CIPR International is proud to celebrate Eva Maclaine, who has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship (Hon FCIPR), the highest honour bestowed by the Institute. Granted by the Board of Directors in recognition of outstanding services to the Institute and the development of the public relations profession, the honour recognises Eva’s sustained commitment to professional standards, ethical practice and the international PR community. Eva Maclaine, Hon FCIPR, Found Chart PR, who wa

Joseph Nye called soft power "the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments" (Soft Power, 2004). Attraction, in other words, instead of sticks and carrots. What interests me about the UAE is not that it accepted that idea. Plenty of governments say they believe in it. The UAE gave it an institution. A Soft Power Council was set up in 2017, and the national strategy it produced rests on six declared pillars of public diplomacy.

The future of public relations will not be shaped by technology alone. But to understand where the profession is going, we should also be careful not to speak of “African wisdom” as though Africa represents a single cultural tradition. The continent contains distinct societies, languages and ways of understanding relationships, communication and community.

By Taazima Kala There was a question sitting quietly beneath the 2026 Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture: what happens when turmoil is no longer an occasional event for communicators to manage, but the environment in which we lead? It is a slightly uncomfortable thought. Most of us entered this profession prepared for demanding days, difficult headlines and the occasional crisis call before breakfast. Few imagined that “permacrisis” might become a perfectly reasonable description

CIPR International is proud to celebrate Samantha Seewoosurrun Chart.PR, FCIPR, who has received the 2026 Sir Stephen Tallents’ Medal, one of the Institute’s highest honours. The CIPR has also awarded its 2026 President’s Medal to Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation. The two honours recognise different but equally valuable contributions to the profession. For CIPR International, Samantha’s medal is especially meaningful. It celebr

I’d like to make an assertion that has been sitting with me for some time: the communications industry may have spent the last two years asking the wrong question about AI. I say this in no way as any kind of expert on the matter, but as a learning practitioner trying to learn better.

Africa has a population of over 1.4 billion people, spread across 54 countries and home to somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 languages. Nigeria alone accounts for more than 500 of them. Yet in many global communications briefs, this continent gets a single line: "African audiences."

The media sector is undergoing one of its most significant transformations since the rise of digital platforms. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer experimental. It is now embedded in newsroom operations, shaping how news is produced, distributed, and consumed.

by Thanzyl Thajudeen FCIPR There is a quiet but significant shift happening in our industry, and if you are paying attention, you can feel it in almost every client conversation. Clients are not calling because they need a press release turned around in 24 hours. They are calling because they do not know who else to call. The board is divided, the CEO is under pressure, and the landscape is moving faster than anyone can plan for. What they need, more than coverage or a campai

by Jared Meade MPS, APR This April, you’ll find me in Davos, Switzerland, a stunning alpine town high in the eastern Swiss Alps, surrounded by dramatic, snow‑capped peaks and pristine valleys. It’s long been a favourite for world-class winter sports, a summer escape for hiking, mountain biking and unplugging in nature and the globally recognised home of the World Economic Forum (WEF) each January. That’s when political leaders, CEOs, economists and cultural figures converge t