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A traditional view of PR sees success as dominating news cycles with as much buzz as a brand or celebrity can generate. Former VP Joe Biden is not doing this. Instead, he’s allowing his opponent, the president, to do most of the talking. Kglobal VP Jenny Wang explains why this tactic is working well for the Biden Harris campaign.

For many this holiday season, it is not, in fact, the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. “Peanuts” fans nationwide were dismayed to find out that the fall favorite will run exclusively on AppleTV+, Apple’s paid streaming service. While the special will be free to non-subscribers for a limited period, would-be viewers were not shy about expressing their displeasure. The snafu teaches communicators a valuable lesson this holiday season: Now is not the time to mess with what few annual traditions we have left.

New York City became a national epicenter of COVID-19 in April 2020. The government closed non-essential businesses, employees worked from home and living rooms became classrooms. New campaigns seemed unfathomable. And yet, some construction projects continued. Here’s how BerlinRosen shifted messages for One Vanderbilt, the city’s newest skyscraper, to reflect New Yorkers’ resilience during the pandemic.

Pivoting is a staple of PR media training. But after the VP debate a few weeks ago, is it still a viable tactic? Does avoiding answering a question still work in this transparent world? Yes and no. (See what we did there?) We asked a group of communicators for their views on pivoting within PR and also in politics. In addition, we asked for best practices. Here’s what they told us.

In the wake of the George Floyd killing and the rise of #BlackLivesMatter, numerous companies issued statements supporting Black and Brown communities. Unless these statements are matched with internal communication and action, they risk doing harm to employees, argues Tamon Geroge, co-founder & CEO of Creative Theory Agency. He offers tactics for such action.

Many companies struggle with if and when to respond to things that happen in the news or on social. For ExxonMobil, a confusing presidential monologue late yesterday prompted a response. Abandoning corporate niceties and jargon, the company stated plainly that a conversation between its CEO and the president never happened. It was a savings of $25 million. Hypothetically.

In these turbulent times it’s important for brands to acknowledge their mistakes. It’s even more important for brands to audit their mission, policies and content to see if they meet modern-day culture and standards. Disney took this to heart as racial and social justice issues bubbled up to the surface during the past few years. Evaluating its content, Disney has placed warnings on some shows and films in an effort to head off potential issues with audiences.

When it comes to writing about and promoting others, PR pros excel. Writing about themselves, however, is more of a problem. One would think writing about yourself should be easy. No one knows you better than you know yourself. And yet, writing your professional bio can be daunting. We asked PR pros about their best practices.

Organizations, large and small, can work to better understand and improve their D&I practices and seek change. Communicators can lead in these efforts, the co-chairs of PRSA’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee argue in this essay that honors Global Diversity Awareness Month.

Sometimes, when a company fails to take full stock of its actions—particularly around internal operations—activist employees take to social media to call out their organization. When an employee’s post goes viral, PR pros are expected to pick up the pieces. So, what is the best course of action when an employee puts a company on the stand regarding DEI, the election or another hot-button topic? Experts weigh in.