PR Daily

A recent BBC Eye investigation found that Instagram displayed paid ads in India that promoted child sexual abuse material and linked users to channels where it was then allegedly being sold. The BBC reports a test account received about 30 of these ads, including some that used explicit keywords. India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ordered Meta to disable the ads and related content and asked the company to explain within seven days how the ads passed review.

One team may have strong training but no clear governance while another may encourage employees to use new tools without explaining why AI fits into their work. Samantha Stark, chief strategist and founder of Phyusion, said this is a stalling point many organizations are now grappling with. “One of the biggest barriers to people being successful, and more importantly, teams being successful, is that they’re not looking at (AI) holistically,” Stark said.

It’s a love story, she wrote his name, baby, she said yes: Please insert your favorite paraphrased Taylor Swift song lyric here. One of the most profitable artists in the history of the world is now married. The mega wedding, which saw Swift tie the knot to NFL star Travis Kelce, captured the attention of millions who were rabid for details of the dress, the guest list and the fact that Adam Sandler officiated the wedding (yes, really).

Matthew Libassi is director of public relations and speakers bureau for Northwell Health. Lately, I’ve been noticing a disturbing trend on social media lately: there’s a growing chorus of PR practitioners complaining about the industry, their clients, the journalists, the deadlines, and basically everyone who dares to ask them to do their job. “They want this done by tomorrow?” “How dare they expect me to turn this around so quickly?” If this is you, do us all a favor and get out of the business.

Summer is supposed to be the easy season. Vacations mean calendars thin out, out-of-office messages multiply and teams operate with fewer people in the office. For many organizations, the pace feels slower. Crisis situations don’t follow seasons. Incidents and issues that create reputational risk can happen any time. Summertime often exposes one of the most common weaknesses for organizations facing a crisis: slow decision-making due to a breakdown in command and control.

A new Pew Research Center survey found that 56% of U.S. adults support banning kids under 16 from using social media, while 21% oppose it and 23% are unsure. Social Media Today reports that this is another sign that the political and public pressure around teen social media use is not cooling off, as countries including Australia, Canada and the U.K. move toward age-based restrictions.

For days, Erin Kramer walked around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., talking to anyone who would listen about nanobubble ozone technology. She joked from her home in North Carolina that she was tempted to set up a table with a sign that read, “Ask me about the algae.” Kramer had been hired by Greenwater Services to assist with its crisis response.

NPR accidentally retired Samuel Alito this week. The Supreme Court justice, as it turns out, is still very much on the bench. On Tuesday, NPR published a story saying Alito was stepping down. The report came from veteran Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg, who is 82 and has been covering the Supreme Court for 40 years. But the news was wrong.

A crisis communications blueprint is a quick response system built before an issue becomes public. It should include risk mapping, message anchors, escalation paths and drills, said Caitlin Leopold, senior director of external communications at Honeywell, during Ragan’s Crisis Communication Virtual Conference. Click here to watch the full presentation and learn more about Ragan Training. “Trust in a crisis is not built in the moment. It is drawn down from what you’ve built over time,” Leopold said.

Alyssa Kluge is director of communications at Thrive Market, where she leads corporate affairs, reputation management and earned media strategy. Kluge built the company’s communications function and oversees thought leadership, public policy, and communications across an evolving digital landscape shaped by AI. She also led Thrive Market’s successful effort to become the first online-only grocer to accept SNAP EBT nationwide.