ABSTRACT
Silence does not sell online – silence as practical utility and cognitive clarity, as stepping back and stopping the time, as deeper immersion and internal dialogue, as getting out of the routine and learning again, as personal introspection and self-interrogation. Silence supplies space and time for making sense – for putting something in context, in relation. In the aesthetics of lurking accident and unmotivated terror, silence appears as the ultimate disaster – when the machine of information and communication grinds to a full halt. Understanding silence as communication can help delineate the boundaries where public relations (PR) and media no longer overlap – where the media is external to PR and where PR is external to the media. In Sydney, Australia, where all big international PR companies have their branches, the market for PR labour is still a sellers' market.
