All politics is local. Our author argues all digital storytelling is, too, with local translating to familiarity. He also urges communicators to spend more time shaping story ideas instead of expending a lot of effort on deciding what digital medium will best convey their stories.
Latest Posts


Will NBC’s Statement on Costas Inform Fox News’ Treatment of Shepard Smith?
November 15th, 2017 by Seth ArensteinWhat should brands do when an employee says something controversial and headlines result? Is the consequence immediate suspension? Should there be a warning first? What about issuing a public warning that not only puts the employee on notice but serves to inform all other staff? The examples of Shepard Smith and Bob Costas bring these questions to light.

Cards Against Humanity Divides and Conquers With ‘America-Saving’ Black Friday Stunt
November 15th, 2017 by Ian James WrightThis year, Cards Against Humanity’s annual Black Friday stunt takes a political direction. It bought a plot of land on the U.S./Mexico border that would obstruct the building of a border wall, and is sending its customers “an illustrated map of the land, a certificate of our promise to fight the wall, some new cards, and a few other surprises.”

7 Tips for an Effective Thought Leadership Program
November 14th, 2017 by Ken Gaebler, Walker Sands CommunicationsLaunching a thought leadership program at your company is relatively easy. Getting an organization’s thought leaders to participate in the program and give you what you want? That can be painful on many levels. Here are some tips that have worked well and will for you, too.

The Most Overlooked Aspect of Your Videos (and 5 Ways to Improve It)
November 14th, 2017 by Ian James WrightAudio can be a thankless craft. When it’s done well, people don’t notice it. But placing emphasis on sound is a crucial part of telling engaging stories. Here are an Emmy-award-winning video producer’s five tips for stepping up your audio game and bringing your videos to life.

The Week in PR
November 14th, 2017 by Seth ArensteinA weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel moves in communications and marketing. This week’s stories include the downfall of Louis C.K., the hubbub over Judge Roy Moore and brands pulling advertising off the Hannity show on Fox News Channel and another scare for Chiptole.

Twitter Wants You—to Pay to Play Automatically
November 13th, 2017 by Sophie MaerowitzTwitter is inviting users in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan to participate in its new program, Promote Mode. The program automatically promotes all tweets for $99 a month. What the social platform isn’t saying is that with this new program, Twitter, like Facebook, sees itself primarily as an ad platform. Allowing users to automate the promotion process—making every paid tweet count more than one without dollars behind it—means Twitter is further distancing itself from its organic roots.

Keurig, Realtor.com and #MeAt14: Caught in the Crossfire on Twitter
November 13th, 2017 by Jerry AsciertoOver the weekend, four brands announced they would not advertise on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, but none felt the backlash quite like Keurig, as videos of people smashing its machines lit up Twitter. The violent response underscores the tricky situation brands are in when caught in the crossfire of a politically charged controversy. Keurig first faced backlash for its inaction. When it took a stand, it faced another angry wave of protests.

How Solo Communicators Can Amplify Their PESO Mojo
November 10th, 2017 by Samantha WoodThe role of a communications pro has drastically changed. Now, all communications strategies need to be integrated with a mix of paid, earned, social/shared and owned media. We recently talked to Anna Ruth Williams, founder and CEO of ARPR—who will be speaking about PESO at the upcoming PR News Media Relations Conference— about how smaller brands with a communications “team” of just one person can optimize every letter of PESO to effectively spread their message.

Week 4 of #MeToo: Louis C.K. and Roy Moore Face Sexual Misconduct Allegations
November 9th, 2017 by Sophie MaerowitzAs any PR professional knows, reputation is everything. And if anyone still doubts that, the #MeToo movement has arrived to awaken us all. At this very moment the reputations of comedian Louis C.K. and Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore are in free fall as a result of news coverage of their alleged sexual misconduct.