Are PR Pros More Anxious than their Clients? What the USC Study Reveals about PR Today.

Episode Summary
The USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations 2026 Global Communications Report, titled A Quiet Shift, surveyed over 700 PR professionals, more than 1,000 members of the general public, and conducted one-on-one interviews with Fortune 500 chief communications officers. Karen and Michelle read it with the solo and independent practitioner in mind and pull three findings that are immediately relevant to how you counsel clients, frame messages, and navigate a landscape that has shifted more dramatically in two years than many expected.

Episode Highlights
[03:01] The Perception Gap — You Feel It More Than Your Clients Do: The report identifies a meaningful gap between how PR professionals perceive the current environment and how the general public does.

[08:52] Corporate Social Advocacy Has Retreated — Sharply and Fast: The data on this one is stark. In 2023 and 2024, 89% and 85% of PR professionals respectively, said companies have a responsibility to advocate for social issues.

[14:55] The Content That Disappeared After the 2024 Election — and What Replaced It: Using exclusive data from Cometrics.io, the report analyzed LinkedIn posts from 6,317 C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies across a six-month window before and after the November 2024 election. The volume of communication stayed the same. The topics shifted dramatically.

[20:08] What Solo PR Pros Do With This Information: Karen and Michelle close with the practitioner application: if a client's content falls in the declining categories, you don't stop. You reframe.