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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When Companies Speak Out On Hot Political Issues, They Often Get It Wrong – Companies may want to think twice before issuing that next statement. A report from The Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at social and political statements from corporations and organizations. Delving back into Covid-era stances and soundbites, this latest research presents some interesting and surprising finds about companies that opt to take a stand and speak out.
The CrowdStrike Outage Is A Lesson In Crisis Communications – If you’re reading this on a Windows computer, there’s a good chance you were impacted by the Microsoft outage caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The company’s faulty update negatively affected millions of people worldwide and brought several U.S. airlines to a grinding halt. Following the debacle, CrowdStrike’s chief security officer issued a heartfelt statement — and it’s being hailed as an example of stellar crisis communication. AdWeek has the statement and the details.
Merit, Excellence And Intelligence: An Anti-DEI Approach Catches On – As corporate America quickly dials back on DEI, a new alternative has emerged. MEI, Merit, Excellence and Intelligence, means hiring the most qualified candidates without considering demographics. And it appears to be catching on quickly. The Wall Street Journal has more.
Long Beach Looked Like It Had Solved The Local News Crisis. Then Reality Set In. – Although it sits on the outskirts of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest media markets, Long Beach, California, has struggled with a floundering print journalism scene. That looked to change when the Long Beach Post recently received new funding, but now those hopes have been effectively dashed, too. This piece from the LA Times dives into the situation and local news struggles for Long Beach.
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Beach Reads:
A Wildly Obscene Term’s Path To Mainstream Usage
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flack
: one who provides publicity
flack
: 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.