The PR travails of the British police over the death of bystander Ian Tomlinson at the G20 summit in London reminded me of the lessons in crisis management learned from the shooting of Charles de Mendez and the crisis at Three Mile Island in 1979. The reason is simple: first impressions count. Read on ›

If we want a glimpse of where PR might go over the next ten years, we should examine Japan. The world’s second-largest economy’s property bubble burst 20 years ago. Since then deflation, recession and reality have broken the country’s commitment to consensus building, as Leo Lewis argues in “Japan’s harsh new reality” in today’s Times. Read on ›

There’s a timely call in today’sTimes for bank bosses to take the lead in restoring the reputations of their own institutions. Some have, but the message remains valuable. Read on ›

The Financial Times’ management columnist Stefan Stern and others have been assessing the point and meaning of this year’s Davos. Much of it comes to the need for capitalism to express itself differently. Read on ›

I’m sitting at home on Zurich Lake. The world’s elite are overhead in helicopters on their way to the World Economic Forum in Davos. They will hear from PR supremo Richard Edelman that trust in banks and other corporations has collapsed while Government is back in favour. For this, they disturb my afternoon nap? Read on ›

PR Week reports that the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) executive director of communications Lesley McLeod says the banks are getting a bum rap because of “inexperienced’” reporters who “fail to understand the crisis” or the “issues” it presents. What, and the BBA has to sit idly by? Why doesn’t it get stuck in? Read on ›

British lawmakers have criticised the police for leaking too much information to the media. I agree. But what’s really required is a communication overhaul. Read on ›

The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein says there is no benefit to be had from being strident, tough and arrogant when communicating the harsh decisions that governments and firms are going to make over the next few years. He’s right. But is that all there is to this debate? Read on ›

Barclay’s Chief Executive, John Varley, has been brilliant on Sky TV, the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (and later this week on Panorama). Not a moment before time, we have a senior current banking figure not only talking (that’s very rare) but talking like a human being. Read on ›

Cleared snow from our road. Went to Basel. Got back and my wife said I had a letter from Peter Kurer, chairman of UBS. Whoopee. And yikes. Perhaps he’s suing me over my blog. Read on ›