The Flack

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

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Thank you for reading, and Happy New Year!

Cable News Lost Plenty Of Viewers In 2021 – A volatile presidential election, global pandemic and loads of social unrest made 2020 a particularly strong year for news viewership and ratings. So it’s not surprising that 2021 could not match up. Nearly all major broadcast news outlets – and cable news in particular – saw sharp drops in viewership. The story and the numbers are pretty staggering.

What Is Web3 And Why Should You Care? – If you’re old enough to remember the dawn of the Web, Web 1.0 was the era of static web pages or the “read-only web,” according to Tim Berners-Lee, computer scientist and inventor of the World Wide Web. Web 1.0 allowed us to search for information and read it, but there was very little user interaction. Web 2.0 is the more dynamic version we know today where users can easily contribute content (think YouTube, social media, etc.). But now we are on the cusp of Web3. What is it, and how will it affect your life? Gizmodo explains.

We’re Cursing More. Blame The #%$ Pandemic – Two years in, and this pandemic won’t #%$ing end! COVID-19 has changed society in more ways than we can list, but one overlooked change is how we speak. Pandemic stress, the melding of personal and professional spheres, and an unrelenting slide toward casualness are making many of us swear more. It is “a perfect swearing storm,” says Michael Adams, a linguist at Indiana University Bloomington. The Wall Street Journal takes a look.

Targeting Truth In The Misinformation Age –  As a result of the online movement Birds Aren’t Real, some people believe the US government has replaced all birds with drones to spy on its citizens. The movement drew thousands of followers, including 75,000 on Twitter, 363,000 on Instagram, and 636,000 on TikTok. The whole thing was a parody but also an experiment to illustrate how easily and quickly misinformation can spread. The spread of misinformation is a real issue for brands, companies, politicians, news organizations, etc. as, according to Forrester, it appears to be contributing to the destabilization of consumer trust. Check out their report.

Social Media Is A Bad Feelings Machine. Why Can’t We Just Turn It Off For Good? – The term Stockholm Syndrome came from an incident in 1972 in a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. Four bank employees were held hostage by two captors for six days. After police caught the captors, none of the hostages were willing to testify against them. Rather, they began raising money to aid them with their defense. For many of us, social media is a similar situation. Logically, we should turn it off, but we can’t. This opinion piece from The Guardian takes a look at the role social media plays in society and why it is so difficult to ignore.

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Feed Your Head: 

The 50 Best Memes of 2021 Explained

21 Things That Happened For The First Time In 2021

The 10 Best Data Visualizations of 2021

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

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Could Peloton Sue Over Its ‘And Just Like That’ Appearance? – Last week HBO Max premiered, “And Just Like That,” the network’s limited-edition series that picks up the story of “Sex and the City.” At the end of the first episode, Mr. Big (Chris Noth), the love interest of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), has a heart attack and dies moments after completing a ride on his Peloton. The ending shocked many viewers and, apparently, many Peloton stockholders, as the company’s stock plummeted 11% the following day and has continued to fall this week. So the question is: can Peloton sue? The New York Times takes a look.

‘Land Acknowledgments’ Are Just Moral Exhibitionism – If you’ve been to a groundbreaking, grand opening or other large corporate or university event, chances are the event may have kicked off with a land acknowledgement statement. Land acknowledgement statements usually pay homage to the Indigenous people and tribes that once occupied the land where the event is taking place. Such statements have been common in Australia and Canada, but now they are catching on in the United States. The problem is they can, at times, come off as contrived and superficial. The Atlantic digs into the issue.

How TikTok Reads Your Mind – TikTok is the most popular video app in the world. Once you start using it, it’s hard to stop. So, what makes TikTok so addictive? A New York Times columnist recently got ahold of a leaked internal memo from the company that reveals details about how the algorithm works and how they make the app so unbelievably addictive.

The iPhone Feature to Turn On Before You Die – Many of us spend way too much time with our phones. It’s how we communicate, get our news, track our exercise and stay entertained. Our phones are with us all the time. But what happens after we die? Who has access to our stuff? The Wall Street Journal explains how to establish a legacy contact who can access and manage your stuff…after you die.

Crisis PR Takeaways from Alec Baldwin’s Botched Interview – Alec Baldwin was involved in an accidental, fatal shooting during the filming of “Rust” earlier this year. Following the shooting, Baldwin kept a low profile, but recently he’s been conducting interviews, and the results have not been good. PR News outlines his missteps.

