War stories
Here we go again.
This is the third major Gulf war of my adult life.
The first was Desert Storm. I was involved in a program to help de-mobilised troops re-integrate into civilian life. What I learned: combat deployments (even in the relatively ‘good’ wars) exact an enormous toll on individuals, families, and communities.
Then there was the Second Gulf War. What I learned: governments will lie about why and when they want to go war.
And then there’s now. Epic Fury for the Americans. Roaring Lion for the Israelis. No lessons learned, I guess. Or not yet.
Many of my notes this week are related to this latest “excursion.”
But there’s other stuff, too.
Means and motives
Arguably modern “PR” found its footing with the propaganda around modern warfare at the beginning of the last century.
Maybe that was coincidental, but there was a convergence a new media formats (radio, national newspapers, cinema, community organisation, etc.) and an impetus to corral and focus public opinion on supporting the war efforts of the various combatants.
In any case, governments got serious about a lot of what we would now call public relations.
Fast-forward to 2026.
Of course, it’s not always easy for governments to control how wars are depicted.
But they try.
Pentagon is banning press photographers over ‘unflattering’ photos of Pete Hegseth
FCC chair threatens to throttle news broadcasts over ‘hoaxes’ about Iran war
Now there’s a new kind of war correspondent: the influencer.
British tourist among 20 charged in Dubai over videos of Iranian missile strikes
Dubai’s social influencer-cultivated reputation of being a safe haven just went up in smoke
The situation in Dubai was the focus of an excellent conversation between David Yelland and Farzana Baduel on the When It Hits The Fan podcast, by the way.
Messaging about the war is mixed.
War: what’s it good for?
Adrian Monck asks what’s the America’s three-trillion-dollar war machine for? And he wonders: what’s to stop a tactical nuclear strike?
War, huh, yeah / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, uhh
Edwin Starr
Ok on to other stuff.
Hugging: remember the six-second rule
I’m not a good hugger. I don’t like this about myself, but I’m more of a leaner.
I lean in quickly and then awkwardly back. I’m working on it, and now I have extra motivation: an oxytocin rush.
Apparently six seconds is the minimum time required for the release of oxytocin and serotonin.
I learned this from an essay by Julian Baggini ... but he’s not a fan of the six-second rule.
Or maybe’s he neutral on that specifically, but he’s not a fan of what he sees as an all pervasive trend to instrumentalize everything we do - promoting life’s good stuff not for their own sake, but for the material benefits they bring.
We increasingly ask not what is good about an activity but what good it can do for us
He sees it everywhere, and now I do, too.
I’m even less sure what to do about hugging.
Community development
A few years ago I started a little chat group on WhatsApp for friends in the PR and comms space, and today it’s a vibrant community of around 1200 professionals.
There are a lot of observations to share about online group dynamics and truly multilateral exchanges of information - someone has even suggested a plot for a novel derived from it - but the thing that hits me every single day:
People are hungry to connect, professionally and/but as humans. To hear and be heard. To preach, observe, dip in and out. But be in a conversation. This is probably true in every profession / working community.
Cults, too, now that I think about it.
Way after I started this I came across some helpful advice. Some of this might have been helpful when this community was first taking shape. Then again, there’s something to be said for just starting conversations and seeing where they go ..
Anyway, Meta (WhatsApp) sets limits on how many can join a group within a community of chats, and we’re at the ceiling for the “general” discussion but a number of topic-specific conversation groups have room for new participants: AI, a jobs board, the library, sports, culture, and more.
Tell me what you’re interested in and we probably have a conversation going
Let’s just ask
Last week I wondered how PR and comms teams area REALLY using AI, so I asked in a short survey.
And you answered - thanks!
I’m working through the quant side but here’s a quick look at the qualitative input, summarized by Gemini.
Book of the week
I’m half way through Laurence Rees’s The Nazi Mind: 12 Warnings From History and, well, we can’t say we weren’t warned.
Tip of the week
Getting your story straight will benefit from an outside perspective…even if you’re an experienced communicator.
Just over a year ago, we found ourselves (my co founders and I) with a lot to say and no coherent, consistent way of saying it.
Ricki Unger helped us get there.
The Founder’s Story Problem: When Your Company Outgrows Your Ability to Explain It
Worth noting
A sad event in our neighbourhood that my family thinks, not incorrectly, I’m a little fixated / borderline obsessed with.
I was walking by the post office when the paramedic first arrived on a street next to ours. She smiled as we went in the wrong directions to avoid each other on the pavement.
A half hour or so later I was returning and saw her sitting in the ambulance on the phone … And then the first police car rolled up.
Oh no, I thought. More police, and police tape, and later still, a forensics van.
And then in the neighbourhood group chat: confirmation. A murder. In our neighbourhood. Just about a mile up the road from the Beatles’ Abbey Road studio. And then I realised who had been killed. A man I have spoken to dozens of times on our respective dog walks.
We always spoke about the dogs, not ourselves. So I know so very little about him. But now I’m wondering about the man who walked his good dog, and what could have led anyone to want him dead.
Rest in peace, Paul.
Looking ahead
March 20. Matt Collette and I will talk about Why PR Matters Twice As Much with the PR Lab in Paris.
March 27. I’ll moderate a panel - Media, Public Affairs and the UK Trust Deficit - at the Anthropy conference in Cornwall, England
April 2. I’m doing a keynote at the COMMS Pro conference in Bucharest, The AI Revolution: It’s Not Too Late To Join (But Things Are Moving Fast)