The PRCA has proposed a new definition of public relations. It’s modern, strategic, and ambitious. But with CIPR, PRSA and others all defining PR differently, can the profession ever speak with one voice? Maybe the issue isn’t about writing a definition, but agreeing on one. 🔗 bit.ly/4ro8h1g

Challenging times for adland www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

'Gateway timeout' error trying to log in to ChatGPT status.openai.com

New word: #slopaganda www.businessinsider.com/hottest-j…

In #FIRpodcast 500, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz talk about AI-enabled workplace abuse and why it needs to be treated as workplace harm. For communicators, this is about preparation – what to do before anything happens to prevent silence becoming permission. 🎧💻 bit.ly/4tsVU5w

“The viral social network for bots reveals more about our own current mania for AI as it does about the future of agents.” Nailed it! www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/0…

The Mandelson scandal is the headline. But what sticks with me is Gordon Brown’s call for systemic reform – hearings for senior appointments, an anti-corruption commission with teeth, tougher lobbying rules, limits on second jobs. Reform is friction. www.nevillehobson.io/cleaning-up-...

A really good alternative to hosting your newsletter on Substack is @ghost.org. This is the one I use www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

AI is raising leadership & communication questions before technical ones. On 11 Feb, @silviacambie.bsky.social & I are hosting an introductory webinar for #IABC members to launch the AI Leadership & Communication SIG – what it focuses on, & how members can get involved. Details: bit.ly/3Zphqu6

Jeez, this sordid tale gets worse and worse every time I look at the news 🤮 Can they just arrest someone and jail them? And please, mainstream media, stop labelling everything you report as “Breaking News”

We’ve got oddly fixated on one question when reading content: “Was this written by AI?” Hardly a quality judgement. I’ve written about why good content is defined by intent, ethics, and outcomes – and when AI assistance actually does matter. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/good-content...

PRSA says staying “apolitical” protects credibility. In #FIRpodcast 499, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz ask a harder question: what happens to credibility, truth and standards when ethical leadership goes quiet? 🎧💻 bit.ly/4tmraTN Thoughtful discussion welcomed.

When people say they’d rather work with AI than with colleagues, something deeper is broken. New research on generational conflict points to a leadership and communication failure, not an age problem, and not a technology problem. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/when-organis...

I’ve joined the waitlist for wsocial.eu beta when it opens in March. “W is built on verified human users, transparency, privacy, and free speech.” I like that start point. Check it out!

Most crises aren’t sudden. AI, trust erosion, and compound risks expose how unprepared organisations still are. @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz host a new #FIRpodcast interview with Philippe Borremans @riskcomms.bsky.social on crisis communication trends for 2026. 🎧💻 bit.ly/45AKdzn

"Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice Crying through the bloody mist We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis" - @brucespringsteen.net youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?...

FUD about travelling to the US or not continues edition.cnn.com/2026/01/28/t...

ChatGPT can feel like a stable workspace – until it isn’t. After a professor lost two years of work in a single click, the lesson is simple: if the work matters, backups are your responsibility. Convenience isn’t protection. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/when-chatgpt...

“Top line, guys: all this makes you look like what your president likes to call a “shithole country”. Sorry! I assume it’s fine to use officially licensed vocabulary?” www.theguardian.com/commentis…

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer warns of a crisis of insularity – trust hasn’t collapsed, but has narrowed. In the lead story in #FIRpodcast 498, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz examine Edelman’s idea of “trust brokering”, which has attracted critical response. 🎧💻 bit.ly/4q2FIoL

It looks pretty clear from BBC Verify’s report that ICE murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis www.bbc.co.uk/news/vide…

Sinners is on Sky Cinema. Let’s take a look at this film that’s got 16 Oscar nominations!

As geopolitical uncertainty grows, trust is retreating inward. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer shows insularity is now mainstream – and quietly undermining leadership, collaboration, and progress. A short reflection ahead of discussion on the next FIR podcast. 🔗 bit.ly/49FAOaY

BCG’s latest AI Radar report shows AI has become a CEO-owned issue – not a tech project. In #FIRpodcast 479, @shelholtz.bsky.social and I discuss confidence gaps, agentic AI, and why communicators now sit at the centre of trust, meaning, and change. 🎧💻 www.firpodcastnetwork.com/fir-497-ceos...

What’s the bet that 1) US troops invade Greenland on Tuesday, and 2) Trump shows up in Davos on Wednesday and asks, “What are you going to do about it?”

