Stories by Justin Joffe

It’s not a secret that inboxes are forever overflowing, and journalists’ inboxes are no exception. Breaking through with your pitch to a journalist is a first step to getting coverage. As a prelude to our Dec. 12-13 Media Relations Conference in Washington, DC, we spoke with Laura Brusca, VP, corporate communications, Forbes, about pitching tips she’s learned by working with Forbes journalists.

JUUL Labs, the ubiquitous e-cigarette manufacturer, find itself in a free fall more than one year after our blogger praised the company for its PR acumen. The lesson that’s emerged from JUUL, Boeing and Facebook is that self-regulation is rarely a good idea and could lead to deaths. And death is bad PR.

As we inch ever closer toward the entry deadline for the 2020 PRNEWS Nonprofit/CSR Awards, it’s hard not to get a bit nostalgic about ceremonies past. There are still a couple of weeks left to enter and share your story with us and celebrate your nonprofit’s hard work over the past year! Review this year’s awards categories and enter here and share your best work with the PR community. We’ll see you in March.

It’s been an tumultuous week in Menlo Park, California. Facebook once again dominated the news cycle with a widely-maligned public speech from Mark Zuckerberg. Next was a series of new policies intended to curb hostile foreign governments from once again weaponizing the social network to influence our 2020 elections. For communicators, this saga has proved to be many things—a lens into the distrust that engulfs marketing communications, a lesson on the power of self-regulation, and a reminder of what transparency does (and doesn’t) look like in action.

Lauren Lawson-Zilai, Sr. director of PR at Goodwill and Lina Renzina, head of talent partnerships at Ad Council, will discuss why an influencer agreement is key to harnessing your influencers’ reach toward a robust media relations strategy at PRNEWS’ Media Relations Conference, December 12-13 in Washington, D.C. Ahead of their session, let’s look at several things that a thorough influencer agreement must include.

From signage to social media ads to commercials, communicators are always on the lookout for chances to get more eyes on our brand. One time-tested way to slingshot brand awareness into the heavens? Publishing your very own book.

As digital devices lead us to unhook from traditional aspects of the American Dream, we now live in what Dr. Julie Albright calls the untethered society. Dr. Albright, the keynote speaker at our upcoming Digital PR Awards breakfast, notes, however, there are consequences. More and more data is generated. The data can help develop computerized behavioral models to persuade or even manipulate audiences based upon their likes, fears, and psychological profiles.

Neumann stepped down from his role as CEO on September 24th, and less than a week later, on Monday, September 30th, WeWork’s IPO was halted indefinitely. For PR pros working in a startup environment, WeWork’s very public fall from grace holds many lessons to take back to the open office. Let’s look at a few things that communicators at any startup can take away from WeWork’s problems.

The M.I.T. Media Lab’s long, underreported history of recieving donations from the late convicted sex offender and philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein contains several lessons for those working in industries that have recurring moral and ethical crises, most noticeably around acknowledging roles, calling out patterns of bad behavior and scrutinizing philanthropic relationships.

Dr. Julie Albright will join us for a fireside chat at PRNEWS’ Digital PR Awards breakfast on October 18 in NY. We’ll discuss her provocative research, what this shift away from old, “nuclear family” models of the American Dream means for communicators, and the role we play in adjusting to these seismically shifting cultural behaviors.