Teaching content moderation in Austin, sharing insights on Anchor Change newsletter

In the Age of Social Media Propaganda: We Need to Teach Research Skills Early In the light of the growing social media saga and endless waves of propaganda, I strongly believe that one of the best long-term solutions is to make basic research and critical thinking skills compulsory — starting from senior secondary school upward. Today, too many people speak not from knowledge, but from emotion, rumor, and recycled misinformation. As Dr. Danladi N. Saba would say, many are simply “talking out of a hungry stomach.” It’s a perfect description of how we’ve become a society where opinions are louder than facts. If young people are taught how to effectively use available digital and conventional non digital tools to verify information, differentiate between credible sources and falsehoods, and think logically about what they consume online, we’ll raise a generation that can’t be easily manipulated by propaganda or fake news. The truth is, information is power — but only verified information builds a strong society. Social media has given everyone a voice, but without the skills to use that voice responsibly, noise will always drown out wisdom. Let’s start by teaching our children how to think, not just what to think. The future depends on it. Danladi N Saba, PhD.

Last week, Phoebe Kisubi Mbasalaki, PhD invited me to give a talk to a group of her PhD students at The University of Essex on how they can leverage social media to positive effect in their academic careers. Not my usual type of thing, since I spend 100% of my time doing content in financial services - but it was nice to go back to my roots. So, what did I say to them? I explored the fundamentals that often get overlooked in the rush to "just start posting". I explained how social media success isn't about going viral: it's about the intersection of narrative, strategy, and community. You nail those, you create sticky content. My advice to them? Pick your platform(s), define what you want to say, and show up consistently. The internet is public, so be careful, and your insights are valuable. The academic world needs more researchers willing to make their work accessible. Thanks again to Phoebe for having me—this was a great reminder of why I got into content in the first place.

💡 “Trust is not just a moral stance; it’s a growth strategy.” I’ve had that line stuck in my head all morning. Let’s all write it on a Post-it and stick it to our screens? Analog, so we can’t scroll away. I’ve seen firsthand how companies that bake integrity into everything, from product to marketing, unlock lasting loyalty and outsized growth. And as AI transforms how we create and communicate, this matters more than ever. Trust, and brand as a shortcut for it, has become the filter people use to decide what and who to believe. Brandon Aversano said it perfectly. His perspective is exactly where the conversation needs to go. It’s a privilege to serve on Alloy’s board, where “raising the awkward ethical question” isn’t awkward at all. It’s part of the culture. Because trust isn’t just what challenges a distrusted industry. It’s what builds every lasting one.

Publishing's Evolving Landscape: AI, Leadership Shifts, and Public Trust at Play Today's industry news highlights major shifts in ad tech, academic policy, key leadership appointments, and critical debates affecting media's public role. 📈 Market Developments • Publishers are building an agent-led, AI-driven ad business to improve programmatic advertising. https://lnkd.in/dRyZ7p4T • A major academic press advocates for "publish or perish" reform, citing low stakeholder satisfaction. https://lnkd.in/divZ2cUA 💰 Deals & Acquisitions • In book deals, Brazos Press has acquired world rights to "A Feast for All" by Bradley Jersak. https://lnkd.in/dWUs8Cp9 👥 People News • Simon & Schuster COO Dennis Eulau is retiring after a distinguished 30-year tenure. https://lnkd.in/dvV9-jpJ • HarperCollins UK formally appointed Kate Elton as its new CEO, a key leadership transition. https://lnkd.in/dsfVSygp 📅 Events • Korean literature generated substantial global publisher interest at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair. https://lnkd.in/dphkMu8W 🔥 Gossips & Controversies • Tennessee leaders push to remove public notices from papers, sparking transparency concerns. https://lnkd.in/d7FkwMCm • A Supreme Court ruling now bars media from publishing suspect names before a verdict. https://lnkd.in/dHM83ZM4 Strategic Insights: Today's news highlights an industry in flux: adapting AI in ad sales, rethinking academic incentives, and significant leadership changes. Debates over media transparency and reporting freedom underscore publishing's evolving public role. How do you see these changes impacting the public's trust in both traditional and academic publishing? 🎯 Get the full scoop: https://is.gd/oKqIyF #PublishingNews #MediaIndustry #BookDeals #AcademicPublishing #IndustryLeadership #FrankfurtBookFair

