Do you remember the 2009 swine flu pandemic, also referred to by the media as the H1N1 flu? I remember two things quite distinctly: As this flu crossed borders, infecting 700 million to 1.4 billion people — or 11 to 21 percent of the global population of 6.8 billion at the time — thankfully, the […]
By Stephanie York, JD, Hennes Communications Any government agency should prioritize communicating truthfully, transparently, quickly and effectively, using traditional media, social media, the agency’s website and any other methods available. A serious issue or crisis ups the ante on communications. That’s when stakeholders most need correct and timely information. That’s also when damaging misinformation and […]
From Adrian J. Rivera, writing for The New York Times… Every so often, something so awful and senseless happens that it’s hard to fully absorb it. An apartment building collapses as residents sleep within. A movie star’s prop gun fires a real bullet on a film set, killing a young mother. A concert crowd morphs […]
By Stephanie York, JD, Hennes Communications Q: Why should a local school district, an independent or parochial school reach out to a crisis communications firm? A: Quick – What’s the single highest priority for a superintendent, head or board president? It’s not education. It’s safety. And just one part of that safety net is making […]
John Guilfoil writes… The Astroworld Tragedy is gut-wrenching. Media reporting about it, especially a New York Times story today, reminds us how important professional journalism is to finding the truth behind a major incident. In the story, a source tells the Times that Houston Police Chief Troy Finner shared concerns about crowd control directly with performer Travis […]
From the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats… Effective public communication can help prevent attacks on crowded places by encouraging reporting. It can also reduce the impact of attacks that it was not possible to prevent by informing the public about how to protect themselves. Despite this, there has historically been limited research […]
by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications When we help clients break news – good or bad – we often talk about one of the few redeeming factors of social media: Your company’s ability to leverage its social platforms to get its message around the media filter and push audiences to factual, contextual information on your organization’s […]
If your organization is grappling with conflicting thoughts about whether or not to mandate that all of your employees get vaccinated as a condition of employment, we urge you to carefully read the article below. Risk communications concerns itself with making risk comprehensible and relatable to other risks, how to pay appropriate respect to […]
Work Environment Industry Leaders Join to Create Akros Network Specialists in HR Training, Ethics, Safety, Compliance and Communications Form One-Stop Shop AKRON – October 6, 2021 – Four industry leading firms that specialize in the critical building blocks of successful organizations have formed a network giving employers one place to go for answers to high-risk […]
Filippo Menczer, Luddy Distinguished Professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University, writes… Facebook has been quietly experimenting with reducing the amount of political content it puts in users’ news feeds. The move is a tacit acknowledgment that the way the company’s algorithms work can be a problem. The heart of the matter is the distinction between […]