Reputation Management, Fake News and How to Deal With the Constantly Changing Rules
[By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications] Remember the good old days – like, oh a few months ago – when one of the major threats to reputation was getting caught up in critical news coverage or disparaging social media chatter? That was then. This is now: Try fighting to save that reputation when you’re under attack from […]
Volkswagen: It Just Keeps Getting Worse

We’ve said it time and time again: Volkswagen doesn’t have a communications problem. They have a performance problem. The latest news from Germany compounds that. http://www.nytimes.com/…/inquiry-in-emissions-scandal-widen…
Twitter: How a Little Blue Bird Became a Communications Juggernaut

[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] Among the many distinctions for which the election of 2016 will go down in history, the sustained use of Twitter to mobilize voters will no doubt be among the most notable. Indeed, perhaps not since the pamphleting campaign of the American Revolution, of which Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is the […]
Mother Tongue of Global Crisis Management: Social Media
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] Recently, Thom Fladung and I had the honor of meeting with a group of Russian public relations professionals from Volgograd to answer their questions about crisis management and media relations in the U.S. The group, sponsored by the Council of International Programs USA, spent a week in Cleveland meeting with […]
A Very Brief Primer on Repentance and Apologies, Genuine and Not
In the last issue of Crisis Management Today, we offered “The Basics of Saying ‘I’m Sorry’” with reference to Peter Sandman. You can find those basics below. But in this issue, we introduce another way of looking at apology, this time from Rabbi Richard Block, who writes: Genuine repentance has 3 basic components: recognizing and […]
Social Media Monitoring by Government Agencies – A Fine Line Between Privacy & Public Safety
[By Scott Juba] Social media monitoring and surveillance is a fact of life in today’s twenty-first century communication landscape. It is a near certainty that every person reading this has had their online communication monitored. In many cases, companies and brands track what customers and competitors are saying about them online and then use that […]
On the Ground in Cleveland During the Republican Convention

In a video produced by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, here’s what Cleveland looked like from ground level during the recent Republican National Convention. As the Washington Post said: They told us there’d be riots. Instead, we got a street party. You can see that video here. NOTE: The part about the convention starts at […]
How to Project Power
From The New York Times Magazine: ‘‘Keep your limbs away from your body,’’ says Deborah H Gruenfeld, a social psychologist who teaches at Stanford University. Some research shows that people posed in expansive postures feel more powerful, exhibit higher testosterone levels and have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol — all characteristics of high-ranking […]
As Profanity-Laced Video Leaks, Outlets Grapple with Trump’s Language
From Poynter: Open microphones have often left politicians and other powerful people red-faced and apologetic. But The Washington Post’s decision Friday to publish a video of Donald Trump explaining how he kissed and groped women pushed some newsrooms to dance around the graphic language while others took it public unedited. Because Trump’s attitude toward women […]
The Benefits of Executive Communications Coaching
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] As part of your organization’s leadership team, you’re a walking, talking standard bearer of your brand and your reputation. What you communicate can dramatically impact your organization’s reputation. But HOW you communicate is crucial. Ineffectual, weak presentations are one of the quickest ways to damage your brand’s reputation. If your […]