Counter-terrorism strategic communication campaigns and the generative nature of trust

Rice, Charis and Innes, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8950-8147 2025. Counter-terrorism strategic communication campaigns and the generative nature of trust. International Journal of Strategic Communication 10.1080/1553118x.2025.2501558

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Abstract

This article examines how public-facing counterterrorism campaigns are strategically constructed and communicated, to try to signal trust, as part of their wider agenda to deter terrorist risks and threats. The empirical evidence includes frame analysis of the main messaging assets across three UK campaigns, in-depth practitioner interviews, and public focus groups across different parts of the UK. Building on sensemaking theory (Weick, 1995) we present insights into sensemaking, sensegiving and sensebreaking around trust in this form of messaging, and introduce the concept of ‘sensebridging’ as a theoretical extension useful in understanding how trust deficits are negotiated by publics and tackled by practitioners through particular public relations strategies and mediums. We demonstrate how specific trust elements are ‘designed in’ to campaign assets, and how these are (re-)interpreted by publics through the lens of distant and recent histories, as well as hyperlocal presents. Viewed in this way, the article moves beyond the idea of bifurcated trust that either is or is not present, instead arguing that trust is ‘generative,’ and as such more complex, situated, and mobile. In doing so, it makes several interdisciplinary contributions together with practical recommendations that centre on appreciating the generative nature of trust in strategic communication.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Research Institutes & Centres > Crime and Security Research Institute (CSURI)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Start Date: 2025-05-31
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1553-118X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 June 2025
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2025 09:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178896

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