USC Center for Public Relations Presents #PRFuture USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations, Fred Cook

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 about public relations, 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 annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations/relevance-report.