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Feed Your Head: Instagram 2022 Trend Report

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

Thank Adele For The Latest Spotify Update — There are dozens of music-streaming services but none are as large as Spotify, which boasts a 30% market share. However, one Spotify feature has baffled users for years. When users play an album on the service, it defaults to playing the songs in random order. But recently this has changed. It seems Adele, like many users, found this feature annoying. But she’s Adele, so she can do something about it! She wanted her new record, and all records, to play the songs in the order the artist intended. It didn’t take Spotify long to listen.

Liquor Company Asks Consumers Not to Buy Its ‘Rittenhouse Rye’ Brand To Celebrate Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict — Sometimes you just have an unfortunate name. A few weeks ago the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse was the top story in the news, and it stoked many debates about gun control and self defense. Unrelated to any of this is Rittenhouse Rye Whisky, a brand produced by Heaven Hill Distillery and named after Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square. Once the verdict was read, many who supported the verdict began celebrating with Rittenhouse Rye and posting their celebrations on social media. This put the brand in the middle of a controversy. Heaven Hill decided to ask people not to celebrate the victory with their brand, and that may have made matters worse.

The 3 Biggest Zoom Mistakes People Are Still Making — Many of us have spent much of the past 20 months on Zoom, and, at times, it hasn’t been pretty. Overall, it seems people have improved their skills, learned to consider their background before joining and even managed to dress appropriately. However, there are still some consistent problems. Inc. takes a look at the three most common Zoom mistakes and explains how to avoid them.

Why You Shouldn’t Use Emojis In Work Messages — We’ve all seen them, and many of us have used them — the smiley face, the frown, the eye-roll and so many more. Emojis, once used only in personal chats, have found their way into business communications, and the results aren’t always what the user intended. A recent study found women often interpret negative, neutral and ambiguous emojis more negatively than men. The Wall Street Journal digs into the issue and the dangers of using emojis.

3 Group Presentation Pitfalls — and How to Avoid Them — It seems more executives every day are beginning to appreciate how much time, effort and preparation needs to go into a presentation to make it great. That said, we still see the same mistakes over and over again, and they are easy to fix. Check out this quick guide from The Harvard Business Review to avoid the most common presentation errors.

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Feed Your Head: Jack Dorsey’s Resignation Letter — “Hi, Mom.”

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

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No One Cares! — We are wired to care about what others think of us. As Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, “We all love ourselves more than other people but care more about their opinion than our own.” This tendency to care about how others perceive us may be natural, but it can be debilitating. If we were perfectly logical beings, we would understand that our fears about what other people think are overblown and rarely worth fretting over. But many of us have been indulging this bad habit for as long as we can remember, so we need to take deliberate steps to change our minds. Harvard Business School professor Arthur C. Brooks has three tips on how to do this. 

Twitter Blue Is Finally Here! — Twitter’s new premium service, Twitter Blue – which launched in Canada and Australia in June – is now available in the U.S. The premium service will allow users to undo Tweets and read ad-free news. The Verge has all the details.

The End of “Click to Subscribe, Call to Cancel?” — Many U.S. news organizations that allow consumers to subscribe online require users to call to cancel those same subscriptions. But not for long. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently made it clear that it sees the practice as one of several “dark patterns that trick or trap consumers into subscriptions” – not to mention straight-up illegal. The FTC vowed to ramp up enforcement on companies that fail to provide an “easy and simple” cancellation process, including an option that’s “at least as easy” as the one to subscribe. This story from NiemanLab has all the details.

The Worst of Both Worlds: Zooming From the Office — The past 20 months have been excruciating for many of us. Working from home has its benefits, like eliminating commute time, but eight or more hours of Zoom calls can get old very quickly. But now offices are re-opening, and people are getting back to some sense of normalcy. So things should be getting better, right? Not so fast. The New York Times digs into Zooming from work and other challenges of the new hybrid workplace.

Memes Lower Your Stress Levels, Says Science — Good news! Sure, many of us have spent most of the pandemic cooped up on Zoom calls while scrolling almost endlessly through Instagram and other social media. However, many of those memes you’ve been seeing may have actually improved your mental health. A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that memes have made many of us feel “calmer” and “more content.” InsideHook takes a look at the surprising benefits of memes.

