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The Buffalo Bills’ week of misfires provides stark, real-world instruction for public relations professionals. The failure was not necessarily in the decision to fire their coach, but in their total breakdown of crisis communication protocols.

From Dr Pepper’s savvy elevation of a creator’s viral jingle to new data revealing what’s holding PR teams back, we examine how brands and agencies are adapting to shifting media dynamics, AI realities and a changing early-career pipeline.

Margot Edelman, lead of the global tech practice at Edelman, discusses the differences between tech cultures in San Francisco and New York, and Edelman’s unique value proposition in the tech public relations space.

PRNEWS spoke with Sona Iliffe-Moon, Chief Communications Officer at Yahoo, at CES 2026. They discussed the brand’s renaissance, AI credibility and trust and getting the comms team involved in the backend of AI for PR.

From AI to IRL, CES 2026 made one thing clear: the future of communications isn’t about choosing between technology and humanity—it’s about deliberately blending the two.

As 2026 approaches, it pays to take stock of everything that occurred in 2025 and how it could impact the next year of the PR industry. Some friends in the communications world approached PRNEWS with predictions for the coming year for many PR tenets including digital, crisis, media relations and more.

Rather than thinking of December holidays as a dead zone, think of it as one of the most efficient, high-signal periods of the year to reach journalists. Provided, that is, your pitch is relevant and on-point.

This week’s PR Roundup examines an AI-generated McDonald’s holiday ad gone wrong, a new study by Ruder Finn that reveals employee optimism around AI, and Beaches going all-in on experiential for an Elf on the Shelf vacation no family will soon forget.

You must own your career story before AI or others define it for you.

The next time a client asks, “Can we use ChatGPT for this?” Don’t just answer yes or no. Show them how it can fit into a strategy only you can deliver.