Frosty hillside illuminated city view

Principle under pressure is a real test of corporate leadership. That is why I find this statement from Anthropic so inspiring: “No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”

AI misinformation isn't just a hallucination problem. Increasingly, it reflects a governance challenge; one that starts in training data, not only in outputs. Recognizing that distinction reframes the entire risk calculus for leaders and communications professionals.

Well, it’s nice to know that this man found his time at the World Economic Forum “profoundly rewarding.” Looking at the statement through a leadership communication lens, a public communication like this probably shouldn’t be so focused in a boasting way on one’s own achievements.

"Jeffrey Epstein has kept public relations professionals busy with crisis management work. The latest tranches of Justice Department documentation provide fresh insight into who they were, what they did and how much they were paid." — The Hollywood Reporter

This crazy-making communication is pure projection from the podium. Accusation as confession. Narcissistic abuse wildly applauded by flying monkeys.

“The CEO also faced more personal questions after the jury was shown a document titled the 'Zuckerberg comms plan,' which includes advice on how to avoid appearing 'fake, robotic, corporate and cheesy.'”

An underappreciated angle to the Epstein files is not just who met him, but how much dialogue about public relations ran through his elite relationships. And these communications exchanges went in both directions.

The well-deserved PR disaster for ‘guru’ Deepak Chopra continues to compound. Sharing a split TV screen with Jeffrey Epstein is the most dreaded adjacency framing in the media today – radioactive reputational positioning for a public figure.

Royal communications usually default to institutional voice. But this is a first person singular release (“I have learned,” “let me state,” “for me to comment”) in an extraordinary issue management context. This is escalation framing rather than routine palace prose.

Sunday evening vista

I collect radios – here are three of them #WorldRadioDay 📻🗼

“CEOs are also increasingly expected to become their company’s chief PR person and chief communicator. People are now turning to the CEO, not the company’s official account or their PR head, for information, interaction, and questions.” — Dr. April Yue

Here are some sobering geopolitical polling numbers on country brands, disinformation concerns, and fears about war with China (including over Taiwan where I think only the Japanese in this survey ‘get’ what’s really going on – and what’s at stake for the world).

This merger is not inspired by a compelling vision. Reorganizations like this can produce Frankenstein firms: fragmented cultures, chronic stress, and managers fixated on margin and empty of meaning. Endless layoffs. Massive churn. The organization loses coherence. Bad news for staff and clients.

“The files have reflected back on Epstein’s relationship with members of the media, revealing Epstein’s tactics for manipulating coverage about himself and the extent to which he attempted to make himself useful to the media for his own gain.”

Real flame atop the Calgary Tower tonight. It’s a salute from the host city of the 1988 Winter Games in Canada at the opening of the games in Italy today. The timeless Olympic flame is a beacon of international friendship and peace. “A light of spirit, knowledge, and life.” #MilanoCortinaOlympic2026

During his long public life going back to the 1980s, one common thread is how Trump has actually been a master of PR. Not ethical persuasion, but for propaganda and publicity purposes.

Bullshit corporate comms: “‘The Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future…These steps are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.’”

This looks interesting: “Some former BlackBerry employees are bringing back the idea of a physical smartphone keyboard, and they’ve dubbed the new phone the Communicator.”

Toxic, abusive communication – disrespectful and unbecoming. Another attempt to intimidate the media from asking legitimate questions. Sneer-and-smear trash talk might silence timid journalists, but it just doesn’t work on true professionals.

There’s a fascinating new PBS documentary about the propaganda framing, media relations and narrative control behind the use of the atomic bomb against Japan in 1945 (and its aftermath)

In 2025, as Bluesky grew from 25M to 42M users, we took actions to keep it welcoming, using proactive design to reduce toxic content by 79%.  Our 2025 Transparency Report shares how we're building a safer platform while keeping a transparent and human-centered approach: bsky.social/about/blog/0...

