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A Newspaper Has a Novel Strategy for Covering One Politician’s Falsehoods: Don’t

From Marisa Iati, writing for the Washington Post… Ohio’s biggest newspaper is taking an unusual tack toward covering falsehoods from a U.S. Senate candidate: It doesn’t plan to do so at all. The Plain Dealer in Cleveland said its journalists intend to ignore inaccurate statements from Republican Josh Mandel that they consider to be ploys […]


Why Oprah’s Interview with Harry and Meghan Matters

From Tom Jones, writing for Poynter… Why should we care? What’s the big deal? Don’t we have more important things to worry about than some soap opera half a world away? That was the general feeling among many following Sunday night’s Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Millions of […]


Slow Down and Write Better Emails

By Erica Dahawan, writing for the Harvard Business Review… Misunderstandings are rampant in today’s workplaces. While poor communication habits may feel inevitable with colleagues, we should always strive to engage with clarity and empathy, especially as we come to rely more on remote work and digital communication. What is a good first step to improving […]


Monumental Crisis Management FAIL: Ted Cruz’s Mexican Vacation

By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications As is now clear to the entire country, Senator Ted Cruz apparently skipped class the day they taught Crisis Management 101.  As his constituents and fellow Texans faced a winter storm that may be the costliest in the state’s history, boiling snow for drinking water and burning furniture to heat […]


KPMG’s Bill Michael Resigns After Telling Staff to ‘Stop Moaning’

Recently, we were asked to comment on the story below.  Our quick analysis:  it’s not like he said something accidental, or something he didn’t mean. His words clearly expressed his beliefs. And those beliefs were not consistent with the values of KPMG – and appropriate action was taken. From Mark Sweney & Joanna Partridge writing in […]


CNN Public Editor: It’s Time to End the Panel Discussion Format

From Ariana Pekary, writing for The Columbia Journalism Review: THIS MONTH WE WITNESSED A VIOLENT RAMPAGE at the US Capitol. In the middle of the insurrection, CNN decided a political panel was the best means of following the unfolding catastrophe. As members of Congress were on lockdown, Anderson Cooper held court with political analysts Rick Santorum, […]


By | January 31, 2021 | Democracy, Journalism, Media Culture

Political Action Committee & Personal Political Contributions Become the Next Reputational Challenge for Businesses, Law Firms & Their Clients

By Bruce Hennes & Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Aesop perhaps said it best: “You are known by the company you keep.” It appears many organizations are learning the true meaning of that phrase in the wake of the Republican vote against certification of the Electoral College results and the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots. In […]


Crisis Management Lessons Learned From the 2020 Political Scene That Can Apply To Any Organization

Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller.  In the past, we’ve found him to be an astute observer of the scene.  Here, he offers advice aimed at public relations firms, but also applicable to any professional service firm, nonprofit, government agency or company.  Of course, Art’s opinions, written for CommPro, […]


Why You Need a Social Media Kill Switch During a Crisis

From Mark Renfree, writing in PR News: Social media is as likely a place as any for a PR crisis to start. In fact, the speed at which things can blow up on social channels make them especially fertile ground for crises. A solid crisis preparation plan will account for more than social media, of […]


Your Brain’s Built-In Biases Insulate Your Beliefs from Contradictory Facts

Jay Maddock, Professor of Public Health, at Texas A&M University writes: A rumor started circulating back in 2008 that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. At the time, I was serving as chair of the Hawaii Board of Health. The director and deputy director of health, both appointed by a Republican governor, inspected […]


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