------ Forwarded Message
From: Barry Richards <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Barry Richards <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:04:15 +0000
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Communication in the age of suspicion
COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF SUSPICION
A Conference on Trust, Communication and Culture
organised by Bournemouth University, February 20-21 2004
Is trust still possible?
Who in public life deserves our trust?
Do emphases on accountability and audit erode trust?
What public communications can we now believe?
The problem of trust in the modern world has preoccupied theorists and
researchers across many disciplines for some time. Many see a collapse of
trust; others a climate of suspicion. Most agree that efforts to develop an
inclusive and democratic culture are hampered by a weakness of trust:
people do not believe many of the messages they receive as citizens and
consumers. The lack of trust in political messages is seen as a major cause
of disengagement from politics, while many commercial organisations
struggle to retain any degree of public belief in their probity. As
political parties and corporations seek to restore trust by managing their
communications more intensively, so mistrust intensifies. Corporate
behaviours and political events (e.g. recent accounting scandals, and
currently the debate about why we went to war in Iraq) repeatedly bring to
centre stage the issue of trust in leaders. Public information communicated
by scientists, doctors and other professionals is also contested.
This conference organised by the Centre for Public Communication Research
at Bournemouth University will bring together a range of perspectives on
this issue, with a focus on the role of communications - especially managed
communications - in enhancing or eroding credibility, authority and trust.
Amongst the topics to be addressed (in papers by researchers from the UK,
US, Australia, China and East Europe) will be environmental risk; health
scares; authenticity, emotion and trust; the mass mediation of suspicion;
public relations; trust and marketing; public life and political
legitimacy. Speakers will include Chas Critcher, Bob Franklin, Nicholas
Jones and Barry Richards. A keynote address will be given by Profs. Gary
Gumpert and Susan Drucker of New York. There will be a panel of MPs and
Parliamentary candidates, a conference artist, and a session on the UK
Youth Parliament.
For full PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME, and for REGISTRATION details,
a) visit the Centre for Public Communication Research website
http://www.media.bournemouth.ac.uk/cpcr.html
and click on the Conference button.
b) telephone +44 (0) 1202 595751
c) e-mail [log in to unmask]
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