Brands Start Planning for Unexpected Criticism by Trump
Zach Schonbrun writes: H&R Block’s new advertising campaign is one of the more ambitious in the company’s 62-year history. It hired the actor Jon Hamm for his first on-camera spokesman role, a significant coup. And the company ditched its “Refund Season” slogan in favor of a more aggressive pitch: “Get your taxes won.” The ads […]
‘How Propaganda Works’ Is a Timely Reminder for a Post-Truth Age
Michiko Kakutani reviews ‘How Propaganda Works’: n “Mein Kampf,” Hitler argued that effective propaganda appeals “to the feelings of the public rather than to their reasoning ability”; relies on “stereotyped formulas,” repeated over and over again, to drum ideas into the minds of the masses; and uses simple “love or hate, right or wrong” formulations […]
Lessons From 2016 for the News Media, as the Ground Shifts
From Jim Rutenberg: Starting a weekly column about the nexus between media, technology, culture and politics in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign was like parachuting into a hail of machine-gun crossfire. Dense smoke was everywhere as the candidates and their supporters unloaded on one another and, frequently, the news media, which more than […]
Assessing the Board’s Role Before the Next Crisis
From The National Association of Corporate Directors and The Wall Street Journal: As a host of threats continue to mount against organizations, more boards are weighing a broader, more proactive approach to crisis management. This is a positive development: in doing so, these boards are opening the door to adding significant value and stability to the organizations they oversee. Boards are uniquely […]
Study: Trump Benefited From ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ Tone Of Election News Coverage
From Forbes.com: Depending on who you believe, Donald Trump won the election because of Russian hackers, last-minute FBI announcements, fake news, or because Hillary Clinton was a bad candidate. A new study from the Harvard Kennedy School pins the blame on the news media—specifically the “overwhelmingly negative” tone of news coverage and the “extremely light” coverage […]
How Police Are Watching You on Social Media
From The Atlantic CityLab: In October, the ACLU released emails showing that a social media monitoring company called Geofeedia had tracked the accounts of Black Lives Matter protesters for law enforcement clients. The revelations of social media spying made headlines and led Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to cut off Geofeedia’s access to bulk user data (which in […]
Do You Have a Crisis Communications Plan?
[By Bruce Hennes, Managing Partner, Hennes Communications, and Keynote Speaker, American Public Power Association Legal & Regulatory Conference, 2016] It’s not just terrorist attacks, explosions, active shooters, and environmental disasters. More often than not, it’s going to be sexual misconduct, data theft, unfair labor practices, OSHA complaints, mergers & acquisitions, layoffs, accusations, or employee fraud […]
Lies, Propaganda, Fake News and You: The Next Crisis Management Challenge
[by Scott Juba and Howard Fencl] First, it was simply called “lying.” Then, it evolved into “propaganda.” Then “disinformation.” For whatever reason, the term has been further sanitized as “fake news.” Whatever you call it, it’s all bad news for organizations whose reputation is under attack. Right now, Facebook is at the vertiginous epicenter of […]
Snapchat, Lies and Photoshop: Is Social Media A Threat to Our Judicial System?
[By Stephanie York, Hennes Communications] Legal cases in the court of law take a long time to develop, file and litigate – years in many instances. Cases often move at an agonizingly slow pace … through written discovery, motions, depositions and court appearances. The Court of Law is intentionally methodical, governed by strict rules, and overseen […]
Cats Sleeping With Dogs: How Lawyers and Crisis Communicators Can Work Together
[By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications] At Hennes Communications, we often tell clients that they have an attorney for the Court of Law. But they have us for the Court of Public Opinion. And those two courts often require different – and at times conflicting – strategies. Attorneys have persuasive arguments for tailoring a strategy completely around […]