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One-size-fits-all is great for some things, but it rarely works when managing a PR crisis. Recent evidence is the statement the New England Patriots issued when its owner was caught in a sting operation. Uttering a quick denial of alleged wrongdoing is a bad move unless you can back up your statement with facts. Better to say you’ll wait to comment until more facts are available and move on.

PR crises are winnable, says Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ crisis chief and managing partner Kevin Elliott. In fact, organizations should see crises as opportunities to display their bona fides to the market. He cites research showing brands that manage a PR crisis well can and do improve their market value.

PR professionals need to prep company spokespeople for media interviews, making sure they offer the best appearance, are comfortable on camera and stay on message. To be sure it’s not as simple as how to dress, though that certainly is one of the components of preparation. Here’s a look at some of the best practices for readying your company spokesperson for a media appearance.

Executives from APCO Worldwide studied the campaign against Nike and Colin Kaepernick on Twitter and found it wasn’t as widespread or authentic as it seemed at first glance. They conclude that brands should avoid rushing to respond to what appears to be negative social sentiment. Instead, they urge brands to study the elements behind anti-brand content before responding.

Over the last week, two Twitter features have come to light that could change communicators’ approach to the platform. One, an instant camera similar to offerings from Snapchat and Instagram Stories, was buried in Twitter’s code as a “News Camera.” It is yet to be released, and still ‘in mid-development,’ according to a Twitter spokesperson. The second feature being tested is a new way to display conversations. It aims to reduce confusion in reading Twitter threads and conversations. Here’s how the new features will likely affect brands using the platform.

A former chairman of Burson-Marsteller Jim Lindheim takes you inside a PR crisis, where he emphasizes the importance of solving issues within and outside the C-suite and boardroom. His insight into crisis also forms the basis for his recent novel, which he teases here along with excellent crisis-management tips.

As the PR profession evolves—along with reporting structures and PR needs—it’s important not to just stay abreast of these changes, but also advance your own knowledge and skills so that what you bring to the table is not just responding to these shifts but preparing for the next stages of evolution. With that in mind, here are five skill sets you need to have to be an effective future communicator.

Fake news, aka disinformation, can turn a brand’s good reputation on its head in moments. Fortunately, Google and others are taking steps to combat this scourge. The behemoth search engine outlined its policies and practices to combat disinformation in a 29-page report. Here are takeaways for communicators.

You’ve undoubtedly seen this at concerts or other live events—an excited fan takes out a smartphone to start recording what’s happening onstage and, despite the fact that the stage is wider than it is tall, the fan records a vertical video. Working with vertical video has become a pain point for professional videographers who lament the lack of flexibility and picture quality that 9×16 dimensions provide. We spoke with Patrick Pho, lead brand marketing producer at Volkswagen, about this issue ahead of his session at PR News’ Video Workshop on March 15 at D.C.’s National Press Club. 

We’re living in an unusual time when a company the world’s richest man owns scraps plans to build a second headquarters in NY and it isn’t the lead news story. Yet there are myriad communications questions surrounding Amazon’s departure from NY, which had become largely a war of communications. Here are a few takeaways.