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Over the past two months, the #MeToo movement has sparked a long-overdue national conversation around sexual harassment. And now, one of the nation’s biggest companies is moving beyond talk to action. Microsoft has announced that it would end the common corporate practice of “forced arbitration,” which requires victims of sexual harassment to settle cases privately rather than through a court of law. Will other companies follow its lead?

The fires in California have brought devastation to people, property and animals in the Golden State since the beginning of the month. While some fires continue to rage, those in the area of the Ojai Valley Inn have been contained. Faced with a large clean-up, the Inn refused to cut corners and instead will remain closed into 2018, resulting in a large financial loss as it will miss prime holiday weeks. Its decision to remain closed is firmly rooted in its brand promise.

Amtrak is facing a crisis after a derailment caused at least three deaths and dozens of injuries in Washington on Dec. 18. And in the early aftermath, the organization has done an exemplary job of crisis communications, providing frequent updates on social media, opening a microsite for more information and offering transparency by holding a conference call soon after the accident.

Our weekly roundup of news, trends and personnel moves in PR and marketing. This week’s stories include an unsavory dish cooked by Chef Mario Batali, Tavis Smiley says he wasn’t involved in unsavory activities and will PR pros need to pay for the privilege of pitching?

Brian Kelley’s passion for PR and outside-the-box approach have contributed to a noteworthy year for him and Sage Communications. Just one of his special talents: taking clients from media obscurity to being featured on national broadcast and print coverage.

Starting today, Facebook will demote what it calls “engagement bait,” posts that lure users into interaction by explicitly asking for likes and shares without offering editorial value. The posts are one way that brands can take advantage of Facebook’s (ever more discriminating) News Feed algorithm by boosting engagement to gain more organic reach. But the platform is taking action in response to widespread complaints, likely forcing some brands to rethink their approach.

To get a broad sense of some common New Year’s hopes and dreams, we asked eight communicators—all of whom will be speaking at PR News’ DigiComm Summi in Huntington Beach, Calif.—to share their PR resolutions for the coming year. Their answers ranged from better time management and recruiting talent to building relationships and creating more personalized content.

In a nutshell, 2017 has been a year of scandals, viral posts and revelations. Several big brands grappled with major crises, fake news continued to dog the major social media platforms and brands braced themselves for the possibility of being tweeted at by President Trump. But it certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom. Here, we’ve rounded up seven of the most memorable PR stories that defined 2017.

The veteran PR pro Arthur Solomon begins his annual review of lessons for communicators pulled from the year’s headlines and news reports. In this initial installment, the lessons involve crisis communications, media relations and internal communications. There’s also advice about the best way to handle a difficult boss.

In 2017 PR pros realized that the plethora of breaking political news has put the earned back into earned media. What’s a PR pro to do? The answer is to learn how you can conquer some of the new forces in earned media. Our author provides a series of tips and tactics rooted in the basics that will get your brand back in the media spotlight.