Stories by Seth Arenstein

Mentions on social media of COVID-19 during the past seven days have begun to drop, according to new data from Talkwalker, the analytics firm.

Move over, Elon Musk. You have competition for the ignominious foot-in-mouth award. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly wants to steal your title. And he’s doing well in his quest.

Since it was nearing tax time, we wanted to interview a communicator in the tax industry. Then the pandemic arrived, and April 15 became just another day. Jesse Hamlin, who runs communications for Avalara, tells us that it’s almost always tax time somewhere in the world. She discusses how her team is monitoring its employees’ needs during this difficult moment.

We asked our data partner Shareablee to provide information about the coronavirus-related posts that garnered the most consumer engagement on Facebook during March. The resulting list was full of interesting insights, including a post from “The Daily Show,” with guest Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading the pack.

PRNEWS and partner Yonder recently gathered a panel of senior communicators for a webinar about coronavirus and PR. With more than 1,500 attendees, the session produced more audience questions than we could handle. Here are some of the best questions, with answers from another panel of PR pros.

What happens to measurement and analytics when coronavirus subsides? H+K’s new analytics chief thinks data verification will have increased importance since so much false information is floating around at the moment. He’s also urging his team to laugh and connect with each other on a personal level as they work from home.

We surveyed more than 200 senior PR professionals to find out how they are coping with coronavirus, what changes they are making (or not) in their communications internally and externally. Some of their answers surprised us.

Next in our series of interviews with senior communicators we speak with Julie O’Donnell, who last month was named EVP/global head of digital at health communications and PR firm Evoke. We asked her what she sees communicators doing well or badly in this moment with their digital communications.

With so many of us homebound, consuming news the way we used to scarf Starbucks, there might not be a worse time to do something that could harm your reputation.

As the nation braces for what is likely to be a grim several weeks, social media feeds are intentionally devoid of the usual April Fools’ Day wit.