In the October monthly episode 432 of our For Immediate Release podcast, Shel and I delve into six timely and thought-provoking topics relevant to communication professionals.

The topics we discussed span the evolving roles of social media platforms in crisis communication, to ethical concerns in journalism, and the challenges of workplace connectivity in the post-pandemic era. In this post, I’ve added concise summaries of what we see as actionable takeaways for communicators.

To start, we explore Reddit’s emerging potential as a channel for crisis communication, examining how government agencies and businesses leverage this platform to engage with stakeholders. We then tackle a controversial incident involving a podcast interview with the CEO of Intuit. The company’s CCO demanded the deletion of a segment, raising questions about editorial integrity and corporate influence on media.

We touch on the current state of blogging, drawing insights from the 2024 blogging survey. We address the ethical implications of sensationalist news coverage, particularly in the context of celebrity tragedies, notably the recent death of One Direction singer Liam Payne in Argentina. We also examine the ongoing debate surrounding return-to-office policies and their impact on workplace connections and productivity.

We look at the implications for communicators of the State of AI Report 2024, highlighting the growing influence of artificial intelligence across various industries.

Dan York’s Tech Report brings us news of a key update on Bluesky’s recent venture capital investment and reactions from competitors in the social media landscape.

Takeaways from FIR 433

From our wide-ranging discussion, several actionable takeaways emerge for communication professionals:

• Consider using Reddit as a channel for crisis communication and stakeholder engagement, especially for reaching niche communities. We cite examples of government agencies and companies like Sonos successfully using Reddit to communicate during crises.
• Be cautious about over-exploiting tragic events for clicks and engagement. We discuss how a UK media company’s excessive coverage of Liam Payne’s tragic death backfired and alienated readers. Focus on balanced, respectful reporting, not clickbait content.
• When implementing return-to-office policies, consider the multidimensional nature of workplace connections using the CLEAR model (Colleague, Leader, Employer, And Role connections). Don’t just focus on in-person colleague interactions, but consider how policies impact all four types of connections.
• Prepare to guide your organisation or clients through AI adoption and ethical use. We strongly believe that this is a significant opportunity for communicators to demonstrate value by:
  • Bridging AI applications across different industries
  • Advising on cost-benefit analysis of AI tools
  • Explaining AI regulations and compliance
  • Building trust and addressing safety/ethical concerns around AI
  • Highlighting AI success stories and advantages
• Stay informed about AI developments by reading reports like the State of AI Report, following AI experts, and listening to AI-focused podcasts. We believe this is crucial for communicators to remain relevant and valuable.
• Consider using AI tools like ChatGPT to help summarize complex documents or regulations in a way that’s relevant for communication professionals.
• For bloggers, focus on quality over quantity. We discuss how posting less frequently, but with higher-quality, longer-form content tends to produce better results than frequent short posts (but much depends on how you define ‘better results’).

Listen to FIR 433

You can listen to our 92-minute conversation right here; or, if you don’t see the embedded audio player below, listen on the episode 433 show notes page on the podcast website. You can also find links there to all the source material we used in this episode, along with a verbatim transcript of our conversation.

Related Reading:

• Helping Executives Shine on Social Networks (21 October 2024)
• From Fediverse to Harris and Gen Z: Key Takeaways from FIR podcast 425 (31 August 2024
• Not Using AI Could Become a Matter of Negligence (30 April 2024)

(Picture at top via Adobe Stock Images.)