“Trump’s threats are ‘revenge for Nobel prize snub’, and he says he is ‘no longer obligated to think of peace’” This is nuts. Is it really the case that Trump can do anything he wants and get away with it? Surely there is resistance somewhere in America? bit.ly/4r5re8s

“Currently, this unit specializes in arctic warfare, airborne operations, combined arms, maneuver warfare, and urban warfare.” 11th Airborne Division - looks well suited for Greenland rather than Minneapolis www.bbc.co.uk/news/arti…

Ads in ChatGPT were always going to happen. The real question is whether trust survives. Here's why conversational AI sets a higher bar than search or social – and why perception matters as much as policy. 👉 "ChatGPT with ads was inevitable. What matters now is trust" 🔗 bit.ly/4sHoz6l

“Ant and Dec’s #podcast is described as having ‘no script, no agenda, and no interruptions - it’s the duo catching up, reminiscing, and seeing where the conversation takes them.’ " They have the power to connect, worth a go www.bbc.co.uk/news/arti…

The #BBC and #YouTube: “The world is changing fast, and I’m going to make sure we’re evolving with it.” www.thetimes.com/uk/media/…

On #FIRpodcast 496, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz unpack the PRCA’s proposed 2½-page new “definition” of public relations. The public debate will be an important conversation. Big questions about clarity, accessibility, and who gets to define the profession. 🎧💻 bit.ly/49AYJrQ

Good move by the government - now a criminal offence to create and publish non-consensual sexualised images online.

Which is why the Iranian regime has shut down the Internet www.thetimes.com/world/mid…

There comes a point where usefulness no longer justifies participation. I'm talking about X and drawing a line. This isn’t about moderation or free speech – it’s about harm, consent, and responsibility. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/there-is-no-...

Reddit has overtaken TikTok as the UK’s 4th most-visited social platform. In FIR 495, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz talk about why search + AI are now amplifying human conversation, not polished messaging, and what that means for communicators. 🎧💻 bit.ly/49HG3rQ

“We are experiencing world events like the kidnapping of Maduro through the lens of the most depraved AI you can imagine.” #Grok www.404media.co/groks-ai-…

21 years ago, on 5 Jan 2005, we published the first @firpodcast.bsky.social podcast episode. Yesterday, @shelholtz.bsky.social and I marked the anniversary with a short, reflective conversation. We're grateful to everyone who’s listened along the way. Thank you! 🎧💻 bit.ly/49pBBMY

In communication consulting, AI makes speed the minimum expectation. Clients must defend spend internally – outcomes are easier to justify than inputs. Price the end-state, keep metrics light, treat AI as an enabler. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/power-has-sh...

The irony of Russia’s condemnation of the US attack on Venezuela, citing “armed aggression” and “unacceptable encroachment on the sovereignty of an independent state,” can’t be lost on anyone www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/01/0…

A small change, but a deliberate one. I’m moving away from Title Case and using sentence case for titles and subheadings instead. Less habit, more intention. Calmer. More natural. More UK English. Do you notice title style, or does it pass you by? 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/not-every-wo...

Kier Starmer is a reasonable man and sold Labour well to voters in the 2024 election. But he’s not the leader we need imo. The thing is, I see no one else credible in Labour who could be - the same dilemma the Tories had post-Johnson. Are we doomed? bit.ly/4qByJnf

“Apologies for any inconvenience caused.” What a bland, impersonal statement for something that directly impacts thousands of people and makes it very personal indeed www.bbc.co.uk/news/live…

As AI reshapes how content is created, it’s becoming harder to tell where words come from and who stands behind them. In a new post, I reflect on provenance, authorship, trust in the age of AI – and why responsibility doesn’t fade just because origin does. 🔗 www.nevillehobson.io/when-provena...

America’s so-called “leadership class” is a sham. Most of them do not care a whit for the rest of the US. They are out for themselves. “Trump has precipitated a long-overdue reckoning. That reckoning has revealed the rot.” www.theguardian.com/commentis…

"PR is dead", says Martin Sorrell on BBC Radio 4, challenged live on air by the PRCA's Sarah Waddington. @shelholtz.bsky.social and @nevillehobson.xyz unpack the fallout. They also cover the future of news and more in this long-form episode 494. 🎧💻 six reports - Dec 2025 bit.ly/3Yg01Dy

Concise, thoughtful, conversation-inviting. ChatGPT’s year-in-review is warm and polished, but the interesting part is the data beneath the gloss. Themes, chat stats, and what they reveal about persistence, thinking, and human judgement in AI-shaped work. A short reflection 👇 bit.ly/3YeMZWV

“Dodgy audio experiences are on the rise” #podcasting www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra…

Words worth reading from Jimmy Kimmell www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In #FIRpodcast #493, @shelholtz.bsky.social & @nevillehobson.xyz look at how artificial early engagement can trick algorithms into creating visibility that looks like significance. It's alarmingly easy to do. 🎧💻 www.firpodcastnetwork.com/fir-493-how-...