Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expanding their comms team. The Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has named Pinterest's former comms lead, Christine Schirmer, to the newly created role of head of communications. The office also named Toya Holness its first press secretary.
Joe Lockhart talks election comms. The former White House press secretary for President Bill Clinton, and partner at Rational 360, chatted with PRWeek's Frank Washkuch and Diana Bradley on our weekly podcast Thursday. The trio discussed President-elect Joe Biden's messaging, successes and failures by both parties and the future of communications in a Biden administration.
Cannabis technology company Weedmaps has named Berk Communications its U.S. AOR. Berk will manage brand awareness, consumer PR and thought leadership for the company that provides information on cannabis ordering, local retailer and brand listings, product discovery and consumer education. Weedmaps also provides B2B software for the cannabis industry.
The federal government has decided not to shut down TikTok for now. On Thursday, the US Commerce Department cited an injunction from a federal judge who said the department probably overstepped its authority by attempting to stop transactions on the platform. (Wall Street Journal) Separately, President Trump issued an executive order preventing American companies and individuals from owning stakes in 31 Chinese companies with ties to that country's People's Liberation Army. The order is effective January 11. (CNBC) Also, the Chinese government finally congratulated Joe Biden on his win nearly a week after Biden gave his acceptance speech. At a Friday presser, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China "respected the choice of the American people. We congratulate Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris." (CNN)
The Boston Globe has named Precision Strategy's Jennifer O'Malley Dillon "one of the most important political operatives you've never heard of." Dillon is the first woman to run a winning Democratic presidential campaign. Precision cofounder Stephanie Cutter was chief program executive of this election cycle's Democratic National Convention. The two women, along with Precision cofounder Teddy Goff, were veterans of the Obama for America 2012 campaign and launched the firm in 2013.
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