Secrecy in Public Relations, Mediation and News Cultures

This book investigates the relationship of secrecy as a social practice to contemporary media, news cultures and public relations.

Drawing on Georg Simmel¿s theorisation of how secrecy produces a ¿second world¿ alongside the ¿obvious world¿ and creates and reshapes social relations, Anne Cronin argues for close analysis of the PR industry as a powerful vector of secrecy and an examination of its relationship to news cultures. Using case studies and in-depth interviews, as well as recent research in media and cultural studies, sociology, journalism studies and communication studies, the book analyses how PR practices generate a second, shadow world of the media sphere which has a profound impact on the ¿obvious world¿. It interrogates both the PR industry¿s and news culture¿s role in shaping social relations for a digital media landscape, and those initiatives promoting transparency of data and decision-making processes.

An insightful, interdisciplinary approach to debate