Are PR Professionals More Anxious Than Their Clients? What New Research Says
Every year, the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations releases its Global Communications Report. The 2026 edition is titled A Quiet Shift, though anyone working in PR right now could reasonably argue that the pace of change feels anything but quiet.
On Episode 342 of That Solo Life, Karen Swim and Michelle Kane unpacked three key findings from the report, reading them specifically through the lens of solo and independent practitioners. Here is what the data says, and more importantly, what it means for how you counsel clients right now.
Finding 1: PR Professionals Are More Anxious About the Landscape Than Their Clients Are
The report identifies what it calls a perception gap. 81% of PR professionals say polarization is extreme or very high right now. Only 69% of the general public agrees. That 12-point difference matters.
PR practitioners absorb more information, process more signals, and are trained to anticipate risk. That is not a flaw, it’s part of the job. But when practitioner anxiety starts shaping client strategy without a reality check, something goes wrong. The counsel stops serving the client's actual audience and starts serving the practitioner's instincts.
Before making a recommendation, Karen suggests asking a simple but important question: is this my read of the landscape, or my client's audience's read? For solo practitioners, the structural advantage is real. Without agency groupthink or institutional pressure amplifying collective anxiety, solos have more room to separate their own perception from their client's reality.
Finding 2: Corporate Social Advocacy Has Retreated Sharply and Fast
This is the data point that landed hardest. In 2023, 89% of PR professionals believed companies have a responsibility to advocate for social issues. By 2025 that number had dropped to 55%. In 2026, the general public sits at just 42%.
The drop happened in two years, but it was not consistent across all demographic groups. Among Gen Z PR professionals, 6 in 10 still hold the belief. Among millennials, 7 in 10 do. For practitioners working with younger founders, mission-driven organizations, or clients whose audiences skew younger, the picture is more nuanced than the headline number suggests.
The practical implication is straightforward: the strategic environment for purpose-driven communications has changed. The wind is no longer at your back. That does not mean the work stops, but it does require a more deliberate approach to framing and audience alignment.
Finding 3: C-Suite Content Volume Stayed the Same — the Topics Changed Completely
This finding comes from exclusive data the report commissioned from Cometrics.io, which analyzed LinkedIn posts from 6,317 Fortune 500 C-suite executives across a six-month window before and after the November 2024 election.
While the overall volume of communication remained stable, the subjects executives chose to discuss shifted significantly. AI and agents content rose by 75%, while cybersecurity rose 29% and technology ethics increased 27%. On the other side: LGBTQ+ content dropped 77%, while greenhouse gas content fell 50%, net zero dropped 44%, and DEI content was down 13%. Both Karen and Michelle noted that number is likely understated given what has happened since.
A separate Meltwater analysis of media coverage tracked the same pattern, with AI becoming the dominant corporate theme post-election, rising 98% in coverage.
The communication did not stop, it shifted to different rooms. For practitioners with clients in the rooms that have gone quieter — DEI, climate, social purpose — the strategic work has not changed. The framing has. Pretending the environment is the same does not serve your client. Neither does abandoning who they are. The discipline is finding language that stays true to the client's identity while navigating a landscape that has shifted against them.
What This Means for Solo and Independent Practitioners
Here are three takeaways you can apply now.
Reality-test your anxiety before it becomes a strategy. Before you advise a client on a sensitive topic, ask whether your read of the situation reflects your client's actual audience or your own perception as a practitioner immersed in the news cycle.
Know the generational data for every client's audience. The advocacy shift is real but not universal. A blanket pullback from purpose-driven messaging is the wrong call for clients whose audiences are Gen Z or millennials. Effective counsel now depends on understanding the specific audience you’re trying to reach rather than relying on broad assumptions.
If a client has an AI story, they need to be telling it. When competitors are actively discussing AI, remaining silent can create the impression that your organization has little to contribute to the conversation. It does not have to be deep — but it has to exist.
The USC Annenberg 2026 Global Communications Report is available at annenberg.usc.edu/cpr.
Image via istockphoto | gremlin
