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Mention the crisis FEMA is dealing with at the moment and most people probably think you’re referring to the agency’s work to assist residents of the Carolinas as they battle flooding from Hurricane Florence. Instead you could be thinking of the travel scandal challenging FEMA administrator Brock Long. Part of Long’s problem is a PR issue: the government administrator brand is tainted.

The 70th annual Primetime Emmy awards talked the talk about increasing diversity on television and Hollywood at large, but did not walk the walk. Despite numerous jokes and skits poking fun at the traditional snubbing of people of color in the entertainment industry, and the most diverse group of nominees in the history of the program, 22 of the 26 award winners were white.

Several principles of PR and crisis communications can be applied to the situation involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Now that Dr. Ford has identified herself, the issue has moved from the Senate to the court of public opinion, a venue where facts and legal arguments are sometimes immaterial. In this court, public perception is king.

Human Rights Campaign’s red equality logo put the spotlight on HRC and spread awareness about the organization. Whether the logo is seen on a T-shirt or a lawmaker’s lapel, it sends a message that the Human Rights Campaign and its supporters remain vigilant in the fight for LGBTQ equality. To celebrate HRC’s induction into the 2018 Platinum Hall of Fame, PR News sat down with HRC’s senior design director Robert Villaflor to learn more about the inner workings of the campaign.

A good endorsement from the FDA could actually turn out to be bad PR for Apple, a company known to offer its newest proprietary tech at premium prices, as people who need the tech might not be able to afford it. The issue of life-saving resources that are unaffordable to many recalls several recent instances when pharmaceutical companies have made headlines for raising the price of their medications to such exorbitant numbers that those without insurance deemed the gouging to be a death sentence.

Considering how often President Trump attacks him, special counsel Robert Mueller seems to be ignoring the PR maxim that if you don’t write your own narrative, someone else will do it for you. On the other hand, Mueller might prefer to allow the 30+ indictments he’s produced to do the talking for him.

Technology: friend or foe? For global consumers polled by We Worldwide for its Brands in Motion 2018 survey, the answer is both. Consumers value technological innovation and want brands at the forefront, but they want this innovation to be balanced by regulation and ethics.

Goldman Sachs offered a blanket denial to the reporting from a story published earlier this week in the New York Times, which accuses Goldman of dismissing claims from a top executive who used the firm’s own whistleblower hotline to call out a litany of ethical violations he saw from the inside. Goldman’s statements on the matter call to question why transparency and accountability remain so difficult for the bank to put into practice, and its statements similarly raise more questions.

Imagine this: Your company has an exciting new product, service or achievement to share, and you’ve been tasked with writing a press release to get the word out to the media. You’ve taken your time, carefully curating the proper information and crafting the release with painstaking precision. Finally, it’s ready, you’ve released it to the press, and…crickets. Perhaps it’s time to switch up your strategy.

One of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, KFC, was selected by PR News’ panel of judges for its creative reimagining of a brand icon via its “Rotating Colonel” campaign. Over the past few years, the mascot has been given several new faces—perhaps most memorably, Reba McEntire. The brand kept audiences holding their breath for the next influencer to don the signature goatee and white suit. PR News asked Staci Rawls, director, PR & internal communications at KFC U.S. to pull the curtain for a peek behind one of the most beloved campaigns in recent history.