Media Literacy Strategies for Enhancing Your PR and Marketing
09.10.2026 – Understanding media literacy, how consumers process and think about the media they consume, can help you with your PR and marketing. I recently taught my freshman Media and You students at East Tennessee State University about the conscious model vs. unconscious model, as well as meaning matching vs. meaning construction.
An Insider’s Look at What PR/Communication Students are Being Taught
09.04.2026 – Studying public relations (PR) in college has changed drastically over the years. For me, it’s been nearly 40 years since I earned my undergrad in communications, with an emphasis in public relations. Today, if you want to get a degree in public relations, you’ll be expected to learn a lot more than creating a strategic communications plan
What They Don’t Teach You in the Corner Office
08.28.2026 – Fay Vincent ran Columbia Pictures. He was an EVP at Coca-Cola and the eighth commissioner of Major League Baseball. The man has been in more corner offices than most of us will ever see from the parking lot. When he sat down years ago to write and publish 10 things he wished someone had told him at 40, before he started plowing those executive fields, it got my attention.
Why You Should NEVER Say “Go to Hell!” in a Press Conference
08.21.2026 – After pointing out the WNBA’s PR blunders last week, I thought we could move on to another topic this week. But nope — the WNBA keeps on misbehaving. Yes, its PR implosion continues.
Delta Dealt My Granddaughter and Me a “Soar(less)” Deal
07.22.2026 – When I saw a newspaper headline about Taco Bell customers purportedly getting “explosive diarrhea” from eating at this chain, I thought it would make for an excellent blog post about how it’s really bad PR for your restaurant to be mentioned in the same sentence with those words (regardless of whether or not it’s true). It would have also included my commentary on how Taco Bell’s official company statement from its PR crisis communications team did little to defuse this crisis (it was very self-serving and hit 0% on the “we’re sorry” meter). But Leticia strongly encouraged me to find something else to write about this week. So, scratch any mention of that topic this week.
10 Mind-Boggling Demands On Your Attention
07.15.2026 – “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Nobel laureate Herbert Simon uttered that prophetic line in 1971. That should be tattooed on every communicator’s forearm.
Does Your Business Elevator Pitch Have You Going Up… or Down?
07.08.2026 – Usually we think of elevator speeches as having to do with a job interview. I previously wrote about job interview elevator speeches way back in this April 2021 blog post. But you also need an elevator speech, or pitch, for your business.
What Kind Of PR Do Your Neighbors Have?
07.01.2026 – Do you love your neighbor? We’re supposed to. After all, it’s one of the two great commandments. But what if your neighbor has bad PR (whether it’s intentional or not)?