💥 Here’s what you missed in The Colab Brief: “AI Won’t Kill PR - But Ignoring It Might.” We broke down why visibility in the age of LLMs isn’t about chasing headlines anymore, but rather it’s about structuring your stories so AI can find them again (and again and again). 📬 Inside this edition: One Big Thing: Why every comms pro needs to speak AI’s language, and how to make your coverage “AI-recallable.” Playbook: Plant, don’t post. How to keep press hits alive long after publish day. Required Reading: Gallup’s new “trust recession” (spoiler: media trust just hit a 50-year low). Ask a Journalist: The right (and wrong) way to pitch multiple reporters at the same outlet. Media Moves: Who’s on the move across WSJ, MSNBC, Politico, and more. If you work in PR, comms, or marketing, this one’s a must-read.

In a media landscape full of crisis-based reporting, AI-generated content and fake news, it’s very easy to get discouraged. But through the Solutions Journalism Network , we learned the power of focusing our coverage on what works and how solutions bring communities together. Their support since 2020 has allowed us to develop revenue streams, train staff in solutions journalism, create a community outreach methodology and more. We’re proud to feature on the cover of SJN’s most recent impact report, highlighting all the work they’ve done in the past year. Hope you enjoy learning about how they’ve helped other organizations and journalists just like us! Read the report: https://lnkd.in/gMdkeNa9.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐁𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 | #01 A series that explores ideas, stories, and reflections that show how great content in marketing offers value. In my first year of university, I took a Political Communication class where Professor Gadi Wolfsfeld introduced me to the 𝐏𝐌𝐏 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 → 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 → 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. The idea is simple: changes in the political landscape, whether through shifts in government or public opinion, shape media coverage, which in turn drives political change. Take the Vietnam War: as political consensus began to shift, media coverage grew more critical, fueling public opposition and, ultimately, political action. This shows that the media doesn’t create change; it amplifies it. Without a shared context, a message has nowhere to land. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞: This theory goes beyond politics. It applies to marketing, tech, and even giving advice. When we understand the broader intellectual context in which people interpret information, we can better gauge what will resonate. Resonance isn’t just about knowledge; it depends on the audience’s awareness and alignment with it. Even the best idea or advice only lands if it’s framed in terms that connect with the receiver’s worldview. The same goes for products and marketing: they’re not created in isolation but as reactions to their environment. Do you see this pattern at play in other contexts?

Strategy in 60 Seconds: The Press Release Isn’t Dead. It’s Misused. For years, in different waves, folks have been declaring the news release to be obsolete. Yet Google News, AI search and journalists’ inboxes tell a different story. The all-too-often current state of the news release: ➡️ Treated like a corporate announcement instead of a story. ➡️ Written for executives, not algorithms. ➡️ Posted to the wire and never optimized for discovery. Here’s your move: ➡️ Lead with why it matters now and why, not just what happened. ➡️ Add links to richer owned content, like video, data or a human POV. ➡️ Structure for both readers and machines with schema markup. A modern press release isn’t a memo. It’s metadata. #PRStrategy #AIMarketing #MediaRelations #GEO #PublicRelations #PR

"The future belongs not to those who can access information, but to those who can act responsibly on it." Compelling insights from #WFUSB expert Shannon McKeen on how AI continues to change higher education. 👇

The latest Global State of the Press Release 2025 report from PR Newswire is a reassuring reminder that the press release is far from dead. Press releases remain a critical part of any integrated media campaign, but they can’t do all the heavy lifting themselves. They work best as part of a broader storytelling approach, and they're finding new relevance in an AI-powered world. Some highlights to share: ✏️ Even the most tactical elements of a release, like the length of a headline, are evolving. Headlines between 76–100 characters now perform best because they give large language models (LLMs) more context and keywords to understand what the story is really about. 👥 In terms of B2B communications, there’s less appetite for routine news - contracts, trade shows, corporate milestones -  and more demand for stories that matter. We need to demonstrate evidence, proof points and human impact. 📖 A much welcomed trend to deliberately use more natural, conversational language to make content digestible for LLMs and engaging for us real, human readers. It can be a challenge in B2B energy communication, but something we should all be striving for. You can read the report for yourself, here.