✅ When to speak out versus stay quiet?
Your week ahead in management, media and public relations
The criticism levelled at Arts Council England last week highlights the sensitivity that organisations face in making statements on political and social issues.
The non-departmental public body published a new relationship framework that sets out the governance expectations of organisations that it funds in identifying and classifying risk issues.
It raised the ire of the creative community and was called out as overreach and a form of censorship. Critics claim that there was an implied threat that organisations that take a position on social or political issues will have their funding cut.
I’ve written a lot about this recently, including a research report for NewsWhip. It is one of the most challenging contemporary issues for corporate communications because of culture wars and societal polarisation.
Arts Council England subsequently issued a statement reassuring its community and stating the importance of freedom of expression. Ironically it has faced a reputational issue in its attempt to provide guidance on reputational risk.
A better approach might have been to engage stakeholders in the process and publish the new document alongside some of the high-profile organisations it funds.
NewsWhip CEO Paul Quigley and I will explore the contribution of corporate communications and public relations to management in helping address societal and political issues on a LinkedIn Live session next Tuesday at 4pm, GMT. You’d be welcome to join us.
Have a great week.
Industry
🔵 SOCIALLY MOBILE RECUITMENT: The community interest company that supports practitioners from diverse backgrounds in gaining management skills is recruiting assessors and examiners. Please email Beth Thomas for a job description if you are interested in either role. Source: Socially Mobile.
🧾 PITCH BITCH: After investing £10k of time in a pitch and being ghosted by the prospect, Red Lion PR’s James Swan called for the process to be professionalised. He said that feedback sections during the process, internal alignment of a brief, and feedback on whether an agency wins or loses should all be a mandatory part of the process. Source: PRWeek (£).
📖 WIKIPEDIA ENGAGEMENT: Computers in the Scottish Parliament have been used multiple times to edit Wikipedia pages of politicians. CIPR guidance is clear on this issue. Never edit Wikipedia papers where you have a conflict of interest. Instead, engage transparently in line with the expectations of the Wikipedia community. Source: CIPR.
Research
🤕 WELLBEING RESEARCH: A research study by Dr Michal Chmiel at the University of London aims to understand workplace and wellbeing in corporate communications and public relations. It examines issues related to working hours, offices, networking and relationship aspects of work and mental wellbeing. Source: University of London.
🦠 MANAGING MISINFORMATION: Fake news moves faster than any other crisis and is unpredictable. A new study finds that "watchful waiting" to evaluate factors like momentum and source credibility, along with owned channels and credible media relationships, are key when deciding if and how to respond. Source: Stephen Waddington.
Media relations
🛳 MEDIA RELATIONS FLOATER: Floating stuff down the Thames is the publicist tactic that refuses to die. This week it was the turn of skincare brand The Ordinary to stick a bottle of its skincare product on a barge and float it up the river for a photo opportunity. Source: Campaign.
Technology and platforms
📄 LINKEDIN DECODED: The ideal length of a LinkedIn post is 900 to 1,200 characters. Images, polls and PDF documents drive engagement. Reports and comments within the first hour are high engagement signals for the algorithm. Source: Richard van der Blom.
Artificial intelligence
🔰 AI COMMS REPORT: Public relations practitioners are becoming comfortable with AI, although continuous learning and proper safeguards are critical. AI positively impacts the communication function by enhancing content creation and workflow efficiency, though it's emphasised as a tool rather than a strategy. Source: IPR.
📺 VIDEO AI: OpenAI has developed a new system called Sora that can generate realistic videos based on text prompts up to a minute long. It demonstrates significant progress in the ability of AI to understand language and generate complex visual scenes. Source: OpenAI.
Thank you to the following members of the House of Marketing & PR community of practice for sharing and debating stories covered in the newsletter over the past week: Alan Morrison, Craig McGill, Nigel Sarbutts, Andrew Bruce Smith, and Sarah Waddington CBE.