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Feed Your Head: News on Twitter: Consumed by Most Users and Trusted by Many

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

Facebook’s Name Change To Meta Reflects Common Corporate Tactic — Following months of controversy from leaked documents, last week Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta. The name change appears to be an effort to rebrand the company, deflect attention from the controversy and reflect the company’s commitment to the metaverse, an extensive, virtual online world first conceived in science fiction novels. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the strategy behind corporate name changes and looks at examples where it worked well and not so well.

OnlyFans May Be A Refuge For Nude Fine Art — OnlyFans is an app created in 2016 that allows users (“fans”) to pay for photos, videos and streaming content. The company has reported sharp growth and appears to be a great tool for fitness trainers, yoga instructors, models and public figures looking to monetize their profession. The dark side is the site has also attracted users, including young users, selling sexually explicit content. In August the company announced it would ban sexually explicit content, only to quickly reverse this policy change after backlash from users. In a surprising move, the Vienna Tourist Board recently joined the site to display artwork other social platforms have censored. The New York Times takes a look at the decision and confusing, often contradictory censorship policies of other social media platforms.

What I’ve Learned Watching Jeff Bezos Make Decisions Up Close — Amazon was founded in July of 1994, and it has been amazing to watch the company go from simply selling books online to becoming the second largest retailer in the world (behind only Walmart). So how did it happen? Tom Alberg, an early investor and longtime board member of Amazon, takes a look at Jeff Bezos’ three guiding principles that have helped fuel the company’s success.

Hey, Facebook, I Made a Metaverse 27 Years Ago — Contrary to what Mark Zuckerberg would like you to believe, the metaverse is not a new idea or a cool idea. It’s lame! Does no one remember Second Life? The Atlantic takes a deep look at the history, yes, history, of the metaverse and the challenges Zuck’s company faces making it relevant/useful to consumers.

The Teenager Economy — Allbirds, the sustainable shoe and clothing brand, went public this week. The company’s CEO, Joey Zwillinger, has been quoted many times saying things like the company has been, “profitable since basically Day One,” a comment made to The Wall Street Journal in 2018. However, the CEO’s comments seem to be at odds with documentation the company had to provide to the SEC prior to going public. And, unfortunately, this is not a unique case. In fact, Forbes recently noted more than one in four of the 50 largest venture-backed companies to go public since 2019 made assertions about their profitability that don’t appear to line up with their later IPO-related disclosures. Margin takes a look at this disturbing trend.

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Feed Your Head: A Guide To The Virtual Meeting

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms — Everyone knows newspapers are dying. According to Pew Research Center, total circulation of U.S. daily newspapers has declined more than 50% over the past 25 years. And when you ask why circulation is declining, the immediate answer is, “technology.” There is so much free content available, many people don’t feel compelled to subscribe to a newspaper. And while technology certainly plays a role, there may be something more sinister going on. The Atlantic takes a deep dive into Alden Global Capital, a secretive hedge fund that has quickly and quietly become one of the largest newspaper operators in the country. And let’s just say: keeping the public informed does not appear to be their highest priority.

Katie Couric Grilled on Today About Editing RBG Interview: ‘How Did You Justify That?’ — Katie Couric returned to the Today show this week and faced some tough questions from Savannah Guthrie about a section of her memoir in which Couric discussed her decision to withhold a quote from a 2016 interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During the 2016 interview, the Supreme Court Justice criticized those who knelt during the National Anthem. The Week takes a look at what happened when Couric found herself in the hot seat. 

Why The Salesforce CEO Wants To Redefine Capitalism By Pushing For Social Change — Should corporate CEOs stay neutral and focus on their company’s performance, or should they take positions on controversial political issues such as climate change, homelessness, gun policy or even abortion? Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff is among a growing number of corporate leaders who believe they should take positions on such issues. Benioff recently offered to help Salesforce employees move out of Texas after the state enacted a law in September banning most abortions. NPR takes a look at the pros and cons of CEOs taking positions on political issues.

Reed Hastings Refuses To Address Dave Chappelle Controversy — This week Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings found himself in a tough spot. After dealing with the backlash from Dave Chappelle’s special, “The Closer,” in which the comedian uses language some perceived as hate speech, Hastings was scheduled to appear on a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference. And it didn’t take long for panel moderator and CNBC correspondent Julia Boorstin to ask Hastings about the controversy. Hastings refused to address the issue, simply saying, “no comment.” However, Hastings’ attempts to avoid the issue seemed to make it even a bigger news story. Deadline takes a look.

