Latest Posts

“Be yourself.” PR pros offer that advice often. At the moment, the language espousing it has morphed to “Be authentic.” In this continuing series with IPR about learning from early failure, veteran communicator Brian Lott describes a moment in his youth that drove home the lesson of authenticity. He adheres to its tenets to this day.

On Oct. 25 Google debuted BERT, its biggest algorithm update since RankBrain in 2015. And BERT is definitely big. Google says BERT will impact one in ten search queries. In short, BERT improves Google’s understanding of language and should benefit authentic content that addresses readers’ pain points.

It’s not a secret that inboxes are forever overflowing, and journalists’ inboxes are no exception. Breaking through with your pitch to a journalist is a first step to getting coverage. As a prelude to our Dec. 12-13 Media Relations Conference in Washington, DC, we spoke with Laura Brusca, VP, corporate communications, Forbes, about pitching tips she’s learned by working with Forbes journalists.

A primer from writing guru Jonathan Rick counsels that PR pros should avoid using jargon generally, especially in headlines. He also urges that you create two headlines: one for human beings and laymen; the other for search engines and insiders.

JUUL Labs, the ubiquitous e-cigarette manufacturer, find itself in a free fall more than one year after our blogger praised the company for its PR acumen. The lesson that’s emerged from JUUL, Boeing and Facebook is that self-regulation is rarely a good idea and could lead to deaths. And death is bad PR.

Are the golden days of influencer marketing at an end? A recent Wall Street Journal article made that claim, citing reduced engagement and interviewing several brand marketers who are disappointed with their return on influencer investment. The article pointed to influencer fraud—inflating follower numbers with fake accounts, for instance—as well as consumers’ increasing cynicism when they see a product or service promoted by an influencer on social media.

Having graduated college—and perhaps even embarked on a successful professional career—you may have thought your test-taking days were safely behind you. But in today’s highly competitive job market, agencies and corporate PR departments expect candidates to possess a wide range of skills, including the ability to churn out basic press materials. That’s where the dreaded pre-employment writing assessment comes in.

To some, it might seem quaint to divide PR into digital and traditional PR. Still, plenty of job titles and org charts include the words “digital PR.” As such, we offer three tips about elements that need to be included in successful digital PR campaigns.

ost consumers get a little boost when they learn the brands they support practice an element of social good. Corporate Social Responsibility, affectionately referred to in the communications world as CSR, provides an organization with the opportunity to give back and make a difference. As the entry deadline for the 2020 PRNEWS Nonprofit/CSR Awards looms, we take a look at several past winners who really leaned into the mission of creating change.

We at PRNEWS are advocates of following the news for evidence of good and bad PR practices. Today a news vehicle, The Washington Post, is at the center of a news story. The paper’s handling of headlines for its obituary of former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi demonstrates good and bad PR practices.