This Month
‘How long do I have to be the story for?’: Higgins returns to work
After four years in the public spotlight, Brittany Higgins is returning to work, saying advocacy remains a “passion...but is not a self-sustaining career”.
May
‘Nowhere to hide’: Why more CEOs are fronting videos
Executives are increasingly filming themselves for social media as a way to talk directly to staff, customers and shareholders.
Selective truths on Biden decline were like Trump’s alternative facts
The former president and his inner circle created an alternate universe that they sold to the public – the sort of unreality that his Republican foe excels at.
Why can’t more financial heavyweights write like Warren Buffett?
A great merit of his annual letter is the number of times he admits to something that others pay small armies of Wall Street PR people to bury: a blunder.
March
Ex-Rio Indigenous affairs boss’ next job blows up
Corporate affairs consultancy Brad Haynes is finding it as difficult to keep staff as it is to find Australian clients, it seems.
July 2024
‘Declined to comment’: three words destroying millions in VC brand equity
There has been plenty of hand-wringing over the “negative coverage” the tech industry has copped in the past couple of years, but operators should speak up.
April 2024
Why Ita Buttrose used to spy on ABC hosts’ Twitter posts
The former ABC chairwoman has strong views on lots of topics, but social media use by journalists is a particular bugbear.
August 2023
Optus hack secrecy leaves questions of competence hanging
It is almost a year since Optus’ big data breach. The telco has decided to keep secret the findings of the independent review it said would help rebuild customers’ trust.
Government websites are unintelligible. It’s not just you
Poor writing and turgid government speak leaves citizens unable to engage with government.
February 2023
How authentic is your (expensive) pinot noir?
The 10th biennial Australian celebration of the wine divided the room this year, with opinions on the virtues or otherwise of luxury branding.
Minters cuts ties with Adelaide Festival over Palestinian writers
Australia’s largest law firm has withdrawn its support over the inclusion of two writers with a track record of hostility against Jewish people and Ukraine.
January 2023
Tudge called for files of all public robo-debt complainants
Former human services minister Alan Tudge wanted individuals’ details to fight adverse coverage from “left-wing media”.
How the sudden rise of AI is shaking your white-collar world
Generative AI has caused a storm by automating high-paying professional skills. Now Aussie businesses are trying to determine how to get the best out of it.
AI will give office workers more time to ‘create, dream and innovate’
The rapid emergence of generative AI like ChatGPT is being touted as a threat to white-collar work, but early adopters are using it to change their jobs, and even start new companies.
All eyes on Zhang Shuai as Chinese audiences switch on to the Open
The Australian Open has more than 3.2 million followers on Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, and The Red, which compares to 1.7 million followers on Twitter and 2.2 million on Instagram.
Indie PR firm Sefiani acquired by Clarity Global
In one of the first media and communications deals of 2023, global communications firm Clarity Global has acquired local PR outfit Sefiani.
October 2022
How Medibank managed to spin a cyber crisis
First Optus and then Medibank fluffed their lines when responding to cyber disasters, but Medibank’s early PR “win” could backfire spectacularly.
July 2022
‘Can’t keep up’: PR industry wants to import foreign flacks
The public relations industry says the domestic supply of talent is not coping with demands from the corporate world and needs migration reform to attract skilled professionals from overseas.
June 2022
Five V-backed Automic Group buys investor relations firm Market Eye
Automic Group and Market Eye are collectively expected to have a value between $350 million to $400 million.
The meme that derailed an executive’s career
John Demsey made diversity Estée Lauder’s corporate pitch. An Instagram post with a racial epithet cost him his job.