Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As the PR News’ Top Women in PR awards luncheon approaches (Jan. 25, NYC), we look at why women continue to dominate PR in terms of numbers of jobs, yet are largely excluded from its leadership positions. We asked some of the women who will be honored next week about this and what can be done. They said the solutions should come from women and industry.

Diversity and PR are inextricably linked, yet communicators have talked about diversity for years and many issues remain within communications and many other sectors. PRSA-NY president Sharon Fenster offers five ways to bolster diversity in the PR industry and at brands and nonprofit organizations.

“Our decision to return the donation to Facebook and logging out of the platform for a week is part of a strategy to bring attention to Facebook ‘s failures in protecting the integrity of both our privacy and our vote,” NAACP’s Aba Blankson told PR News.

Even just a couple of years ago brands were more than a bit cautious when wading into social and political issues. Things are different now. Consider the size and scope of the 56 companies that signed a letter yesterday protesting rule changes for transgender people. Still, brands need to be careful when taking stands on social and political issues.

“Don’t be Pepsi.” That’s a piece of advice many influencer marketing experts have shared since the soda brand’s 2017 misstep, when it cast Kendall Jenner as a champion of diversity and the Black Lives Matter movement. Here, three influencer marketing experts share the pivotal roles diversity and inclusion are playing in the field—and how brands can ensure they get multicultural influencer marketing right.

Not all brand leaders ought to have their smartphones taken away. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has established a reputation as the rarest of figureheads—not only does she have her fingerprints on every piece of work that bears a connection to her “Wizarding World,” but she often responds to fans online directly, keeping up a dialogue and mitigating any controversies that arise.

All recent accusations of bias have one thing in common, the same thing that Facebook has dodged questions of reform or regulation over and generally failed to directly address: its proprietary, micro-targeting ad platform. It was this ad platform that allowed the Russians to pay for propaganda in rubles, it was this ad platform that allowed Cambridge Analytica to manipulate its third-party audience categories, and it was this ad platform that has brought the latest accusations of gender bias back to Facebook.

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.

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.

While some of the initial figures for Nike’s latest iteration of the Just Do It effort with Colin Kaepernick are mixed so far, the brand likely weighed potential costs and benefits before embarking on the campaign. Despite protests against the brand this week, Nike knew what it was doing when it entered the conversation on racial discrimination. It’s important to understand why.