Stories by Nicole Schuman

This week the Big Ten Conference retracted its August decision to postpone the football season. While the plan to ensure students-athletes’ health appears to be well thought-out, the decision provokes plenty of questions, especially considering the opposite stance the conference took just a month ago. 

PRNEWS welcomed Marissa Nance, founder of multicultural agency Native Tongue Communications and OMD veteran, to speak about comms during Hispanic Heritage Month and multicultural communications strategy.

Social media platforms have a lot of work to do in the way of gaining trust from the American public. A recent survey from Pew Research Center shows that “Three-quarters of U.S. adults say technology companies have a responsibility to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 presidential election, but only around a quarter say they are very or somewhat confident in these firms to do so.” 

The NFL debuts its 101st season tonight, minus most of the fans, but not without fanfare. Many wonder how the league, which is not playing in a bubble, will weather a health crisis, as well as social justice issues, which were largely ignored or frowned upon in the past. Flexibility and innovation will remain top priorities for the league, much like in other sports. 

In 2015, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite first appeared on the Twitter timeline, going viral for the prestigious awards event lacking a diverse lineup of films, actors, producers and directors. Five years later, The Academy announced sweeping standards to incorporate a wider representation and inclusion regarding nominees.

When COVID-19 shut down most in-person communication, the traditional press conference just didn’t cut it any more.

Facebook announced that it will halt all publishing of new political advertisements in the week leading up to the November presidential election. This comes on the heels of concerns of how Facebook could be used to impact an election. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also issued a warning regarding potential unrest over election results and processes. 

The PRNEWS staff comes across many examples of brand advertising and communications every day. We have compiled a weekly assessment, with staff members providing their choices of the most notable, good or bad. This week, we placed a special focus on Labor Day and end-of-summer messaging.

PRNEWS Live welcomed Anne Green, principal/managing director, G&S Business Communications to speaking with us about women’s equality and related diversity issues.

Technology can make a real difference when it comes to corporate social responsibility. This week Apple announced the launch of its COVID-19 Exposure Notification Express with its iOS 13.7 system update. Google’s Android will follow later this month, as the two tech giants teamed up in May to support contact-tracing efforts.