Stories by Seth Arenstein

In many industries the skills in demand revolve around science and technology. It’s not too different in PR and communications, where digital and analytical knowledge is sought. Yet writing, seemingly an old-school skill, continues to play a major role in PR, combined with strategy and the above-mentioned digital, an informal survey of communicators and academics shows.

More than 350 newspapers ran editorials praising a free press today, the first large-scale effort to defend press freedoms. A bevy of PR trade associations issued a statement echoing the newspapers’ sentiments. On the other hand, new polls show a small majority (51%) of Republican voters believe the media is the enemy of the people, which is how the President has characterized the press of late.

An almost-constant refrain of PR crisis management pros is that brands and organizations should own their mistakes, apologize and describe how it plans to ensure a similar crisis does not reoccur. Still, many brands ignore this advice. While it delayed for weeks, the University of Maryland did the right thing August 14, admitting legal and moral responsibility for a student-athlete’s tragic death.

With 8 billion average daily views of video on Facebook, 4 billion+ on YouTube and one hour of video uploaded to YouTube every second, you’d need to live under a rock not to see social video becoming a preferred medium for storytelling. But how can your brand’s videos compete with excessive noise in the market? Here are ten tips that will ensure your social video garners engagement.

After having seen so many brands handle (and mishandle) PR crises, you might think executives would know to manage crises well. This often is not the case. We continue to see brands attempting to cover up miscues rather than being transparent and waiting too long to react or moving too quickly. Ashley McCown, president of Solomon McCown & Company, offers a brief video to PR News exclusively where these factors and others play into her picks of the top 5 PR crises at the halfway point of 2018.

For a brand, knowing when to react is crucial. Move too quickly and a small problem can become a crisis. React too slowly and you might create a crisis. Do brands hurt their reputation by reversing a position, as MoviePass and Facebook did recently? It’s at times like these when crisis management seems a mix of art and science.

From a business perspective, many people thought CVS was crazy to remove tobacco products from its shelves back in September 2014. Today the country’s largest pharmacy chain doubled down on its bet, announcing it will pledge $10 million to the American Cancer Society in an effort to help people lead healthier lives. Whatever else you want to say about CVS, it knows how to do CSR.

Moviepass’ current woes are partly poor communications, and partly bad policy. It’s difficult to find an article today about MoviePass without also seeing descriptors attached to the brand such as “troubled,” “floundering,” “coming under renewed scrutiny” and “cash-strapped.”

Having an accessible CEO improves a brand’s authenticity, so say an overwhelming majority of media members, according to a recent survey from D S Simon Media. Another important finding is that an average of 83% of media admit to using brand-submitted video as-is, calling into question the authenticity of certain journalistic products.

Renewed economic growth, a strong job market and the evolving nature of work are transforming the face of the labor market. We asked 14 PR leaders to tell us how their brands and agencies recruit and retain the best talent.