PR Nation

Experts are predicting that the month of April will bring even more cases of COVID-19 across the country. With social distancing guidelines extended, public relations practitioners will need to continue to adjust their communications plans. 

Robert gathers eight PR Nation contributors who discuss best practices for navigating PR during the pandemic. This pro panel includes:

• Cody Kennedy, Communications and Media Manager, Olathe School District, Olathe, KS
• Dr. Adrienne Wallace, Digital Strategist/Project Manager, BlackTruck Media+Marketing, Grand Rapids, MI
• Brian Rackham, Director of the Media Innovation Center, Northern Arizona University, Scottsdale, AZ
• Sarah Shelson, Account Executive, RIESTER Public Affairs, Washington, DC
• Dr. Gina Luttrell, Assistant Professor of PR/Social Media and Director of the Graduate Program in Public Relations, Syracuse University, NY
• Jason Mollica, Professorial Lecturer of PR, American University, Washington, DC
• Dr. Amanda Holdsworth, Director of Public Relations and Brand Strategy, Reink Media Group, Royal Oak, MI
• Brandon Johnson, Communications Specialist, Global Business Travel Association, Washington, DC

And John O’Dwyer delivers the latest PR news headlines as reported by the O’Dwyer’s PR newsroom in New York City.

Links: 

COVID-19 Communication Repertoire

PRCA Mental Health Toolkit

Don't Let COVID-19 Headlines Delay Your Job Search

Contributor: Cody Kennedy

Contributor: Dr. Adrienne Wallace

Contributor: Brian Rackham

Contributor: Sarah Shelson

Contributor: Dr. Gina Luttrell

Contributor: Jason Mollica

Contributor: Dr. Amanda Holdsworth

Contributor: Brandon Johnson

O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter

Looking to make sure your social media isn’t socially distant? The COVID-19 pandemic has forced PR pros to re-evaluate their digital strategies. PR Nation contributor Jason Mollica joins Robert to share his 10 tips for managing social media during a crisis.

Summer talks about getting ready for video teleconferences, while John O’Dwyer delivers the latest PR news headlines as reported by the O’Dwyer’s PR newsroom in New York City. 

Jason Mollica’s Top 10 tips for social media in a crisis:

Do

1. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN – Be proactive. It will not matter what you say if you do not listen to what is going on during a crisis in the short-term. This allows you to gain insight for the long-term.
2. MONITOR – While this is reactive, it’s still essential in the case of customer care. These interactions can aid in how you adapt moving forward.
3. CONSISTENCY IS KEY– The voice you have off social, needs to be echoed on social, as well. Mixed messages will only confuse and frustrate all audiences.
4. PRIORITIZE – What is important for your audience to know RIGHT NOW?
5. BE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT– If people believe you are keeping information from them, you’ll be called out for it. Let them know as much as you factually know.

Don’t

1. BE IMPERSONAL– If messaging appears too robotic or with too much lingo, you’ll confuse the audience. Use wording and facts people understand.
2. PUSH THE ENVELOPE – This isn’t a time to be cute or make jokes, especially if people are sick/injured/dying. Government agencies, food brands shouldn’t play these games. Stick to reassuring the public that everything is being done to right the ship.
3. KEEP SELLING – Hit the pause button on discounts or special offers. If you are trying to capitalize on suffering, people will remember and you’ll be history.
4. DEAL IN OPINION – Stay with facts from trusted sources and make sure that your team is in sync. Also, if your social media profiles aren’t always the place for retweets/shares, don’t get caught posting information that could cause your organization to retract.
5. BE COMBATIVE – The easiest way to get people against you is to be hostile about your responses. If you are the communications director for a governor, you can’t be clapping back at detractors. If it needs to be addressed, offer the option to contact you through direct message or email.

Links:

Contributor: Jason Mollica

O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter

The COVID-19 outbreak has changed, and in many instances devastated, lives around the world. For communicators, it has required urgent implementation of crisis plans, evaluation of current PR programs, and adjustments to evolving media coverage patterns. 

