Stories by Seth Arenstein

Some learnings emerged from our survey of nearly 300 communicators conducted in October and November 2021. The most newsworthy was what issues are concerning crisis pros. Besides COVID, they include: DEI, misinformation/disinformation, activism, cyber, natural disasters and employee/executive misconduct.

The holidays arrived early for crisis communication fans. There was no shortage of stories to peruse. All featured ghosts of crises past, whose protagonists we’ve covered in Crisis Insider.

This month’s dialogue takes a slight variation from our usual route. We won’t explore an operational topic, such as ‘What to do during a crisis when your CEO goes off-script.’ Instead, as it’s nearly 2022, we’ve asked two crisis communicators to consider 2021 trends and discuss what they believe 2022 will bring. Our dialoguers are Sonia Diaz, SVP, Balsera Communications and president, Hispanic Public Relations Association USA (HPRA) and Jenelle Eli, senior director, media relations + international communications, American Red Cross.

Should you pitch the same story to multiple reporters at a media outlet? HuffPost D.C. bureau chief Amanda Terkel offers her view.

There are no great ways to deliver a termination message. Still, firing 900 employees via Zoom without emotion, and then berating them online, is awful.

Our annual predictions feature touched on a number of themes, including companies wanting to avoid social issues. Social media, trust and AI are table stakes. Yet healthcare communication, particularly healthcare equity and ESG, are prominent. And accessibility is mentioned. New this year, a faux ‘Headlines We’d Like to See in 2022.’

What’s the best way to walk back a statement that, with time, becomes a misstatement? There are a number of options:

Ray Kerins has held senior communication positions at Merck, Pfizer and most recently at Bayer, where he was SVP, head of corporate affairs. We talked to him about the keys to fighting cybercrime.

PRSA chair and newly named Lambert CEO Michelle Olson says PR leadership in 2022 will mix strategy and empathy.

During this week’s PRNEWS Live, former General Mills global CMO Ivan Pollard says Betty Crocker knows about cake and authentic consumer engagement.