In My First PR Internship, Fear Flourished But Didn't Make Me Fail

Monday, August 1st was my last day as MEPR Agency’s Public Relations Assistant, concluding an eleven-week experience of learning, making mistakes, finding creative solutions, reading, researching, reviewing, editing and finding my own voice in the midst of it all. It hasn’t been easy — as most worthwhile things in life usually aren’t — but it has changed me in a way I never thought an internship could. I can confidently say that I am not the same person I was when I walked into MEPR’s chic, modern, stylishly white and purple-accented offices for the first time in May, and that my time here has given me much to process and reflect on.

Kia JarmonAugust 2, 2016

Taking a Closer Look at Taylor Swift and Melania Trump’s PR Disasters: Part 2

In last week’s blog post, we discussed the PR disasters experienced by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and wife of presidential hopeful Donald Trump, Melania. Now, we’re in the aftermath of these disasters: their Twitter mentions and Instagram comment sections have cooled, the barrage of memes has slowed; thus, we’re finally in a position to examine what both parties could have done differently.

crisis communications, public relationsKia JarmonJuly 29, 2016melania trump, taylor swiftComment

Taking a Closer Look at Taylor Swift and Melania Trump’s PR Disasters: Part 1

If you’ve been alive this week, you’ve heard about/read about/laughed about two prominent PR disasters in pop culture and politics (which are essentially becoming one and the same, don’t you think?): Taylor Swift and Melania Trump. The former was exposed via secret recording (thanks, Kim Kardashian!) to have accepted controversial Kanye West-written lyrics (“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b*tch famous”) she’d publicly decried beforehand; the latter delivered a speech on behalf of her husband, Republican presidential candidate and professional cartoon character Donald Trump, that was found to have several portions identical to the speech given by First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.