在复合治理的“双重、多元、灵活”的标准下又陷入治理的困境。总的来说,《被困的治理》在提供启发性引导时,又给我们遗留下了“治理走向何处”的未结议题。     

《春秋》《左传》平议

《史记》中有四处比较集中而详细的记载孔子作《春秋》一事，结合有关资料分析这些记载，不难看出在司马迁的心目中，孔子所作之《春秋》决不是《春秋经》而是《孔子史记》即《孔春秋》。左丘明为《春秋》作《传》一事，先秦并无记载，于史无据。乃汉儒主要是公羊家儒者傅会杜撰出来的，不可信从。《春秋考论》一书的考论是经得起检验的，其学术价值和贡献应该得到尊重和肯定，一味抹煞的态度是不可取的。     

Revisiting the concept “dialogue” in public relations

This paper follows a critical approach in exploring the philosophical underpinnings and key features of dialogue in public relations practice and thinking. It argues that dialogue has been uncritically equated to two-way symmetrical communication, which has not done justice to the nature of dialogue, and has effectively stifled concrete development of a dialogic theory in public relations. The paper draws from a range of literature, including mainstream public relations and communication philosophy—in particular the philosophy of Martin Buber. The purpose of this paper is to inform public relations thinking by encouraging debate rather than proposing a new theoretical approach. As such, it sets out to explore the concept of dialogue and its philosophical underpinning, considers its practical application and suggests that it should not be seen as superior to persuasion.