Tim Starks

A brilliant new column in Observer by Roy Swan that will unpack how we can strive for a better form of capitalism that can work for all of us, rooted in innovation, prosperity, and fairness. Check it out!!

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🎤🎸🤘🏻🚨 Latest from The Repute: "Crisis Comms Under the Microscope: Dave Grohl’s Approach" 🎤🎸🚨 In this edition, we take a real-time look at how rock legend Dave Grohl is handling the media fallout from his recent infidelity scandal. Using data-driven insights, we break down the New York Times' coverage of Grohl’s crisis communications strategy and analyze what worked—and what didn’t. https://bit.ly/3MIZy76 The analysis explores: - The effectiveness of proactively addressing scandals before they spiral - Why timing didn’t minimize media coverage as others have suggested - The nuanced balance between controlling the narrative and avoiding sensationalism Whether you’re dealing with a major PR issue or simply curious about how the media operates during high-profile scandals, this edition offers valuable lessons for managing your brand’s reputation. Read the full analysis and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have a great weekend everyone! Will Valentine Publisher, The Repute Founder and Principal, Valentine Advisors

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My latest for MSNBC: The union plan to unleash a tsunami for Biden. "There’s plenty in the former president’s record w/ which these unions can make their case. Former President Donald Trump’s popularity among working-class voters is, to be blunt, a triumph of bluster over substance and presentation over reality. The former president says he is a friend of the common man. His actions demonstrate he is anything but. Trump’s administration was a wrecking ball when it came to worker rights, rolling back multiple safety initiatives. His Supreme Court nominees were instrumental in a major ruling weakening public-sector unions. His appointees to the National Labor Relations Board made it harder for workers to unionize. During his administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration even removed the names of people who died in workplace accidents from the front page of its website. And since he left the White House, he has fought with the United Auto Workers and urged its members to stop paying their dues. Biden’s strong pro-worker actions are a 180-degree turn from Trump’s record. He marched on a picket line last year with striking UAW members (a first for a sitting president) and met with Starbucks labor organizers. His NLRB appointments are more likely to back workers over employers. And he's been an aggressive advocate for nonunion workers. His administration’s ban on almost all non-compete agreements will most likely both increase entrepreneurial efforts and give America’s workers a wage boost of more than $500 a year. And, yes, the names of workers killed in workplace accidents are back on OSHA’s front page. Nothing highlights the difference between Trump’s & Biden’s attitudes toward working Americans better than how they both handled overtime compensation. Trump abandoned an Obama administration initiative to double the salary threshold under which salaried workers would be eligible for mandatory overtime pay. Biden’s administration didn’t just restore the Obama-era rule; it raised the threshold to just over $56,000 annually ... [But] a recent review of databases tracking Democratic candidate statements, social media posts and campaign ads during the 2022 election revealed relatively few House and Senate candidates emphasized kitchen table economics or Biden legislative achievements like the infrastructure bill or the Inflation Reduction Act. That is borderline political malpractice. These issues and achievements mean a lot to voters. But they won’t sell themselves. People, I’ve learned over decades of reporting on these issues, lead busy lives: They don’t spend their days thinking about political gains and losses. They are upset about inflation and the rising cost of living but aren’t aware of what Biden — or any politician, really — is doing (or not doing, when it comes to Trump) to make their financial lives better." #Biden #Trump #Election2024 #OSHA #NLRB #SEIU #noncompetes #overtime #WorkerRights #unions #Fightfor15

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A useful handbook for quick reference and a reminder to all journalists covering the #US elections to ensure information integrity. This is worth a look. As in absorb this before #election day #journalists #newsroom #misinformation #disinformation https://lnkd.in/g4heDxVP

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Now available On Demand

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Do not wait for the outcome of the 2024 election to start mapping your post-election environment. Understanding how potential outcomes impact your business and how you need to be prepared to respond is required right-now work for business leaders.

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I am still mulling over the impressive AP/Frontline investigative film, “Documenting Police Use of Force,”and interesting panel discussion at the National Press Club about the surprisingly high number of deaths that occur from prone restraint and other “less-lethal force” police tactics. I encourage you to watch the film, read the story and explore the database. (I’ll put the links in the comments below.)

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After many years in the biz, I can attest everything here is true. Journalism is much more than a career. It's a noble profession and a contact sport that isn't for the faint of heart. And remember that news doesn't happen in newsrooms so get out of the office as much as possible! #journalism #reporters Southern California News Group https://lnkd.in/gzcY4tu5

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Following up on my recent blog – “A New Presidential Administration? Top Five Impacts in Our Space” – here are a few more thoughts based on my years of observing the SEC #corpgov #corporatelaw #SEC https://lnkd.in/eaQKUeW2

