Latest Posts

With PR pros outnumbering journalists 6 to 1 and myriad ways to reach journalists, media relations should be easier than ever. Not necessarily, according to a new report. It finds the media relations pro must understand an increasingly complicated landscape. The average number of journalists creating content for smaller publications is rising. Meanwhile, there are fewer journalists at tier 1 outlets.

An interview showcases the possible potential of a candidate in other ways, allowing them to think on their feet through conversation and analysis. We spoke to some experts and landed on three questions to always ask in a public relations job interview. They may appear simple, but every candidate may handle these questions differently, providing more insight into what kind of employee they would be.

Last week, PETA tweeted a picture of a character from the next installment in the upcoming “Pokémon” video game series, a sheep pokémon named Wooloo. Suffice to say, video game fans weren’t having it. There’s much that communicators can learn from this bizarre campaign, including how to engage your detractors on socials in a constructive way along with when not to jump on a trending news story just for engagement.

In this regular feature, PR News asks movers and shakers in the industry to share a little bit of their personal history and personality through answering a series of 12 questions.

It’s no secret finding and retaining top public relations talent is one of the biggest challenges for agencies and corporate PR departments. It’s okay to breathe a sigh of relief after landing a plum prospect, but don’t fool yourself: hiring is a big and painstaking step, but it is only the first in many steps for the company and the employee to realize mutual satisfaction and value, and build a long-term relationship.

National days are a great way for brands to engage with not only influencers and fans on a topic, but also to reign in some new faces. Today, for National Doughnut Day (June 7), some brands like Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme create actionable items to bring consumers through their doors. Others, like the Salvation Army regale us with nostalgia, teaching us about the importance of the origin of the holiday. And there are always those brands with icky content, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Keeping research a secret is a bad look for Pfizer, especially during a time when a spotlight shines on the Alzheimer’s disease. And upon further reading, it can seem somewhat baffling to have kept the information, which may have proved useful to researchers, from the public. Pfizer now faces a brand crisis in which a large population of those affected by the disease may garner distrust to a company that looks like it kept profits the first priority.

Under the banner of “Bringing Peace, Love & Music Back to the Planet,” Woodstock 50 “will give generations of fans the opportunity to join together in the festival’s foundational intent of harmony and compassion.” After delayed ticket sales, deflection, a bailing investor and a court order, we ask: is this the right way to brand utopia?

Operating with purpose must be the lens through which every business decision is made, argues WE’s global CEO and founder Melissa Waggener Zorkin. While sticking to your values isn’t easy, the consequences of ignoring today’s societal issues are much greater. She offers highlights from recent research about purpose that aim to help communicators and leaders.

If you are following the crisis communications playbook, you know that taking swift, deliberate and public action to right a wrong is enough to not only mitigate a brand’s crisis—it can even flip the narrative and earn that brand new followers. So after singer/songwriter SZA was racially profiled in a store and blasted the brand on social media, Sephora’s declaration that it would shut down operations for an inclusiveness and diversity training today seemed a smart crisis response. So why is the brand declaring its training has nothing to do with the incident?