Closures, Consolidations and Downsizings: Using Crisis Communications Principles to Share Bad News
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Executive Summary Business closures, consolidations and downsizings can be difficult decisions for organizations to make. These decisions can affect employees, clients, vendors, and local officials, and can have a significant impact on the reputation of the organization. To effectively communicate these decisions, a comprehensive communication strategy is necessary, much like […]
The Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Cancel culture is a movement aimed at ostracizing, discrediting and “deplatforming” individuals and companies for behavior or transgressions deemed offensive. According to Wikipedia, cancel culture is a controversial topic that exacerbates political polarization, with arguments from two opposing sides. One side argues that it gives a voice to marginalized communities […]
Photos That Show Rare Perspectives of Iconic Events and Places in History
By Andrew Parker for TheyDiffer.com We’re all tired of seeing pictures of the Statue of Liberty, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Moon Landing. At this point, we’ve seen so many photos of these famous landmarks and historical events that it feels like even if we haven’t seen these things in person, we definitely know exactly […]
Speak First or Forever Lose your Crisis Message
By Katie Paine for PRNews Anyone who has studied crisis communications knows, “he/she who speaks first owns the narrative.” Once bad news breaks, whether it is a self-inflicted crisis, accident or natural disaster, there’s a sequence that all crises follow. Something happens, the news media finds out about it and starts asking questions, and whoever […]
Lessons From a School on Handling Social Media Crises
by Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications Whether in-person or virtual, the kids are still in school. For the moment, however, this will be a class for the adults – and class is now in session on how to handle a social media crisis. On a Labor Day Sunday some time ago, the leadership team at a school […]
How You and Your Executive Can Become a Reporter’s Trusted Sources
By Seth Arenstein for PRNEWS It’s a popular refrain the PR pro hears from executives: I’m an expert on XYZ topic. So, why doesn’t the media call me for interviews? One reason is that the reliable source club is small. Anecdotally, it seems journalists have a cadre of go-to sources they tap consistently, especially when covering breaking-news stories. To some extent, […]
AP Style Update: Style and Grammar Basics
By Nicole Schuman for PRNEWS Here, we explore grammar basics of AP style that writers use on a daily basis. occupational titles: Only capitalize formal titles used before an individual’s name. Titles that serve as occupations should be lowercase. Also lowercase titles when they are not used with an individual’s name. Examples: Pope Francis, the […]
Why Every Checkout Counter in America Sells Those $14 Magazines
By Elizabeth Djinis for Poynter Since their peak in the ’90s, print media companies have sought strategies and new publications that might save them from their financial woes. The check-out line at the grocery store might seem the least likely place for that solution to arise. Yet single-theme magazines like “The Complete Guide to It’s A Wonderful […]
Media Relations 2023: Consider Backgrounders, FAQ Pitches and Nonprofit Newsrooms
By PRNEWS At last month’s PRNews Virtual Media Relations Summit, one session, The State of Media in 2022, featured a discussion of how media relations and PR are changing as newsrooms and attention spans shrink and mis- and disinformation increase. Some takeaways: consider holding background briefings that help reporters handling multiple beats, but… authenticity is key, […]
The Bottomless News Hole and You
By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications It’s everywhere. You check your Twitter feed. Read a news website or the daily paper. Turn on Nightly News or NPR. It’s an unrelenting and punishing tidal wave of political news pounding us over and over again. The slightest new wrinkle in a political drama, the smallest blip on Wall […]