Robert discusses these changes, and what more PR pros should expect, with three PR Nation contributors:

• Christina Borrego, Executive Director of Public Relations, Communications and Multicultural Services, RIESTER, Phoenix, AZ
• Dr. Adrienne Wallace, Digital Strategist/Project Manager, BlackTruck Media+Marketing and Assistant Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI
• Dr. Gina Luttrell, Assistant Professor, PR/Social Media and Director of the Graduate Program in Public Relations, Syracuse University

Also, Summer reviews COVID-19 related corporate messages flooding her email in-box, and John O’Dwyer delivers the latest PR news headlines as reported by the O’Dwyer’s PR newsroom in New York City. 

Links:

Contributor: Christina Borrego

Contributor: Dr. Adrienne Wallace

Contributor: Dr. Gina Luttrell

O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter

In this special mid-week edition of PR Nation, we preview our conversation with communicators about changes COVID-19 has made to the way we do our work. We also consider the recent Institute for Public Relations survey about PR  and whether communicators were ready for the outbreak.

Most communications pros and senior executives in a new survey report their communication team was prepared for COVID-19, according to findings scheduled for release Monday by the Institute for Public Relations and Peppercomm. 

Only public health officials were considered credible messengers, while elected officials and social media sources scored low. The news media’s reporting of the pandemic didn’t fare so well either.

PR Nation is the first to report details of the survey, completed just three days ago, on Tuesday, March 10. In this special episode, Robert discusses the results with Dr. Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), and Steve Cody, IPR Chairman and Founder and CEO of Peppercomm.

Links:

Institute for Public Relations

Guest: Dr. Tina McCorkindale

Guest: Steve Cody

How the COVID-19 virus sparked panic

Is your organization ready for a PR crisis? If not, then a new book may be just what you need to help you create a crisis plan before you need one. This week, Robert invites crisis expert Ed Segal to discuss the worst part of public relations, managing a crisis, and his soon-to-be-released volume, Crisis Ready: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies.

Also, the gang worries about coronavirus and cherry blossoms, while John O’Dwyer thaws out just in time to give us the latest PR news headlines.

Links:

Communicating a Public Health Outbreak

Guest: Ed Segal

Amazon: Crisis Ready: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies

Website: Get Crisis Ready 

Broadcast journalists are becoming even more mobile, shooting their news on iPhones and editing stories in coffee shops. How will this impact your work as a PR pro? Mobile journalism expert and career broadcast journalist Geoff Roth tells Robert how we can take advantage of this change in news gathering techniques.

Also, the gang sounds off on a retired journalist’s endorsement of a presidential candidate, while John O’Dwyer reports the latest PR news headlines, as gathered by the O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter team in New York City.

Sam Donaldson pens op-ed endorsing Bloomberg for president

Guest: Geoff Roth

Mobile Journalism Manual

The rise of mobile journalism: Publishing’s new frontier?

Does anyone care that the White House has held just one press briefing since January 28, 2019? Journalist Scott Nover asked the question in an article for Washington Post Magazine, and tells Robert what he found. The two also discuss whether PR pros outside Washington, D.C. should worry that traditional media access is stifled by the Trump Administration.

Also, Summer can neither confirm nor deny a bow-tie for the Johnson puppy pug is in the mail, while O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter Publisher John O’Dwyer reports top PR news headlines for the week.

Read more about the PR Nation team, read our latest PR blog posts, and find out what’s coming up on future podcasts by visiting our website, www.ThePRNation.com

O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter

Guest: Scott Nover

The last White House press briefing was months ago. Does anyone really miss it?

Here’s what White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has to say about not holding press briefings

The White House and the Press Timeline

Do you need a client with a big budget to do creative PR work? Is it possible to break free of the news release and op ed routine? Adam Ritchie, Principal at Adam Ritchie Brand Direction, preaches using PR to invent and transform, and calls out creative PR ideas on his Twitter feed #InventionInPR. He answers these questions and more on this debut episode of America’s new favorite PR podcast, PR Nation.

Hosts Robert Johnson and Summer Johnson preview plans for the show and reveal what’s been keeping them busy the last few months. Also, O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter publisher John O’Dwyer reports the latest PR news headlines.

Guest: Adam Ritchie

Website: Adam Ritchie Brand Direction

#InventionInPR

Why Planters Decided to Kill Off – and Resurrect – Mr. Peanut at the Super Bowl

#BabyNut

O'Dwyer's PR Newsletter