Media Relations

On a tough day for Britain, in which Downing Street announced Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted into the hospital for complications due to coronavirus, Queen Elizabeth II emerged for a rare address.

Communications during COVID-19 is fraught with challenges. From communicating to employees about the potential for pay cuts, furloughs or even layoffs, to determining how to notify people of exposure to the virus, communicators have their work cut out for them. Since health care arguably is at the center of most of our lives at the moment, communications in and out of hospitals is in the spotlight.

FleishmanHillard said April 3 it will debut a cross-functional global practice to provide communication expertise to organizations as they deal with coronavirus.

With so many of us homebound, consuming news the way we used to scarf Starbucks, there might not be a worse time to do something that could harm your reputation.

You head outside for a run. Your son works as a cashier at the grocery store. You need to take a trip to the pharmacy. You wonder, is a mask necessary?

CNN news anchor Chris Cuomo revealed a COVID diagnosis March 31, posting the update to Twitter and noting concern for his family ahead of his own health.

While in a holding pattern, some organizations are pivoting from content production to information gathering.

As the nation braces for what is likely to be a grim several weeks, social media feeds are intentionally devoid of the usual April Fools’ Day wit.

With so many brands and organizations over-communicating, there’s more clutter than usual.

You’ve created your coronavirus messaging plan and advised executives to communicate authentically, transparently and from the heart. Your job is far from over, though. Perhaps the most important thing a communicator can do at this time is to be available and make plans for the day when the coronavirus ebbs.