McDonalds Does Crisis Management the Right Way
By David E. Johnson, writing in CommPro: McDonalds stands out for handling its latest crisis with former CEO Steve Easterbrook right. The fast food giant let Easterbrook go last year after discovering that he had had a consensual relationship with an employee. When McDonalds terminated Easterbrook last year it said it had evidence of only of a non-physical, consensual […]
Corporations Must Look to Adopt a New Paradigm
From Bill Ide, III, Partner, Corporate Governance, Akerman and Richard Levick, Esq., Chairman & CEO, LEVICK Late one night during the financial crisis of 2008–2009, when working around the clock was the order of the day in the AIG war room, a team member left the building to grab takeout for dinner. Having forgotten to remove his […]
Importance of PR for Hedge Funds
From Ronn Torosian, writing in CommPro: One of the biggest marketing tools that hedge funds tend to avoid is public relations, which is unfortunate because making a hedge fund available to the press and training the spokesperson for the hedge fund properly can lead to a lot of success for the business. There are plenty of […]
Ellen’s Celebrity Defenders Aren’t Helping Her
From Spencer Kornhaber, writing in The Atlantic: Famous people want the world to know that Ellen DeGeneres is nice to famous people. Addressing media reports alleging a culture of harassment and bullying at DeGeneres’s talk show, the singer Katy Perry tweeted Tuesday that she’s “only ever had positive takeaways from my time with Ellen.” Ashton Kutcher, Kevin […]
In Ohio, a Newspaper Giant Is Beginning to Flex Its Reporting Muscle
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications Ohio’s biggest political scandal also has become the prime opportunity for Ohio’s newest, biggest newspaper company to show its stuff. Gannett Ohio was formed last November with the completion of the $1.2 billion merger of newspaper companies GateHouse and Gannett, forming the country’s largest newspaper company by far and creating a […]
The Permeating Stench of Negative Media Coverage
By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications What if you woke up to find that your company had racked up $47 million in negative publicity because of something your CEO said? Certainly, any company prescient enough to have a crisis communication plan packed with doomsday scenarios would include fill-in-the-blank messaging responding to an exec gone rogue. But […]
Ellen DeGeneres — Time for a Crisis Management Lesson
From David E. Johnson, writing for CommPro: Talk show host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres is the latest celebrity that could be cancelled. Both she and the top management of her hit talk show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” are under an internal investigation by the show’s distributor, Warner Brothers. There are allegations of intimidation, sexual […]
How Talking About the Coronavirus as an Enemy Combatant Can Backfire
By Tabitha Moses, writing for The Conversation: We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers. As the “invisible enemy” rolled in, entire economies halted as populations “sheltered in place.” We were told to “hunker down” for the long battle ahead and to “support our troops,” […]
Journalism and Prediction During the Coronavirus Pandemic
From Oliver Roeder, writing for NiemanReports: In the normal course of human affairs, journalism is the first rough draft of history. In a pandemic, however, journalism is the first rough draft of the future. We are all sitting alone in our homes. We are also sitting somewhere in the mathematical foothills of coronavirus’s epidemic curve, staring […]
Are You Prepared for Bad Press About One of Your Suppliers?
From Bridget Satinover Nichols, Hannah Stolze and Jon Kirchoff writing in the Harvard Business Review: It’s always been true that when companies behave badly, consumers react by spreading the word and sometimes boycotting. But our recent research found that negative news is also bad for business in a new way: Consumers react even when the bad news extends beyond […]