Netflix CEO’s “Non-Apology Apology” Over Dave Chappelle Show Misses The Mark — By airing Dave Chappelle’s latest special, “The Closer” the streaming service has put itself right in the middle of the culture war between free speech and progressive values. Earlier this week Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sat down with Variety to address the issue and apologize … sort of. Here Forbes takes a look at Sarandos’ apology and offers six lessons that can be learned from it.

Americans’ Trust In Media Dips To Second Lowest On Record — This headline may not be surprising. A recent Gallup poll showed Americans’ trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly has declined four percentage points since last year to 36%, making this year’s reading the second lowest since Gallup began tracking trust in media in 1972. And trust varies greatly by political party. Currently, 68% of Democrats, 11% of Republicans and 31% of independents say they trust the media a great deal or fair amount. Take a look at a disturbing, albeit not surprising, trend.

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Podcast Worth Your Time: Freakonomics: Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

Peyton and Eli Manning Are Changing Television — For the past few weeks, Peyton Manning and his younger brother Eli have been sitting around watching NFL games, making fun of each other and interviewing legends like Alabama head coach Nick Saban. And it’s been breathing new life into NFL broadcasting. It’s Mystery Science Theater meets Monday Night Football, and it’s the biggest sports broadcasting story of the year. The Wall Street Journal digs in.

More Than 90 Local Newsrooms Closed During The Coronavirus Pandemic — More than 700,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, but the pandemic also has claimed other victims: newsrooms. It starts with layoffs and furloughs and then often leads to a reduction in print days. But that’s just the beginning of the end for many newsrooms in communities across the country. From Tama, Iowa, to Mayo, Florida, more than 90 newsrooms have shuttered for good since the pandemic started, and there’s no end in sight. Poynter looks into a disturbing trend.

Facebook Has Another Bad PR Day When Whistleblower Testifies At Senate Hearing — It has been a rough few weeks for Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues at Facebook. It started with a damning multi-part series of investigative reports by The Wall Street Journal and culminated (so they hope) with last Sunday’s 60 Minutes episode, in which former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen told all. Forbes takes a shot at summing up the worst fortnight Zuck can remember.

Goldman Sachs, OZY Media and a $40 Million Conference Call Gone Wrong — Digital-media company OZY burst onto the scene in 2013 as what its founder, Carlos Watson, hoped to be the new way for millennials to consume media. On the cusp of securing a $40 million investment from Goldman Sachs earlier this week, OZY is now shuttered, its internal channels shut down and its employees let go. What happened? The New York Times digs into the infamous conference call that marked the beginning of the very rapid end for OZY.

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Feed Your Head: 5 Techniques to Build Rapport with Your Colleagues

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

Why Is Everyone Talking to Ibai Llanos? — The biggest sports story of the summer may have been the announcement of soccer star Lionell Messi leaving F.C. Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain. However, when it came time for Messi to meet with reporters, a 26-year-old Spanish streamer, whose interviews only air on Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, got the first crack. The New York Times digs into the story of Ibai Llanos and what may be the future of sports journalism.

Fake Walmart News Release Spurs Spike in Little-Used Cryptocurrency Litecoin — Earlier this month, the stock price of Litecoin, a little-used cryptocurrency, spiked when a press release was issued touting a new partnership with Walmart. The press release turned out to be fake. The company’s founder confirmed the release was fake and said he did not know who issued it. That said, the financial implications were real. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at this story and the issue of fake news releases and the ramifications they can have.

The Exponential Age Will Change Economics Forever — Moore’s Law is the observation by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. What most take this to mean is that technology grows exponentially. And today, there may be no company that understands this better than Amazon. Wired takes a deep dive into Amazon, the issue of exponential growth and what could happen to business, economics and even society if we don’t understand it.

Your CSR Strategy Needs to Be Goal Driven, Achievable, and Authentic — Consumers and investors today are more demanding than ever. In a recent survey, 71% of consumers said they want to buy from socially responsible companies. Of course, what is and isn’t socially responsible is subjective. However, the point is clear. Consumers are asking deeper questions about corporate practices – from sourcing and hiring, to a company’s carbon footprint. Harvard Business Review takes a look at the current state and future of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Tech PR Is Dead. But Your Story Still Matters — Today, there are fewer journalists and more content than ever before. Any reporter will tell you, their inbox and voicemail (seriously) are full with so many pitched stories, sorting through it can feel like a full-time job. Inc. takes a look at the issue and asks if company/brand-owned media is the future of tech media.

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Feed Your Head:  Podcasts Are Hot, Bingeing Is Down, Per New Survey Of American Media Consumption

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.