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Ellen DeGeneres — Time for a Crisis Management Lesson

From David E. Johnson, writing for CommPro: Talk show host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres is the latest celebrity that could be cancelled.  Both she and the top management of her hit talk show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” are under an internal investigation by the show’s distributor, Warner Brothers.   There are allegations of intimidation, sexual […]


How Talking About the Coronavirus as an Enemy Combatant Can Backfire

By Tabitha Moses, writing for The Conversation: We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers. As the “invisible enemy” rolled in, entire economies halted as populations “sheltered in place.” We were told to “hunker down” for the long battle ahead and to “support our troops,” […]


Don’t Let a Crisis Become Your Legacy

From Zach Olsen, writing in Inside Higher Ed: Public perception has become reality — reputations are made and destroyed overnight thanks to the power of social and online media and an emboldened public who has seen Twitter bring down corporate titans and foment socio-political unrest around the world. Schools can no longer be certain they’ll […]


For Businesses Caught in the Crosshairs, Social Media Boycotts Mean More Than a Hill of Beans

By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications Goya Foods President Bob Unanue recently went to the White House to announce a large donation by his company to food banks across the country – 1 million cans of chickpeas and an additional million pounds of food. With such a quintessential good news story, what could go wrong? Here’s […]


How Talking About the Coronavirus as an Enemy Combatant Can Backfire

Tabitha Moses, a doctoral candidate at Wayne State University, offers an interesting approach to communicating about COVID-19, with lessons for business leaders, too. We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers. As the “invisible enemy” rolled in, entire economies halted as populations “sheltered in place.” […]


Muddled COVID-19 Messaging: Sometimes the Data Changed; Other Times – Masks, for Example – Your Dishonesty Caught Up with You

It shouldn’t be this hard.  The rules of risk and crisis communications are fairly simple: Tell the truth. Tell it all. Tell it first. Tell it fast. If the situation – or the science – is likely to change as more research is done, warn people ahead of time.  And keep repeating that warning. So […]


Pulitzer Prize-Winning Coverage of the Kent State Shootings Through the Eyes of a Young Editor

There are a number of days, when the world seemed to come to a full stop, seared into the collective memories of Americans:  The end of World War I; the market crash of 1929; Pearl Harbor Day; D-Day; the end of World War II in Europe and the Pacific; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations […]


Journalists Believe News and Opinion are Separate, but Readers Can’t Tell the Difference

From Kevin M. Lerner, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Marist College: The New York Times opinion editor James Bennet resigned recently after the paper published a controversial opinion essay by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using the military to put down protests. The essay sparked outrage among the public as well as among younger reporters at […]


Land O’Lakes Isn’t Talking About Its Logo Change, and That’s a Big Mistake

From AdWeek: The decision by dairy brand Land O’Lakes to eliminate the kneeling Native American woman offering up sticks of butter on its logo marks the end of a problematic mascot with a nearly 100-year history. As of April 30, she—who, by some accounts, was named Mia—is still featured on products on the website. Land O’Lakes said […]


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