This week in PR (7 August)

News in brief

• The PRCA has announced a reduction in workforce capacity to offset an anticipated fall of revenue in 2020 (via PR Week)
• Ofcom has published its Media Nations 2020 Report reviewing trends in broadcast and online video and radio.
• The Office for the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists has updated its guidance on the requirements to register. ‘Any person or organisation carrying out the business of consultant lobbying as defined by the Act must be entered in the Register of Consultant Lobbyists.’
• Nominations have opened for Vuelio’s Online Influencer Awards 2020. In addition to PR & Comms, categories are: Arts & Entertainment; Beauty; Parenting; Food & Drink; Health & Fitness; Interior Design; LGBTQ+; Fashion; Travel & Leisure; Current Affairs; Lifestyle; Newcomer; Disruptor/Changemaker; Best Campaign; Cause-led influencer campaign. The nomination form is here (and the awards are free to enter).

Purpose, professionalism and the future of PR

“This book provides a framework for comms professionals, leaders and their teams to understand, dive into and be able to communicate high risk issues better”. Buy 'Communicating Social & Environmental Issues Effectively' by @reedoverthere today: https://t.co/7N1HrP6LbU @PRCA_UK pic.twitter.com/6rwFJgaFrq

— Emerald Marketing (@EmeraldMkting) August 5, 2020

• Charlotte Greaves: ‘So what do you do?’​ How to explain what you do if you work in corporate communications. (6 August)
  ‘I work in corporate communications, doing a lot on brand awareness campaigns, reputation management and employee engagement – a little bit of marketing, public relations and internal comms.’

• Stuart Bruce: Is PR dead… definitely for the 10th time? (5 August)
  ‘Public relations has always been channel-neutral and encompasses media relations, advertising, SEO, design and much more. What PR is collectively guilty of is being too slow to adopt new tactics and activities as they emerged.’
• Paul Sutton with John Brown, Carrie Rose and Darryl Sparey: The disruptors: A template for the future of communications [podcast] (5 August)
  ‘If it’s pure play media relations, then I agree [that PR is dead]. If all you offer is media relations as a discipline, then I think you should be worried – not least of all because the media world is being decimated.’
• Maja Pawinska Sims with Matt Peacock and Kate Higgins: Podcast: ESG In An Era Of Societal & Corporate Challenges (3 August)
  ‘There are four elements to being a good company. There’s environmental risk; there’s social risk; there’s governance risk – all of which combined are ESG which is about reducing the potential for the company to cause harm. And then there’s the P which is purpose: which is all about maximising the potential for the company to do good through its core business. In order to prove that you do good, you must first prove that you do no harm.’

Covid-19 comms

Can't believe I just had a client call and didn't realise that there was a giant stuffed zebra in the foreground staring right at everyone until halfway through pic.twitter.com/nZ2zK3vWJr

— Sarina Kiayani (@SarinaKiayani) August 5, 2020

• Adam Driver: Why #EatOutToHelpOut is bigger than hospitality (4 August)
  ‘For me, hospitality means a hardworking industry of frontline and backroom colleagues, people you do and don’t see, working hard to provide great experiences, time and time again.’
• Amanda Coleman: Time to be a CommsHero (2 August)
  ‘We have to get comfortable with personally and professionally living with this state of flux. As communicators it is a huge challenge, we like to be able to plan, look forward and have some certainty and the world has none of that. Our personal resilience and the resilience of businesses and organisations is what will help is move forward in a positive and productive way.’

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

• Barbara Phillips: Racism in PR and how we work towards racial equality

  (6 August)
  ‘Up until this year you couldn’t actually say the word race. So I talked about bullying, about harassment, about being overlooked; I talked about not being given opportunities, why I wasn’t in succession planning. I danced all the way around but didn’t actually say ‘I think this is racially motivated’…. Now we can talk about race.’ 

• Laura Sutherland: ‘DRIVEN Pledge’ launched to help tackle diversity in PR (5 August)
  ‘Launched today, the DRIVEN Pledge is a result of a two-month-long initiative and consultation and is a free, easy-to-use tool, for industry leaders and individuals, to start making positive changes to their approach to diversity and inclusion.’
• Teela Clayton: Forget you (3 August)
  ‘This isn’t a post to mine pity. It’s for every PR department, whether agency or in-house, who thinks that their recruitment policy is beyond reproach. It’s for every recruiter who looked on as black people aired their traumas and experiences of a hostile workplace and then made no changes. It’s to every person who’s read another damning report on racism and failed to take apart the oppressive systems. It’s to every team who has posted a self-congratulatory picture of their homogenous whiteness. It isn’t good enough.’

Consulting, teams and careers

A really good reminder that while some employees love working from home it doesn’t suit everyone, especially those with cramped living space.

I am fed up with the professional middle class narrative that wfh is the ideal solution for everyone. Listen to your staff. https://t.co/9F4HGdcJFz

— Mandy Pearse (@MandyPearse) August 3, 2020

Internal communication

• Becci Gould: Why it’s time for the human touch: Top tips on returning to the office (the right way) (5 August)
  ‘For many of us, for the next year at least, we’ll be balancing working between our homes and the offices. Striking this balance won’t be easy and there’s a lot of challenges to overcome and planning that’s needed.’

Technology, media and digital

The big issue with that TikTok / Microsoft deal https://t.co/mZNfmt6zRH

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) August 5, 2020

• Katy Powell: Why brands news a slice of the TikTok action and how to nail it (6 August)
  ‘Every man, gran (not kidding) and their dog is on TikTok, and if you’re a brand and you’re thinking nah, this weird dancing app isn’t for us, think again.’
• Orlagh Shanks: Is This the End for TikTok Already? (6 August)
  ‘Instagram isn’t new to stealing ideas as we all remember how Snapchat was the first to premier ‘Stories’ showing images and videos for only 24 hours at a time. At Instagram’s first story introduction, we scoffed at their blatant copying and thought we could never divert from Snapchat. Now? Who uses Snapchat anymore?’

• Wilfred Collins: Is the tipping point in the war on disinformation… brand’s money? (no date)
  ‘There is still a big question mark around what Facebook, and other social networks, should be classed as. Publishers? Tech firms?’
• Liberty Ash: Why Instagram stories are great for appealing to your consumer audience (4 August)
  ‘Whilst Instagram “borrowed” the idea of Stories originally from Snapchat, Instagram’s version has quickly taken over as the “go-to” Stories app.’

Academic, education and training

• Kirk Hazlett: The Ethical Side of Listening (4 August)
  ‘Listening as a form of communication is an interactive process, and ethical listening gives due consideration to all aspects of what is being transmitted.’