Stories by Nicole Rodrigues

A healthy media-PR relationship is existential to the communication sector. Given that some publishers accept payment for placing thought-leadership articles, the business case for journalists is decreasing. As a result, PR pros should follow media relations best practices, assisting journalists as much as they can.

PRNEWS and sister brand, The Social Shake-Up, announced the winners and honorable mentions for the PRNEWS Digital & Social Media Awards, which honor the year’s most outstanding digital and social media communicators and their campaigns.

In some cases, companies remain ignorant about how to mark Pride Month. Thing is, there is no one correct way to do it. Take a stand, be authentic and engage queer members in your community and staff. No queer staffers? Begin there.

While it’s unclear what comes next, it seems certain change is imminent. Moreover, building and maintaining a corporate culture, or, perhaps rebuilding one for the post-pandemic environment, will occupy a large majority of businesses and organizations. Among the tasks ahead for internal communicators will be gaining, or regaining, employee trust. In addition, motivating and engaging staff will occupy internal communicators. Of course, none of this will happen overnight. And leadership buy-in is critical.

We’re human and make mistakes. How we recover from them is important. In this series about lessons PR pros learned early in their careers, Cindy Villafranca of Southwest Airlines discusses how she grew after making an embarrassing mistake.

It seems inevitable that prices for raw materials, labor and other fees will rise as the pandemic recedes. Consumers usually bear the pain of such price increases. Companies can either hide the fact that consumer/customer prices will rise or discuss it openly. There are a few ways communicators can try to ease the pain in these unpleasant situations.

Traditional social listening no longer is enough, brands and companies are discovering. Operating on the fringes of the web, factions spread false narratives that can lead to mainstream activity, such as boycotts. Without early knowledge of such activities’ origins, communicators and companies may miss the chance to respond promptly.

The conventional hiring process is, well, conventional. Want ads, resumes, LinkedIn, recruiting and search firms. In PR, a field where creativity is highly valued, the traditional hiring route may not always find the best candidates. Companies that take an off-beat recruiting approach likely will find highly creative candidates.

B2B marketers are missing opportunities to connect with individual prospects when they ignore or downplay LinkedIn. Here are 4 easy tips that can help marketers ease the platform’s intimidation factor and increase your chances of success.

How many crises might have been averted just by asking a few more questions and offering a couple of clarifying points? The author provides some key lessons.