Welcome to this bonus episode of PR Future where we are focusing on the transformative world of artificial intelligence, tied to our release of the 2024 Relevance Report on the topic. We've brought together an expert panel including Steve Clayton from Microsoft, Torod Neptune of Medtronic, USC Annenberg's Christina Bellantoni, Grant Toups of Hill & Knowlton, Heather Rim from Optiv, PRophet's Aaron Kwittken, and USC graduate student Michael Kittleson to shed light on AI's importance in...

AI is poised to have an impact on almost every industry, but what are the implications of AI in PR? In this episode, we hear from people who are pioneering the use of AI in the communications industry.

Dive into the issue of mental health in the hybrid workplace and college campuses, exploring challenges and solutions that employers should consider.

Explore how companies like Grubhub, NBCUniversal, and Union Pacific Railroad are prioritizing employee involvement, designing social impact campaigns and staying true to their core values by actively engaging in social causes.

Clara, also known on TikTok as ColorMeLoverly, sits down to discuss her satirical public relations takes on current pop culture topics, and what they can tell us about how social media impacts the PR industry.

Dominic Carr, EVP of Communications & Marketing at Lyft, discusses how the company is driving the narrative of corporate activism with strategic communications and marketing on this week's episode of #PRFuture.

The #PRFuture podcast returns on Tuesday, January 31 with new episodes and new interviews with industry leaders!

This end of semester episode is a discussion about “The Future of Corporate Activism ” as seen through the lenses of communication leaders at four companies very active in communicating about and supporting social justice issues: Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, Lyft and Rare Beauty. It was recorded live at USC Annenberg, and moderated by Dean Willow Bay.

VP of Social Impact and Inclusion at Rare Beauty Elyse Cohen gives us a behind-the-scenes look into building the brand with purpose. Cohen explains the authentic roots of Rare Beauty’s initiatives to spread mental health resources as well as how she works with celebrity founder Selena Gomez to drive Rare Beauty’s social impact, and offers tips for startups on building purpose into their organization from the beginning to create a pioneering, socially engaged beauty brand.

CEO and Founder of Ad Fontes Media Vanessa Otero discusses the origins and growth of the Media Bias Chart, and the polarized media landscape we find ourselves in today. Otero offers advice to public relations professionals and news consumers on navigating today’s landscape and cultivating a healthy “news diet.”

Center for Public Relations associate director Burghardt “BT” Tenderich and director of strategic planning at Weber Shandwick Julia Kiefaber, co-authors of the study “Trends and Best Practices in Brand Purpose Communication,” discuss their top tips for creating authentic, impactful purpose campaigns, how to use your interactive channels to make change and purpose in the global landscape.

Guest host and executive producer ZaZu Lippert sits down with our regular host, Chairman Emeritus of Golin and Director of the USC Center for Public Relations Fred Cook, to discuss what he’s learned from this season’s guests and the 2021 Global Communication Report research. ZaZu and Fred dive deep into the findings from our surveys of journalists, PR professionals and the American public, discuss some strategies for combating polarization and talk about some new projects and tools from the...

Senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation Jennifer Kavanagh discusses “truth decay” — a term she coined with co-author and RAND CEO Michael D. Rich in “Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life” — and what we can do to combat it as communication professionals, scholars and businesspeople. This episode is part of our series reviewing the findings of the 2021 Global Communication Report.

New York Times Bestselling author and journalist Amanda Ripley discusses some of the findings from her new book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out” in the context of our research from the 2021 Global Communication Report, and poses some starting points for how we might break the cycle of “high conflict” in America and return to “good conflict.”

Social sculptor Philippa Hughes has been hosting dinners with Democrats and Republicans to discuss politics and break through polarization at a grassroots level since 2016. In this episode, Philippa discusses what she’s learned through her experiences and research, and how we can start to have meaningful discussions around polarizing topics in our communities and as communications professionals.

Director of the USC Annenberg Media Center and former L.A. Times politics editor Christina Bellantoni discusses the evolution of polarization in the nation, and how we might be able to remedy it, starting with investing in local news and forming coalitions with communications professionals in business, government and media.

As we wrap up our review of the 2021 Relevance Report, Fred Cook talks with our student contributors, USC Annenberg students Adrine Keosian, Melvin Dilanchian and ZaZu Lippert to get a pulse on the Millennial and Gen Z market, and where they think the PR industry is headed.

In this Inauguration Day special episode, Fred Cook discusses the preliminary results of the Center for Public Relations’ Global Communication Survey with our senior research fellow, Dr. Ulrike Gretzel. These findings reveal important information about the future of activism, political polarization and purpose under the Biden administration and their impacts on our industry.

Leading experts in diversity, equity and inclusion Bill Imada, chairman of IW Group, Julia Wilson, CEO of Wilson Global Communications and Margenett Moore-Roberts, chief inclusion officer of Golin and IPG DXTRA, provide insight into the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on our industry, and explain ways that we can improve equity and inclusion. This discussion is part of our series reviewing the 2021 Relevance Report, available for free download at...

Adrienne Cadena, president of brand activation firm Havas Street, Maryanne Lataif, senior vice president of corporate communications at AEG and Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the industry and our lives, and the future of live experiences in 2021. This discussion is part of our series reviewing the 2021 Relevance Report, available for free download at annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations/relevance-report.

Global CEO and founder of WE Communications Melissa Waggener Zorkin discusses how her agency helps their clients activate with purpose, and how she leads at WE with the voices of her diverse office front-of-mind. This discussion is part of our series reviewing the 2021 Relevance Report, available for free download at annenberg.usc.edu/relevance.

A lot has changed since we released our Global Communication Report this past April. This week, our host Fred Cook, director of the USC Center for Public Relations and chairman of the global PR firm Golin, reviews the key points learned through talking with prominent activists and communications pros during season one of #PRFuture. This discussion is part of our series reviewing the 2020 Global Communication Report on New Activism, available for free download at annenberg.usc.edu/gcr.