Stories by Matthew Schwartz

Tiffany Koebel, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Department of Labor Tiffany Koebel, who has been on the Office of Public Affairs career staff since July 2010, continues to focus exclusively on enhancing the Labor department’s social… Continued

Blair Latoff Holmes, Executive Director of Media Relations, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blair Latoff Holmes leads a team of media relations professionals tasked with advancing the interests of more than three million American businesses. Her… Continued

Katlyn Laverty-Wilson, IT Specialist, Internal Revenue Service Katlyn Laverty-Wilson leads communications lead for Enterprise Operations, a 2,000-employee organization within the Internal Revenue Service’s Information Technology unit. She works closely with the organization’s leadership team to… Continued

Heather J. Lennon, Social Media Strategist and Component PR Manager, Advanced Micros Devices Heather Lennon led the PR charge for AMD’s Technograffiti, a digital exhibit that was part of the most recent SXSW conference and… Continued

Twitter shares soared to $49 on Monday, up 9% to their highest level since the social blogging network went public in early November. The spike in share price comes just a few days after Twitter rolled out a new ad program. The move gives PR pros yet another excuse to condition themselves to paid media programs.

It’s one thing when brands try and align their message with “Hallmark” holidays such as Valentine’s Day or April Fool’s Day. But it’s another thing when brands try and leverage solemn anniversaries, such as last weekend’s 72nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor, as Cambell’s soup brand SpagettiOs has now learned the hard way.

Google Catalog. Google Wave. Google Answers. They’re all part of the Google graveyard, online platforms that the Web giant rolled out in the last several years but ultimately shutdown. However, Google+, which launched in 2011, has been a raging success, now ranking as the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook. So how can PR folks leverage Google+?

We’re all going “native” now. The Interactive Advertising Bureau Wednesday is scheduled to release a white paper on so-called “native advertising,” or branded content, at the same time that the Federal Trade Commission is starting to hold daylong town hall hearings on the matter. Communicators should pay careful attention.

Organizers of a movement demanding a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers say they will sponsor one-day strikes in 100 cities on Thursday. It’s debatable whether wage strikes have a negative impact on the bottom line. But PR pros certainly need a strategy in place to respond to such protests and potential crises.

One of the Cardinal Rules of public relations is that perception trumps all. You may have the law on your side, for example, but the public won’t care much if it considers the optics ill conceived.