As the coronavirus pandemic brought sweeping changes to every industry, PR proved to be no exception. PRWeek profiled public relations professionals, both agency leaders and corporate communicators, across the nation to see how the PR industry has weathered the crisis - and how it has positioned itself for the year ahead.
Representing the city and state of New York, Managing Director Anne Green shared her perspective on the challenges and adaptations of an unprecedented time.
The full article is published in PRWeek here (subscription required).
How has your city been impacted by the events of these unprecedented times?
My G&S office is based in New York City. Clearly, the impact on everyone in the tri-state area was massive and immediate as COVID-19 hit our region like a tidal wave in March and April. It was a harrowing time.
Of course, there are some specific criticisms leveled at the responses from Mayor DeBlasio and Governor Cuomo, particularly in the mixed messages sent in the early weeks of the pandemic. But their success is clear in bringing the virus levels more under control here – and keeping them, even now, at relatively lower levels compared to the rest of the country. We have been able to “reopen” in many ways without retrenching, though the economic damage in this area is palpable.
What would you like to see change most in the U.S. in the post-election period?
As a communications professional, I’m sure I share the hope of many of my colleagues across our field – which is that we as Americans and citizens of the world find effective, human ways to communicate across difference. There is an ugliness now to our unwillingness to hear or engage with one another.