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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Blackrock CEO Larry Fink Says He’s Officially Retiring “ESG” as an Investing Term – Last week at the Aspen Ideas Festival the Blackrock CEO announced he’s retiring ESG as an investing term because he believes the term has become “weaponized.” ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social and corporate Governance, has been at the heart of several debates about companies and organizations taking stands on divisive political issues. Fast Company takes a look at the state – and potential future – of ESG.
Clipping and Sharing Newspaper Articles has Nostalgia Appeal – Remember in the 90s when your parents or other relatives would clip newspaper articles, attach a note and mail them to you? It’s still happening. The Wall Street Journal looks at the people who are literally mailing news clips. It’s kind of adorable.
How Fox News (Yes, Fox News) Managed to Beat “The Tonight Show” – Don’t look now, but Gutfeld!, the late-night talk show hosted by Greg Gutfeld on Fox News, has passed The Tonight Show to become the highest-rated program in late-night. It seems Gutfeld! has become a refuge for those who’ve grown tired of political correctness of Fallon and Colbert. The New York Times looks at the man behind Gutfeld!
Radio Station Gets Part-Time AI DJ Based on Its Midday Host – AI is coming for our DJs! Live 95.5, a radio station in Portland, Oregon, announced last week that its midday host Ashley Alzinga will broadcast a cloned version of her voice – aka “AI Ashley.” The station will use “RadioGPT” to generate a script based on trending news and read it with a synthetic voice. And you probably won’t notice a difference. TechCrunch+ looks at how AI is about to change radio.
If You Can’t Avoid Working on Vacation, Follow These Tips for Everyone’s Sake – Just because you have to work on vacation doesn’t mean the rest of your family does. Give this article from PCMag a read before you hop on that Zoom from the Airbnb swimming pool.
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Beach Reads:
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
How Shazam Makes Unique Audio Fingerprints to Identify Songs
This Is Why You Put On Weird Voices When You’re Around Your Family
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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.