Lessons Earned: Helping a High-Profile Brand Regain its Reputation
Kirk Stewart, IPR Trustee, CEO, KTStewart
In partnership with PR News, "Lessons Earned" is a series featuring IPR Trustees sharing a difficult lesson. This article was previously published with an incorrect link.

When I took my dream job as head of global corporate communications at Nike in 1997, I did not know it would turn out to be my most professionally challenging and rewarding experience.

At that time, Nike was the poster child for the anti-globalization movement. In addition, it was a top target of nearly every labor and human rights organization. A daily pummeling in major media outlets around the world was the norm.

Nike was accused of running sweatshops in its factories, mainly in Asia. The issues in its factories were real. In addition to its business model of outsourced manufacturing, Nike was a high-profile, in-your-face global brand. Its endorsers included many of the most famous athletes in the world. A billionaire was its CEO.

I was fortunate enough to be part of a team that worked to help improve the brand's reputation. Along the way, I learned how best to rebuild a reputation in a highly tumultuous environment.

Read the rest of Kirk Stewart's blog to discover how he helped Nike regain its reputation, and the lessons he learned along the way.
The Double Bind of Race and Gender: Understanding the Roles and Perceptions of Black Female Public Relations Faculty
Natalie T.J. Tindall, Ph.D., Lamar University
This abstract is summarized by IPR from the original article published in the Southwestern Mass Communication Journal.

Dr. Natalie Tindall examined the perceptions of Black female public relations professors regarding the influence of intersectionality, specifically race and gender, on their career.
 
In-depth interviews of nine Black female professors were conducted. The participants all held doctorates and taught public relations courses at public and private universities and colleges across the United States.
 
Key findings include:
  • The respondents had an overabundance of committee work, to the detriment of other responsibilities.
  • In particular, participants mentioned being on special committees due to their race.
  • Mentors played a pivotal role in each participant’s academic experience.
  • A majority of respondents said they had no mentors of colors in their doctoral programs.
  • Several participants described work situations where they were not fully integrated into the department or were not supported by their colleagues.

Read more to learn about how intersectionality affects Black female public relations faculty.
Looking Back to Look Forward: CIPR State of the Profession Survey
Jon Gerlis, MCIPR, PR and Policy Manager, Chartered Institute of Public Relations
For ten years, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) State of the Profession report has reported on trends, issues, and challenges impacting public relations, presenting industry-leading data on a range of aspects relating to the PR profession. The report explores skills, salaries, diversity, challenges facing the profession, and allows practitioners to observe how the profession has changed over the years.

A survey of 1,298 members of the CIPR, a U.K. membership association, was conducted between November 18, 2019 and January 27, 2020.

Key findings of the practitioners in CIPR include:
  • The gender pay gap has shrunk by 46% over the past three years.
  • Despite this progress, the gap widens with experience and can differ based upon organization type.
  • More than 90% of practitioners are white; the profession still has substantial progress to make on addressing a lack of ethnic diversity.
  • Senior practitioners are far more likely to be engaged than junior practitioners in strategic planning (83% vs 45%) and corporate governance (48% vs 18%).

Read more to learn about the state of the public relations profession in the U.K.
YouTube as a Source for COVID-19 Information in the United States
Anjana Susarla, Ph.D., Michigan State University
Dr. Anjana Susarla examined Americans' use of YouTube as a source of health information, specifically regarding COVID-19.

Dr. Susarla reviewed a collection of studies related to online health information, COVID-19 YouTube videos, and U.S. health literacy.

Key findings include:
  • 75% of Americans go to the Internet first when looking for information about health or medical topics.
  • 73% of U.S. adults said they use YouTube, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.
  • 27.5% of the most viewed YouTube videos on COVID-19 contained misleading information.

Read more to discover how YouTube is being used by Americans to learn about COVID-19, and how this may contribute to the spread of misinformation.
Finding Calm in the Storm: Buffering Against Discrimination at Work
Christian N. Thoroughgood, Ph.D., Villanova University; Katina Sawyer, Ph.D., The George Washington University; Jennica Webster, Ph.D., Marquette University
This abstract is summarized by IPR from the original article published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Dr. Christian N. Thoroughgood and colleagues examined how employees with stigmatized identities are able to “weather the storm” of prejudicial experiences at work.

Researchers surveyed 105 transgender individuals over the course of two weeks to determine their trait mindfulness (defined as the state of nonjudgmental attention to and awareness of present-moment experiences that varies across individuals and situations) and paranoid cognition (defined as an aroused psychological state marked by hypervigilance, rumination, and sinister attribution tendencies).

Key findings include:
  • 47% of participants experienced at least some discriminatory behavior on a daily basis at work.
  • Perceived discrimination during the workday was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion and paranoid cognition the next morning at work.
  • Participants who scored high on trait mindfulness experienced less paranoid cognition and emotional exhaustion.
  • Trait mindfulness may serve to interrupt the link between employees’ perceptions of discrimination and their reactivity to such experiences the next day at work.

Read more to learn about the psychological impact of workplace discrimination and how employees cognitively deal with discriminatory behavior.
Americans Are Concerned that China is Inappropriately Using Personal Data on TikTok
The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll tracked Americans' perceptions surrounding the TikTok controversy and Big Tech.

An online survey of 1,995 U.S. adults was conducted from August 7-9, 2020.

Key findings include:
  • 67% of Americans are concerned that China is inappropriately using personal data on TikTok.
  • 62% of Americans agree that even if TikTok is acquired by an American company, the Chinese government could still use it inappropriately.
  • 41% of Americans said that the government should break up the Big Tech companies, over concerns of too much control over the market and personal data.

Read more to see what Americans think about TikTok and Big Tech.
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