The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson
The PR Breakdown reveals the moves behind the mess. Crisis communication expert Molly McPherson dissects the viral scandals, celebrity meltdowns, and corporate disasters dominating headlines to show you the strategic mistakes and desperate moves that destroy reputations — so you never make them yourself.
The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson
Latest Episodes
The Newsroom Is Gone. AI Filled the Vacancy with Linda Zebian of Muck Rack
This one was ripped straight from Molly's morning. A client in the middle of a professional crisis that went viral and personal - social media vigilantes mobilizing online, a position lost - and the conversation kept landing on a single ques...
The Coverup Always Outlives the Crisis
This week the stories all share the same fingerprint: people who think the rules don't apply to them. Crisis-communications expert Molly McPherson breaks down why the Mike Vrabel–Dianna Russini saga still has legs months later (hint: it's not t...
The New Orleans Five and the ADA's Worst Week
Five scientists were escorted out of a diabetes conference by police for handing out a scientific paper — published in the host's own journal. By the time the American Diabetes Association finished explaining itself, its president and president...
How Scott Pelley Turned His Firing into a Reputational Win
A 37-year 60 Minutes correspondent got fired in a conference room over a dinner he refused to attend. Scott Pelley lost his job and won the PR war in the same week, and the side that was supposed to be running the institution handed him the mor...
How Amy Gertner's 20-Take Video Out-Performed Graham Platner's Own Response
When a Senate campaign gets hit with a sexting scandal, the spouse is supposed to disappear. Amy Gertner grabbed her phone, walked into a cloud of Maine blackflies, and recorded the most effective crisis response of the cycle.Everyone is...