PR and the Election

In our trends piece from a few weeks ago, one of the most mentioned issues was what role PR is going to play in the upcoming election. One statistic from that article has really stuck in my mind: Of the top 20 most viewed news stories on Facebook about the 2016 election, the “fake news” stories received 8.7 million engagements, whereas the mainstream news only received 7.3.More people engaged with fake news than real content. What’s a communicator to do? Between the impeachment trial and the forthcoming election, this year will be dominated by political news—and noise. Can we get the attention of journalists? How are we supposed to talk about it, if at all? How do we prevent the spread of fake news? And how do we counsel our clients and/or executives during what is sure to be a bit of a crazy year? We discuss this and more in this week’s show. We each have our own opinion on whether politics should be discussed in a professional setting. If you decide to broach politics in your business dealings, keep these tips in mind: Know the basics. Do your own fact checking. Don’t spread something you don’t know to be true. Who is your audience and what is your brand persona? For the most part, your social tactics won’t change. Business will go on as usual, but you do need to be attuned to what’s going on at a national and global level. The best thing you can do this year is change the way you use the tools, as they relate to what’s going on around us. Have Your SayWhat place does politics have in your communications programs this year? How will PR practitioners’ social tactics change in the face of the political campaigns? Tell us what you think in the Spin Sucks community. Resources Communications Trends How the Presidential Elections Affect Communicators Emily Post on Talking Politics Hootsuite on Facebook Demographics