✅ Monday briefing: Eco-anxiety, Socially Mobile briefing, ESG data shakeup, ASA #ad(vice), management potential, artificial stupidity, gaming Google, pay to play and more...
Industry, management, media, artificial intelligence, and tools
The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report left me throughly depressed this week. You too? An email from colleague Dr Jon White lifted my spirits. It may help you too.
Jon shared an article from The New York Times about the need to turn climate anxiety into action and optimism. It describes "feelings of despair about the climate crisis" that have become so commonplace that "eco-anxiety is now an emerging field in psychology.”
The New York Times recommends several podcasts that will leave listeners "more informed and perhaps better able to embrace climate optimism".
Hot Take - hosted by the writer Mary Annaïse Heglar and the investigative journalist Amy Westervelt - starter episode: “Follow the Money, Eat the Rich”
The Climate Question - BBC World Service podcast - starter episode: “Could Giving Nature Rights Help Fight Climate Change?”
Drilled - a true crime approach to climate change - starter episode: “The Bell Labs of Energy”
How to Save a Planet - Gimlet Media hosts a crew of self-proclaimed climate nerds - starter episode: “What’s Your 2022 Climate Resolution?”
Outrage + Optimism - an optimistic discussion with guests who have included Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough - starter episode: “The Breakthrough Effect”
Claire Brady at Stand, a strategic brand communications agency, has written a thoughtful series of articles about the opportunity for public relations to contribute to positive change in light of the IPPC report. I recommend following her on LinkedIn.
The London School of Economics Department of Media and Communications is running a webinar on Greenwashing, Carbon Capitalism and the Role of PR on 21 April chaired by Dr Lee Edwards. Thanks to Jon and Sheena Thompson for sharing the link.
Industry
🔵 SOCIALLY MOBILE BRIEFING: Socially Mobile supported 47 public relations practitioners from diverse backgrounds in developing their management skills in 2022. A webinar from 1-2pm on 31 March will discuss what’s next for the Community Interest Company. Please join us. Source Sarah Waddington CBE.
♻️ ESG DATA SHAKEUP: MSCI, an index of ESG data, is set to tighten its criteria amid pressure from regulators concerned about greenwashing. It has $13.5 trillion of assets benchmarked against its indices. Source Ben Lowndes.
🖼️ ASA #AD(VICE): A new ASA document sets out the legal expectations of influencers as well as public relations and marketing practitioners in labelling paid or sponsored content. It should always be clearly marked as an advertisement. Spotted Anne-Marie Lacey.
Management
👤 MANAGEMENT POTENTIAL: A Deloitte UK study identifies organisational listening, stakeholder mapping and relationship management as critical advisory roles for public relations. A significant shift within the public relations function is a move to a growth mindset. Source Stephen Waddington.
📚 RESOURCE DOCUMENTS: David Gallagher has created a summary of industry thought leadership and trend reports. Jesper Anderson has built a living index of AI communications resources. Spotted Rob Cartwright.
📄 WORDS MATTERS: Parry Headrick has satirised the typical language in CEO layoff letter with acid humour. It’s a LinkedIn post that deserves to be shared. Spotted Mark Strouse.
Media
👮 NAMING DEFENDANTS: The College of Policing has dropped a proposal to allow Police Forces in England and Wales the option of naming who have been charged with an offence. It follows criticism by the Society of Editors who said that not naming defendants would be a failure of press freedom. Spotted Alan Morrison.
💷 TAXING ANNOUNCEMENT: The coincidence of the timing of the announcement of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s tax affairs with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's appearance in front of the Privileges Committee on partygate was uncanny. Sunak has paid more than £1 million in UK tax since 2019. Source Julian Christopher.
Artificial intelligence
ℹ️ AI ASSISTANT: Techno optimist Bill Gates views AI as a human assistant that will help address societal inequalities. In his latest essay, the Microsoft founder says that AI is as revolutionary as the graphic user interface in the 1980s, and will be as impactful as the internet and the mobile phone. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
😝 ARTIFICIAL STUPIDITY: Techno pessimist Jaron Lanier says the challenge with AI is that it isn’t intelligent. The technology philosopher says that we aren’t adopting the technology with enough understanding or self-interest. It is a reductive tool that is reducing choice and making us less intelligent. Spotted Sarah Waddington CBE.
🃏 GAMING GOOGLE: An experiment by The Verge succeeded in getting a review article about the best printer for 2023 to rank on the first page of Google. It was written using ChatGPT and should have fallen foul of Google’s terms and conditions. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
Tools
🧰 PRESENTATION MAKER: Tome summarises documents and turns them into presentations. It’s an example of both the reductive and generative abilities of AI. It integrates DALL·E 2 to add images. Source Andrew Bruce Smith.
💰 TWITTER PAY TO PLAY: Blue subscribers will be prioritised in the Twitter newsfeed in the coming weeks according to Elon Musk. Your reach on the platform is set to fall if you don’t pay for a Twitter subscription. Source Alan Morrison.