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Nearly all surveys show journalists value their time. So, why do companies ask them to navigate unfriendly newsrooms for basic information and contacts?

We asked chief communicators about their 2022 priorities, lessons from the pandemic they’ll use moving forward, hiring practices and more.

This interview with Jennifer Gallo, a newly minted EVP, client engagement and business development, Evoke KYNE, was conducted in late December as the country was beginning to deal with the Omicron variant. She prescribes flexibility for fellow communicators, as they struggle with return-to-work messages. In addition, she urges prompt messaging and transparency. She also shares tips about ‘translating’ complicated health and science information for non-scientists.

Thanks to advertisers and the media’s focus on engagement as a key metric, crises have surfaced and been amplified at a far higher level in 2021 than they were in 2020. Because they bump up engagement numbers, the plague of misinformation, disinformation, rumors and lies skyrocketed to the top of everyone’s news feed and we all got angrier at everything. And, since anger drives engagement and engagement bolsters advertising revenue, the cycle will just get worse in 2022. But there are lessons we can take with us into the new year from all the messes that CEOs made, and PR pros were asked to clean up.

In popular language, limbo is an indeterminate place where one awaits a decision. It’s pleasant enough but devoid of bliss or pain. I don’t fully understand the religious form of limbo, but I’m very familiar with the PR version: It’s where measurement deniers go after a year-end performance evaluation that’s ambiguous, unfulfilling and offers no guidance. And yet, most communicators choose limbo over measurement.

Our annual predictions feature touched on a number of themes, including companies wanting to avoid social issues. Social media, trust and AI are table stakes. Yet healthcare communication, particularly healthcare equity and ESG, are prominent. And accessibility is mentioned. New this year, a faux ‘Headlines We’d Like to See in 2022.’

Whether one chooses the descriptor new normal or next normal to discuss today’s reality, one suggestion is that we opt instead for the word uncertainty in the year ahead.

Ray Kerins has held senior communication positions at Merck, Pfizer and most recently at Bayer, where he was SVP, head of corporate affairs. We talked to him about the keys to fighting cybercrime.

Data from Davis+Gilbert LLP, a law firm that works with many communication businesses, shows 95 percent of PR outlets surveyed anticipate net revenue increases in 2022, a far more optimistic look to the future than at the same time last year. This is great news for those in the process of creating a budget for 2022. While fundamental needs for organizations may have changed in terms of operational costs, a reassessment of strategy can provide opportunities for a beneficial re-allotment of funding.

It may be too late to change 2021 results, but you can approach New Year planning by asking executives, team members and yourself some important questions, according to columnist Mark Weiner.