The 7 stories PR pros need to know on Friday, 12.11.2015

Walmart marketing chief to depart
Longtime Walmart CMO Stephen Quinn is planning to step down at the end of January. The retailer will replace him with Michael Francis, most recently at Target. The company said last month that its profit could fall as much as 12% next year.

Twitter tries to expand advertisers’ reach
The microblogging service wants to extend the reach of ads to the millions of people who see tweets within news stories or blogs or via Internet search, but aren’t signed into the platform. Twitter is testing the pilot program with select advertisers in the US, UK, and Japan.

Trump no longer a laughing matter
Democrats are beginning to respond more seriously to Donald Trump’s candidacy. (Frontrunner Hillary Clinton is no longer breaking out laughing when his name is mentioned). Trump is polling at 35% nationally among Republicans in a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

Terrorism fears peak
Most Americans are opposed to Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, though the idea is supported by four in 10 Republicans, according to a WSJ/NBC News poll. CBS News found the highest percentage of Americans are concerned about terrorism since post-9/11.

GoFundMe grabs former White House comms chief
Dan Pfeiffer, former White House communications director, has joined crowdfunding site GoFundMe as VP of policy and communications, making him the latest prominent communicator to transition from Washington, DC, to Silicon Valley.

States pass Uber-friendly laws after public affairs push
Laws are advancing in states such as Ohio and Florida that would classify Uber drivers as contractors, not full-time employees, meaning the company is not responsible for many benefits and reimbursements. Drivers in California have filed a class-action lawsuit to get full-time status.

Bayer’s Kerins to Chamber of Commerce board
Ray Kerins, SVP of communications, government relations, and policy at Bayer, was named to the US Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors on Thursday. He has worked at Bayer since 2013, with previous stints at Pfizer and Merck.