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There is much talk about how jobs and the economy will fare as a result of the continuing advance of AI and automation. As communicators, though, we should also be looking at AI’s impact on reputation and the role PR will play in educating the public about critical issues related to AI, argues Sophie Scott, global managing director of FleishmanHillard’s technology sector practice.

At PR News’ annual Platinum & Agency Elite Awards luncheon—which this year will be held Sept. 21 at the Grand Hyatt in New York City—hundreds of communications professionals gather to celebrate the top communications and marketing campaigns of the last year, as well as the PR and marketing professionals behind the strategy and execution of those initiatives. This year’s Platinum & Agency Elite Awards luncheon will be hosted by ESPN’s Hannah Storm.

Facebook didn’t lose a cow today, it lost nearly all of McDonald’s. The question for communicators, though, is whether or not this is the right time to abandon the platform as a marketing and communications vehicle. It is if you believe Facebook is irreparably damaged and millions of users will depart abruptly. Of course, Facebook could shed several million users gradually and remain the dominant social network.

As the PR industry looks forward into the next few years, PR pros are being advised to move away from old-school metrics like ad-value equivalencies (AVEs) and impressions. But what should communicators focus on instead? According to Renee Spurlin, vice president of analytics and digital marketing at ARPR, personas and customer journey mapping are the metrics of the future, and all PR goals should be in alignment with them.

PayPal’s director of global corporate communications Amanda Miller cautions the next generation of PR professionals to realize that visuals, owned media and social are just a piece in an ecosystem that should include earned media, too.

PR News’ just-released 2018 Graduate Education Guide for Communicators looks at the career benefits of pursuing a master’s degree in communications and how it can be a differentiator in the talent marketplace.

It’s easy to see why some members of the public view PR with disdain. Plenty of stories featuring unethical PR practitioners have clouded the public’s mind. While the majority of PR pros are ethical, this, ironically, might be an issue. The ethical PR pros we deal with daily have inured us to the sometimes-unsavory image of PR. A trio of communicators argues it’s important to constantly emphasize the truth in PR.

While a successful donation campaign or high number of form fills is cause for celebration, it’s often what isn’t working that gets overlooked, whether you’re updating an existing site or launching a new one. A bad website might be compared to the Winchester Mystery House, famous for its eccentric and haphazard construction, including stairways and doors leading nowhere.

It hasn’t been a good week so far for cracker makers and food phobia sufferers. Two snack food giants, Mondelēz Global and Campbell Soup subsidiary Pepperidge Farm, have recalled iconic cracker products because a whey powder supplier has notified them that its ingredient may be tainted by Salmonella, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever, among other symptoms.

Communicators probably prefer a press-friendly CEO as opposed to one who’s media-averse. On the other hand, when the CEO’s mouth overshadows the brand and damages its reputation, communicators often reach for aspirin. An example, of course, is “Papa” John Schnatter. Another is Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, who recently spent a weekend deflecting stories.