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In this April edition of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Neville and Shel talk about…

• Starbucks’ response to a racial incident in Philadelphia that went viral and sparked protests
• In an effort to reduce “noise pollution,” Ghana wants Muslims to issue the call to prayer via WhatsApp
• The line between earned and paid media is blurring and consumers don’t care which is which
• There’s a reckoning coming for terms and conditions
• Augmented Reality is making huge inroads (except in corporate communications)
• Journalists in developing countries are using drones and sensors to cover environmental crimes and pollution

In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on what he found when he downloaded his Facebook data, Jordan Peel’s deepfake PSA from Barack Obama, why Chrome’s article recommendation feature could drive huge traffic to publishers, Flickr has been acquired by SmugMug (which plans to revitalize the photo service), and Mozilla has issued a call to storytellers to create content with Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

About Neville Hobson

Neville Hobson was co-host of The Hobson & Holtz Report for over 10 years. For over 15 years, Neville has been a voice of experience and influence when it comes to speaking about digital technologies, disruptive change in workplaces and marketplaces, relevant trends to pay close attention to, and what it all means for your business. His experiences embrace deep understanding and subject-matter expertise in contemporary business issues that include social, digital and cognitive technologies, connecting that with a career in traditional public relations, marketing communication, employee compensation and benefits communication, and investor relations. Based in the Thames Valley some 30 miles west of London, Neville works either from his home office or from a client’s location; or from wherever he has a good network connection.

Links from this week’s episode

• Starbucks will close 8,000 US stores May 29 for racial-bias training
• Want to Use the Starbucks Bathroom? These Are Your Rights
• Ghana asks mosques to turn down the noise and use WhatsApp for call to prayer
• GCR2018: Line Between Paid And Earned Is Blurring — And Many Consumers Don’t Care
• USC Annenberg Study Provides Insight Into Evolution of Global Communications Industry
• The ‘Terms and Conditions’ Reckoning Is Coming
• Welcome to Wikipedia for Terms of Service Agreements
• 5 Ways Augmented and Virtual Reality are Infiltrating the Enterprise
• Google will help preserve endangered historical sites in virtual reality
• Amazon Embraces AR and VR with Sumerian Platform
• In Developing Countries, Newsrooms are Using Drones, Sensors, and Satellites for Investigative Journalism

Links from Dan York’s report

• After Downloading All My Facebook Data, Here is What I Found…
• Watch Jordan Peele use AI to make Barack Obama deliver a PSA about fake news
• This is the next major traffic driver for publishers: Chrome’s mobile article recommendations, up 2,100 percent in one year
• Exclusive: Flickr bought by SmugMug, which vows to revitalize the photo service
• An Open Call to Storytellers: Make Something Amazing With Virtual Reality and the Open Web
• Virtual Reality for the Open Web

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio