It used to be that wire service coverage represented a major coup for communications professionals. When the Associated Press or Reuters picked up your story, it would be seen in newspapers around the world, picked up by radio and TV stations and – more recently – linked to the inboxes of millions of web-based e-mail users. Most important, you could always depend on the balanced reporting that helped the wires build an almost unassailable brand ... Read More

The New York Times Magazine recently published a story about Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle that any corporate communications professional facing pressure from interest groups should read. The piece opens at the abandoned grounds of the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company in Chino California and recounts how a Humane Society undercover investigator surreptitiously taped so-called “downer” cattle wobbling and flopping on their way to the slaughterhouse. The ghoulish video was quickly posted on YouTube and Internet blogs around ... Read More

The landslide election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States was a watershed moment in American history – and one that demonstrates just how radically the communications paradigm has shifted in 2008. The rules are changing before our very eyes. Americans have voiced their frustration with business as usual and the bitter partisanship that was beginning to define 21st Century politics. They are hungry for answers to our most pressing problems, ... Read More

According to data recently released by law firm marketing consultants Alyn-Weiss & Associates, the number of transactional, corporate, and defense law firms that employ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to generate new business has nearly tripled over the last two years. For the better part of the last decade, the plaintiffs’ bar remained a full Internet generation ahead of the defense when it came to Web savvy. Now, it seems that the competition – at least ... Read More

Last month, the international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski published the fifth edition of its annual litigation trends survey. It is the largest survey of its kind – providing valuable insights from 358 in-house counselors in the U.S. and UK on what are likely to be the most significant sources of corporate litigation in the coming year. The survey results confirm the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same. For ... Read More

As more companies and organizations confront the prospect of downsizing, careful planning is essential to controlling short and long-term reputational impact. As with any high-stakes situation, it is usually best to deal with bad news as early and thoroughly as possible. Everybody knows that their lives could change as a result of the current financial crisis. As such, senior executives need to keep employees informed – or risk the panic that will inevitably come as ... Read More