✅ Study explores tools and workflow in corporate communications
Your week ahead in management, media and public relations
We’ve started a new research project for NewsWhip, exploring how corporate communications and public relations teams incorporate new tools and are adapting processes and workflow to improve management planning and decision-making.
The Page Society has identified this as one of the most significant operational issues for corporate communications teams in 2024. It raises questions about the function’s effectiveness, efficiency and management contribution.
If you’re a senior corporate communications leader working in a large international company in Europe, UK or US, we’d welcome the opportunity to interview you. Please get in touch with me via direct message or email.
All interviews are conducted in confidence and no source will be quoted directly. Participants will have the opportunity to see the results firsthand and join an in-person discussion.
This is our third report for NewsWhip. Previous reports have explored how senior corporate communications leaders support management with planning and decision-making and issues related to societal polarization.
I’m grateful to NewsWhip for funding this work, which aligns with my PhD research on the contribution that corporate communications and public relations make to management.
Have an excellent week. Thank you.
Management
🔍 COMMUNICATION DISCONNECT: A Swedish study reports on the perception gap in corporate communications roles between practitioners and other employees in large organisations. Communications practitioners view their role as strategic, while managers and co-workers see it as primarily tactical, highlighting the need for better alignment and demonstration of strategic value. Source: Wadds Inc.
🚨 CRISIS INSIGHTS: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs discussed his Situational Crisis Communication Theory, which categorises crises and links them to appropriate response strategies, in a recent webinar. He emphasised the importance of empathy in crisis response and maintaining strategic focus to build lasting stakeholder relationships while highlighting the increasing interconnectedness of risks leading to a state of permacrisis. Source: Wadds Inc.
New Parliament
🏛️ PARLIAMENTARY PRIMER: A Hansard Society briefing explains the ceremonial, legislative, organisational and procedural processes engaged at the start of the new Parliament. It sets out the timetable for the legislative framework, Select Committees and Budget. Source: Hansard Society.
🔄 CABINET SHAKEUP: Sir Keir Starmer has demoted 31 Labour MPs and peers while promoting newcomers and outside experts to his cabinet. The move, which includes relegating 22 former front-bench MPs to the backbenches, risks forming a cohort that could oppose the new government on key issues. Source: Financial Times.
👑 LABOUR AGENDA: Labour is preparing an ambitious King's speech next week with at least 30 bills, focusing on key manifesto promises. The legislative agenda includes plans for housebuilding, green energy, crime prevention, devolution, and democratic reforms. Notable proposals include automatic voter registration, a new public clean energy company and railway nationalisation. Source: The Guardian.
🏛 TRANSPARENCY LAW: The Labour government plans to introduce the Hillsborough Law, requiring public officials and bodies to be transparent and honest during public inquiries. This law addresses issues with reputation management in public sector organisations, which has sometimes led to denial and concealment of issues. Source: Dan Slee.
Media and platforms
📲 WHATSAPP NEWS: A year after its launch, WhatsApp Channels has become a popular content distribution platform for publishers, with The New York Times leading at over 12 million subscribers. While major US publishers dominate in follower counts, the format shows promise for building engaged niche audiences, especially in sports, with UK publishers like The Sun seeing high engagement on specialised channels. Source: Press Gazette.
🗳️ ELECTION INSIGHTS: Sky News boss Jonathan Levy shares six insights from the 2024 UK general election coverage, including the importance of debate formats, data-driven journalism and podcasts. Levy emphasises the need for politics to be covered beyond Westminster, the continuing relevance of campaigns and the value of on-screen experts in connecting audiences with political content. Source Press Gazette.
🧵 THREADS GROWS: Meta's Threads has reached over 175 million monthly active users as it approaches its first anniversary. The platform, which launched as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), has been steadily growing and introducing new features, though it remains behind X's reported 600 million monthly active users. Source: TechCrunch.
Artificial intelligence
🎭 AI STORYTELLING PARADOX: Access to generative AI ideas increases the creativity of short stories, especially for less inherently creative writers. However, AI-assisted stories were more similar to each other than human-only stories, pointing to a potential social dilemma where individual creativity increases but collective novelty decreases if generative AI becomes widely adopted for creative tasks. Source: Science.
Thank you to Bridget Aherne, Stuart Bruce, Rachel Foster, Ben Lowndes, Craig McGill, Alan Morrison, Dan Slee, Andrew Bruce Smith and Sarah Waddington for sharing and debating the stories in the newsletter this week.