June 5, 2025
In this week's edition: reputation, risk & resilience in 2025, "insidious fear", the news platforms targeting young audiences, rebranding diversity, the biggest threat to reputation, and much more...
NOTE: due to holidays in the Middle East, there may (or may not) be an issue next week. Don’t hold your breath.
Reputation, Risk and Resilience: The 2025 Edition - Rod Cartwright’s annual summary and analysis of 11 major global reports. “The list takes in publications from AXA, The BCI, The Conference Board, Deloitte, Edelman, Ipsos in the UK, Gallup, GlobeScan, Lloyd's Register Foundation, Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, Page Society and World Economic Forum.” (Rod Cartwright)
AI may be getting too clever by half for corporate communication - “For years, companies have paid public relations firms handsomely to ensure that the tone of their communications lands well with shareholders or the media. Now, inevitably, some of that work is being done more quickly and cheaply by AI, even if London’s top PRs are squeamish about admitting it. After all, it could be the death of the billable hour.” (The Times - $)
Why CEOs Should Think Twice Before Using AI to Write Messages - “What would happen if CEOs began writing employee communications using gen AI? Would anyone notice? Probably not, according to a new study. But that doesn’t mean CEOs should use it to write everything. Here’s what they can do to effectively andtransparently write with gen AI.” (HBR)
Bluesky has caught on with many news influencers, but X remains popular - “The share of news influencers in our sample with a Bluesky account roughly doubled in the four months after Election Day 2024, from 21% beforehand to 43% by March 2025. Most of these influencers – including left-leaning ones – are also on X and post there frequently.” (Pew)
Duolingo deletes all its TikTok videos after AI backlash - then returns with a strange message - “Facing heavy backlash online after unveiling its new AI-first policy, Duolingo went dark over the weekend on the social media channels where it cultivated an enormous following with quirky posts. The company even took down all of its posts on TikTok and Instagram, where it has 6.7 million and 4.1 million followers, respectively, after both accounts were flooded with negative feedback.” (Fast Company)
‘Insidious fear’: From warnings about free speech to Kermit’s innocuous remarks, speeches respond to a politically charged US - “A lot of folks this spring will turn to these commencement speeches, especially now with the advent of social media, which allows us to distribute the clips much more widely, to see what people are saying in this critical moment, where our democracy is so fragile.” (Guardian via David Murray)
Stengel and a strange purpose autopsy - “When so many brands and agencies drink the same Kool-Aid, it leads to worse marketing (because the entire mental model is warped), and a worse world (because real social good gets obscured and obfuscated by corporations who inevitably protect their self-interest and highlight the issues least threatening to them).” Great article. (Thoughts on Writing/Nick Asbury)
How social media lies fuelled a rush to war between India and Pakistan - “Disinformation spread to mainstream channels in what experts call deliberate ‘informational warfare’” (Guardian)
How new, platform-driven news outlets are attracting young audiences - “Despite an apparent disinterest in conventional formats, young people are still interested in news. They try to understand the world around them, often turning to alternative voices on digital platforms. In response to this challenge, more than four in ten (42%) publishers say they’ll be looking to launch or trial a “youth” product this year.” (Nieman Lab)
How to do the things you can’t measure - “… there are intangible benefits beyond these you can’t track. Being in culture, helping set conversations going forward and so on are valuable and completely unmeasurable. We explain those matter too and we don’t have any way to measure them.” (Alex Schulz)
Viral, raunchy ‘ParkTok’ trend aims to raise awareness of spending cuts to national parks - “The videos are funny and moderately unhinged in the way TikTok trends often are, but they have a serious aim: to raise awareness about threats to US public lands amid the Trump administration’s efforts to gut national parks staffing and designate more of America’s wild lands for drilling, mining and logging.” (CNN)
65% of global corporate risk strategists identify cyber-attacks as the most significant threat to reputation - “This was closely followed by environmental concerns (64%, up from 52% in 2023). Governance (at 56%) and social impact (at 47%) are also up from 2023 (when they were 52% and 45% respectively), as regulations continue to tighten in many jurisdictions.” (Willis)
Meta Aims to Fully Automate Ad Creation Using AI - “AI-powered advertising is part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the company’s future.” (WSJ-$)
Firms ‘rebranding’ diversity initiatives to avoid unwanted political attention - “British business figures say many companies in UK and US disguising inclusion policies in face of rightwing attacks.” (Guardian)
How to Survive an Oval Office Ambush: A Guide for Heads of State - “Heads of state must be part-diplomat, part-improv comedian, and part-crisis manager.” An entertaining read. (The Wire)
And finally, the most popular article (or newsletter in this case) from last week was the Corporate Communications Review, a joint initiative by the Academic Society for Management & Communication; Institute for Public Relations (IPR), USA; European Association of Communication Directors (EACD); European Public Relations Education & Research Association (EUPRERA).