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Managing the top risk in PR and comms
It’s not just crisis comms professionals that needs to be aware of what people – here and internationally - are worried about, it's the whole PR industry.
In the past few weeks there have been two significant reports published considering the risks that need to be monitored globally and in the UK.
Every January the World Economic Forum (WEF) publishes the Global Risks Report and there were several significant changes in this year’s edition, most notably the feeling of pessimism and the fact state-based armed conflict has risen from number eight to number one.
The UK publication of the National Risk Register for 2025 was 187 pages of risks considered for the likelihood and impact. One thing that struck me in the report; there were no risks in the most likely and with a significant impact.
Why do these documents matter? For anyone involved in disaster management or resilience they are incredibly important but they also matter for those who work in crisis communication. It gives an indication of what people are concerned about and this in turn can help to highlight actions we need to put in place.
I also believe that anyone working in PR and communication needs to have some understanding of these areas of possible future concerns.
Global risks of misinformation and disinformation
For the global risks, misinformation and disinformation continue to be discussed as an area of concern in the next couple of years and into the next decade.
Interestingly, artificial intelligence as a source of risk has dropped but this could be because we are become more used to it.
But it remains essential for us to have our eyes wide open. We need to be able to distinguish between AI generated misinformation and disinformation and that produced by humans which is linked to another risk of polarisation.
The way to address a lot of these elements is to improve skills across the board and WEF says there need to be frameworks that are based in accountability and transparency.
Significant UK risks
I was surprised given the incidents we have seen at the end of 2024 and start of 2025 that terrorist attacks were not placed higher in the UK risk register.
The significant risks were the pandemic and various weather events.
The document isn’t prepared for public consumption but does include some comments on warning and informing.
I admit to being surprised to see local radio and official sources online as the recommendation of where to get information from.
Local radio has been decimated in recent years which was highlighted in a recent review of that found Radio Devon had ‘failed’ the public. So can it really be shared as a key source of news during an emergency?
It was reassuring to see the UK document include comments on the importance of knowing and understanding communities. This is something I am continuing to push as essential to effective crisis communication.
Really knowing the people you need to and want to reach is vital in the fractured world of many communication channels.
It is no longer simply about putting information on social media and sharing it with the media. Communication has become more complex and challenging.
Amanda Coleman is a PR consultant whose blogs on crisis communications are often published on Influence. She is the founder of Amanda Coleman Communication where this blog was first published. Read a review of Amanda's latest book, Strategic Reputation Management.