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My latest investigation for Project On Government Oversight just co-published in Rolling Stone -- the result of nearly two years worth of Freedom of Information Act requests, digging into just how pervasive the mold problem is in privatized military housing, and the dire health impacts this wreaks for the families stuck in those homes. “Can we reframe the ‘problem’ as just a part of life?” reads a presentation slide from an Army headquarters “counter-mold workshop” held last year, one of the docs I obtained through FOIA. This and other docs shed light not only on how bad the problem is, but the military’s efforts to spin public sentiment on it. I also talk a lot about what it means, practically, that there is currently no federal mold standard by the EPA, and how this lack of a standard has been exploited by the military to avoid testing for mold or competently remediating it in military homes. Please read! https://lnkd.in/g-nMxx6Q

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The topic of corrections comes up a lot in comms. There’s some new research on this that is kind of interesting. Here is an excerpt from an article summarizing the findings: “…people generally trust journalists when they confirm claims to be true but are more distrusting when journalists correct false claims. Some linguistics and social science theories suggest that people intuitively understand social expectations not to be negative. Being disagreeable, like when pointing out someone else’s lie or error, carries with it a risk of backlash. We reasoned that it follows that corrections are held to a different, more critical standard than confirmations. Attempts to debunk can trigger doubts about journalists’ honesty and motives. In other words, if you’re providing a correction, you’re being a bit of a spoilsport, and that could negatively affect how you are viewed.” #mediarelations #psychology #sociology #PR

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New: A NewsGuard analysis of the top 500 most-engaged news websites found that sites with lower NewsGuard Trust Scores — those more likely to have advanced misinfo, as assessed by NewsGuard — are more likely to be included in the training data accessed by the AI models. This means that the world’s most popular chatbots may be pulling from untrustworthy sources more often than would typically occur on the open web, such as through traditional search. https://lnkd.in/epKrsU9K

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Defending Digital Campaigns Michael Kaiser sheds light on the tactics used by bad actors in election interference, emphasizing their goal could be to sow chaos and apathy rather than influence voting. “They’re trying to divide us at another level,” he said. “For some bad actors, the misinformation and disinformation is not about how you vote. It's just that we're divided.” Learn more in Paige Gross’s article in States Newsroom about combating misinformation and disinformation in the upcoming elections. #Misinformation #Disinformation #Election2024 #ArtificialIntelligence #AI https://lnkd.in/eBypvBP6

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While SB 1047 faced a veto, the debate on AI regulation continues to divide the industry. Hollywood celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt express their disagreement with Gov. Newsom's decision in TIME Magazine. Conversely, many tech leaders argue that we dodged a bullet. Personally, I believe AI regulation is necessary, albeit not in the manner proposed by the blocked California AI Bill. What do you think? Btw, if you're interested in delving deeper into this topic, check out Kjell Carlsson, Ph.D.'s article in InfoWorld (he is much more knowledgeable than I am when it comes to #AIRegulation).

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New H-Diplo Review of this special JCWS issue: Paul R. Josephson, ed. “Atoms for Peace, Nuclear Technology, and the Cold War.” _Journal of Cold War Studies_ 25:3 (2023): 6-141. Review by Lisa Langdon Koch, Claremont McKenna College During the early years of the nuclear age, the potential for civil nuclear energy to revolutionize society inspired scientists, industrialists, and country leaders to make bold investments in research and development. Visions of a golden era of atomic discovery and prosperity shaped not only national cultures and state interests, but also foreign policies and international politics. Nuclear programs require resources: funds, certainly, but also knowledge, trained personnel, and materials. Some countries were better equipped than others to invest in such expensive projects, and the handful of leading nuclear nations had the means to offer assistance to nuclear aspirants. That assistance came with strings attached. Alliance politics and the battle for hearts and minds in these early years of the Cold War affected decisions about whether and how to share nuclear knowledge and technology with foreign governments and firms. At the same time, keeping civilian nuclear energy separate from the development of nuclear weapons was a significant concern. A strict regime of nuclear secrecy that was established by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 aimed to control and protect the nuclear knowledge generated in the United States. Early efforts at international nuclear arms control had already been made, and had already failed.[1] The Atoms for Peace program, which is the theme of this special edition of the _Journal of Cold War Studies_, disrupted the existing order. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s December 1953 speech to the United Nations, a speech in which he first invoked the horrors of nuclear war and then proposed the formation of an international atomic energy agency to safely promote peaceful uses of the atom, not only marked the beginning of a new American effort to share nuclear knowledge and technology, but also led to a similar response from the Soviet Union...

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Clients often ask for advice on how to build better relationships with journalists. The answer is deceptively simple – help journalists do their jobs. But what does that mean and what will have the biggest impact on journalists? Cision recently conducted a survey that shines a spotlight on what PR professionals can do to make journalists’ jobs easier. Straight from the source, here is a look at the top five answers directly from journalists: 1)     Understand my target audience and what they find relevant. 2)     Connect them with experts/spokespeople and set up interviews. 3)     Provide data and key research. 4)     Respect their deadlines (respond quickly).. 5)     Offer new and relevant story ideas. Consistently nailing these five areas will help to improve your media relationships as a brand, grow coverage and supercharge your public relations program. Learn more about the survey at: https://lnkd.in/gqn5rvSq #publicrelations #PR #PRagency #journalistinsights #mediarelations #mediamonday

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