PageViews Monthly: Issue 16

• Page Center Research on Prosocial Communication
• Think Glocally
• Leading During Crisis
• Plus: Other Insights from The New CCO Podcast

A few weeks ago, PageViews focused on standing up for values in a retaliatory environment. Since then, our friends at the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication released the 2025 Insights Report on Prosocial Communication, which highlights when, why and how organizations should communicate prosocially. (Prosocial: relating to or denoting behavior which is positive, helpful, and intended to promote societal good.) 

Lessons from the Research

The 2025 Insights Report on Prosocial Communication highlights a critical tension: stakeholder trust continues to demand authenticity, yet backlash for missteps — or even principled action — is growing. Some of the findings I found interesting include:

• The “Glocal” Imperative: Interviewing 17 PR practitioners working for multinational organizations (MNOs) researchers found that audiences expect companies to localize messaging while staying aligned to global values. However, when it comes to speaking out about contentious issues, MNOs must weigh the legal, cultural, and political risks. In some countries, silence or indirect messaging may be more strategic or ethical than direct advocacy.
  • A good example of that last point in practice can be found in a recent episode of the New CCO podcast, when Alethea Founder and CEO Lisa Kaplan discusses when her client (a large multinational) was being targeted by their host government for a disinformation campaign, and how they had to use indirect communications tactics to address it. Publishing a press release on the issue would likely have resulted in increased coercion, so they instead had to win the narrative battle using more subtle techniques, like reaching out directly to local media to have them break the story, maintaining plausible deniability for the firm.
• Communicate values like they matter—because they do: Research in the Prosocial Insights Report found that values-driven communication—when rooted in fairness, genuine concern, and clarity of purpose—helps organizations build trust and alignment, even in polarizing environments. Rather than avoiding divisive topics, communicators are most effective when they articulate their organization’s principles with honesty and consistency, making clear what they stand for and why it matters.
  • That idea was brought to life in The New CCO episode featuring Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of SHRM. In a moment when DEI and ESG are increasingly politicized, Taylor emphasized the need to lead with principle, not performance. “We’re nonpartisan... SHRM is about policy, not politics,” he said. He called on communicators to serve as facilitators of culture, helping define and articulate values that unify, rather than divide. “There are no bad cultures—just cultures that haven’t been clearly articulated.” His approach mirrored the report’s takeaway: when values are clear and authentic, they foster trust, not controversy.

Other Insights from our Conversation with Lisa Kaplan 

Earlier, we mentioned our conversation with Lisa Kaplan, who has been tracking online manipulation since managing digital strategy for U.S. Senator Angus King’s 2018 campaign, where she helped defend against foreign influence operations. That experience led her to launch Alethea, a company that monitors and analyzes disinformation threats for brands, governments, and individuals. Here are a few lessons from the conversation:

Threats now start small—and move fast. Kaplan warns that disinformation often starts in obscure corners of the internet, but spreads rapidly across platforms, even if it’s false or AI-generated. CCOs must monitor the fringes, not just the headlines.

AI supercharges the risk. Generative AI makes it easier for bad actors to create and scale convincing narratives. Kaplan notes that organizations need to prepare for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” becoming more common and harder to detect.

Silence is not protection. Waiting until a narrative explodes is too late. Kaplan encourages CCOs to define in advance the values they’re willing to defend, and to build the muscle of proactive, not just reactive, response.