Richard Weiner, APR, Fellow PRSA, a distinguished 50-plus year member of PRSA and a recipient of the Society’s prestigious Gold Anvil Award, passed away on Jan. 29, 2014 in Miami Beach, Fla. He was 86.

My favorite Duck Dynasty controversy headline forecasted the latest example of media and public relations “expert” miscalculation.

All you reporters horrified by Target’s 3-day delay in announcing that its credit card operation had been hacked can settle down now. You spent the whole of last week trying to get Target on the hook for something it was victimized by.

As I have observed for several decades, why advisors fail to get the attention and ear of the bosses and leaders they are counseling, it is readily apparent that the vast majority of these internal advisors or external consultants know very little about bosses as people, as leaders, nor do they know the pattern of behavior of people at the top.

If you, your product, your brand, or your reputation is visible, someone out there is watching, counting, analyzing and probably commenting. You need to monitor news media and social media at a reasonably high level in order to provide analysis and recommendations to management for action, or inaction.

There are a lot of places to get experience, and experience in the real world of crisis is essential to have credibility and opportunity in the field. Crisis Management is the currently the most sought-after area of public relations practice

Many people I’ve known and respected over the years have developed, over time, a personal code of their own. What’s yours?

When compassion is required and the organization is unprepared, while the victims, the survivors, employees and other stakeholders are waiting to hear compassionate language and see compassionate actions, management gets into its “bunker” mentality, retreats and refuses to do anything until they see a clear path forward.

As we’ve recently seen, the IRS methods are problematic but generous when it comes to deciding which organizations deserve this status. In fact, the problem with this process is that NPO status determination is based on the organizations qualifying activities instead of its actual need, accomplishments or trustworthiness, for tax abatement.

As we’ve recently seen, the IRS methods are problematic but generous when it comes to deciding which organizations deserve this status. In fact, the problem with this process is that NPO status determination is based on the organizations qualifying activities instead of its actual need, accomplishments or trustworthiness, for tax abatement.