The PR Week: 4.10.2025 - Crisis Comms Conference 2025 special edition
When a crisis hits, communicators are the ones working behind the scenes to fix the problem and rescue a brand’s reputation. This episode of The PR Week comes to you live from the 2025 PRWeek Crisis Comms Conference, where leaders from media, corporate communications and public affairs shared what it takes to stay steady under pressure.You’ll hear from Judy Smith, whose career inspired Scandal; NFL SVP Katie Hill on managing a live emergency; and former Boeing and White House communications aide Brian Besanceney. Plus, Audrey Cooper of New York Public Radio unpacks the media’s shifting role, and reaction from panelists on how to engage audiences that don’t want to listen.
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The PR Week: 4.3.2025 - AJ Jones II, Monumental Sports & Entertainment
AJ Jones II is back full-time in Washington, DC, with a new job leading communications for Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and other sports brands. Jones talks about making the transition to the sports world from Starbucks, where he was EVP and chief corporate affairs officer and previously EVP and chief communications and public affairs officer. There’s no shortage of other news coming out of Washington, DC, including Wednesday’s major tariff announcements and significant job cuts across communications teams in the Department of Health and Human Services. Jones also offers his two cents on the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, including April Fools’ Day campaigns and major people moves at Andreessen Horowitz and Roche Diagnostics.
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The power of connection: Brands, men and the fight against isolation, a podcast sponsored by Citizen Relations
Dive into the crucial topic of men's mental health and social connection in this episode featuring Laura Bremer, US president of Citizen Relations and Nate Checketts, co-founder of performance apparel brand Rhone, champion for mental fitness. Drawing from the 2024 Citizen Connections Report, this critical conversation explores the growing desire for deeper social connections, particularly amongst men. Laura and Nate will share more about their mental health advocacy work, authentic and actionable steps brands can take to make a difference, and the role PR plays in rebuilding male connection.
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The PR Week: 3.27.2025 - Steve Hirsch, Hirsch Leatherwood
Who starts a PR firm in the middle of a pandemic? Steve Hirsch and his business partner, Evan Leatherwood, did just that, when they launched Hirsch Leatherwood in 2021 at the corner of reputation management and media and content strategy. He joins the latest edition of The PR Week podcast to discuss the agency’s founding principles, what types of employees it hires and how Hirsch sees the legacy media landscape. Plus: the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, such as Golin and The Weber Shandwick Collective taking a break from the PR Council, major people moves at TikTok and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trump administration’s Signal fiasco.
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The 2025 Comms Report — beyond the numbers, a podcast presented by Cision
The eighth annual PRWeek/Cision industry report recently deployed. PRWeek's Gideon Fidelzeid speaks with Cision’s Katie Tod to dissect key data and highlight what it means for communicators’ day-to-day function.Since 2017, industry pros have been the main source of a Cision/PRWeek annual report that captures the current state of the comms industry and function. This year’s iteration produced some noteworthy findings. Among numerous obstacles they face, communicators identified “a focus that is too reactive, as opposed to proactive” as the factor that challenges them the most. Though improvement is apparent, effective measurement of earned media’s impact (on multiple platforms) remains elusive for the majority. A healthy focus on Gen AI’s impact and an emerging voice in the never-ending search for optimal influence over consumers round out this in-depth conversation between PRWeek’s Gideon Fidelzeid and CisionOne’s VP of marketing Katie Tod, during which the numbers are converted to actionable takeaways.Click here to download the 2025 PRWeek/Cision Comms Report.
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