If you're in Vancouver and think it's morally repugnant for a Canadian company to be signing contracts to support ICE "public relations," come join at 111 East 5th Ave at 3pm *today* to let @hootsuite.com know this is indefensibly vile.

Companies are now investing significant resources in ‘manipulating’ LLM search results about their brands (a practice known as Generative Engine Optimization or GEO).

This is a peculiar communications statement for a global payments network. Visa operates internationally, but the announcement is explicitly US-centric (also radioactive for many with the T-word). This kind of framing creates avoidable brand blowback, especially beyond the headquarters country.

Looking over the Bow River just after sunset

I remember this terrible day in 1986. I was at school that morning and, when everyone heard the bad news, students gathered around televisions on campus to watch the horrific space shuttle Challenger explosion which was played over and over and over again on all the networks for the rest of the day.

Never underestimate the power of propaganda. When Jacques Ellul wrote about it, he didn’t use the term as negative or positive. Propaganda—later rebranded as public relations—could be used for good or bad. To promote news of democratic elections, or to bully adversaries in an economic war.

ICE public relations 101

As the controversial Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank marks ten years of operations, concerns persist about how the Beijing-dominated multilateral institution handles governance and human rights. @thediplomat.com

This is leadership communication wisdom: “One thing I’ve learned over time is that you don’t need to comment on every single comment.” François-Philippe Champagne, Canadian Minister of Finance (quoted in today’s @theglobeandmail.com)

In search of new revenue streams, newsrooms are embracing prediction market companies as partners—an ethically dubious move that launders speculation as serious data journalism. More in @status.news: www.status.news/p/polymarket...

“Beckhams will have been working with the top communications experts across the world to build a media strategy and a retaliation plan.” A “retaliation plan” for unthinking revenge? “They will be spending at least $135,000 a month on rehabilitating their image. The best image money can buy?

Happy to be back home. 🇨🇦

It’s that time of year. The zombie public relations stunt that simply won’t die. Blue Monday isn’t a thing, at all. It’s bullshit. Invented to help flog holiday bookings in January - that’s all it is. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Golden Hour in the Golden State

It’s nowadays so rare to see morning newspapers in the hotel lobby.

The illuminated vastness of SoCal at night never fails to impress.

This is credible and dignified leadership communication.

Sympathies with the Epic PR team

A PR firm hired to produce ads in support of the CBC is the same firm that has, for years, been calling for the public broadcaster to be defunded through its right-wing Canada Proud Facebook pages, a @rorywh.bsky.social investigation finds.

The sole source for this story, as with the "Grok apologizes" stories, is a single post made by Grok itself. Apparently no human being at X cared to comment on this issue. X has effectively outsourced their public relations department to a hallucinating child pornography deepfake bot.

When government communication becomes overtly political and deeply dishonest, official channels lose credibility - breeding fear of authority and accelerating the erosion of the social fabric. There are urgent warnings here that other Western democracies should take seriously.

rage-bait noun | RAYJ-bayt "Online content that is intentionally offensive or provocative." Merriam-Webster has posted a detailed overview of this word which is quite comprehensive. Rage-bait is an online blight that's corrosive to civil cohesion. It turns social media into antisocial media.

It’s almost time for the next Edelman Trust Barometer to be released at the World Economic Forum in Davos. My fearless prediction for this 26th annual thought leadership study: once again, the findings will show that trust is ‘down’ and the need for public relations services is therefore ‘up.’

‘Brand built on conflict’: Harry and Meghan have ‘no strategy’ for public relations Sky News contributor Louise Roberts claims Harry and Meghan have "no strategy" for public relations. “They’re whole brand was built on conflict and obviously selling out the family secrets,” Ms Roberts told writer…

Never forget that if the last fifty years have shown us anything, it’s that war is terrorism with better public relations.

The city is hiding under a blanket of fog

Colorful cloud formations after sunset