As someone who is often late to the party, I’m just now reading and deeply appreciating Steven Tavares. Steven’s coverage and insight on Oakland (and beyond) is invaluable.

Excellent piece by the always insightful Paul Farhi. BUT he misses the biggest reason I deploy the tactic of not responding in difficult circumstances: it plays better. “Did not respond” is 10x better than “non comment” and 2x better than corporate pablum.

Not only was Bob Newhart an amazing comedian, he was also a fervent Chicago Cubs fan. Sad he’s gone.

The SmartNews Top 5 Report is here. 🚀 The Top 5 Report is the definitive ranking of the most-read stories in the U.S. from the past week. Check back here every Friday to see what news Americans are reading.

Glad to have a chance to share with PRWeekUS readers the real reason some savvy communications pros decide not to respond to reporters.

Honored to host Baroness Tina Stowell and the UK House of Lords Communications & Digital Committee at our SF office today. We shared how we support the news industry and publishers through the 3 C's: Consent, Credit, and Compensation. Lords Communications and Digital Committee Tina Stowell

Proud to be casting my vote for Lateefah Simon for Congress!

‘Take a chance’ is clearly Abba’s best song

I've been doing campaign canvassing this week in Phoenix and I'm shocked by the number of people in houses and apartments who do not have a doorbell – at least 25%.

Quick! How do I change all my social media feeds so they only show me dog videos?

Saying “no worries” is a poor substitute for: You’re welcome Thank you I’m sorry

Sad to hear about the death of David Lynch My mother, Jane Alderman, loved working with him to cast The Straight Story, one of the sweetest movies ever made

Americans are far more savvy than company comms departments think. When you issue a statement with PR pablum like "Out of an abundance of caution" Americans know it’s b.s. Speak like a human and get better results. axios.com/newsletters/ax… Axios Eleanor Hawkins

News consumers want straight talk from companies. SmartNews survey finds: 🔹90% of Americans question the sincerity of company messaging 🔹56% see “no comment” as a protection strategy 🔹36% find company statements overly scripted More insight: tinyurl.com/2s423ms5

A brutal wake-up call to communicators issuing material using corporate double-speak: Empty-calorie language backfires, erodes trust and makes you look ridiculous. odwyerpr.com/story/public/2… O'Dwyer's PR News

The pressure is on PR pros to make sure corporate messaging remains clear and cohesive. Business jargon is an obstacle to achieving this goal -- Jason Alderman SmartNews odwpr.us/43sNcK2

The em dash is gaudy. The en dash is elegant.

Join @ConsumerAction's webinar: News Literacy for Savvy Consumers – May 7 at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Our Jason Alderman + The News Literacy Project’s Allee Quick to cover: ✅ Research on misinformation ✅ Tools to tell news from ads ✅ Fact-checking & media literacy tips register.gotowebinar.com/register/68181…

He was the most honorable man in baseball.

Hall of Famer and Cubs stalwart Ryne Sandberg wasn’t just a great baseball player – he was a class act who never cheated the game. Everyone in Chicago – including White Sox fans – will miss him deeply.