ABSTRACT
In public relations (PR), silence as strategy is outwardly directed. It is about quality content and quality relations. Silence as system and skills is rather inwardly focused. Professional communication, in that regard, seems to be not only external public relations but also internal consulting such as advising, educating and coaching of the management. Professional communicators try to influence the tone or sentiment of publications to the advantage of their clients. PR practitioners influence public opinion. A deeper understanding of strategic silence may prevent PR theory and practice from a chain of reductionist simplifications. Important as it is, the media cycle constitutes only one of the environments in the stakeholders' ecology. Public relations is more than media management. It is more than 'publicity'. A German substitute for 'PR', 'Offentlichkeitsarbeit', points not at 'publicity' but rather 'public sphere work'. Public players also take reverse ownership.
