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By Susan Hoffman and David E. Hubler
Contributors, Online Career Tips

The year 2017 will be remembered for the wave of sexual harassment and sexual assault charges that brought down some of the biggest names in entertainment, government and the corporate world. Earlier, public relations disasters involving three of America’s top corporations – Uber, Google and United Airlines – provided object lessons on how not to treat employees and customers.

Other newsworthy business stories included the continuing battle over proposed healthcare changes for American workers and their families, violence in the workplace and the need to prevent industrial espionage and cyber attacks.

1. Sexual Harassment at Work

Sexual harassment in the workforce has been around for quite a while. In the past, there were factions who chose to ignore what was happening, made the situation go away by paying off employees to remain silent, or blamed or did not believe the victims. Today, victims are coming forth airing their allegations in public, which has given birth to the “Me Too” movement.

2. Public Relations Nightmares

United Airlines did not expect a public relations nightmare when it first offered cash incentives to get four passengers to voluntarily give up their seats. When that didn’t resolve the issue, United chose four passengers who were required to get off the plane. Three of the selected passengers complied.

But law enforcement officials had to forcibly remove the fourth selected passenger, who was injured as he was carried off the plane. Video of the incident went viral on social media and was shown on major network news programs. Uber CEO and Google executives’ bad behavior against their employees also became newsworthy events, thanks to cellphone videos.

3. Health Insurance Coverage

When Congressional legislators passed an alternative healthcare plan to the Affordable Care Act, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) called it “the best that we could come up with.” But replacing Obamacare proved more difficult and the plan died in Congress. An alternative healthcare plan should not be “the best” you can create; it should be a better plan than what is in place.

4. Workplace Diversity

Strained racial relationships remain all too evident in the United States. This past summer’s rioting in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white nationalists and opponents of racism showed that racism has never been eradicated.

It was just lying dormant in some circles, making people think that it no longer existed. History shows that businesses can be a powerful force for social progress and public decency.

5. Drug Use in the Workplace

Emergency room deaths from opiate overdoses have surpassed the number of overdoses from cocaine or methamphetamines combined. Opiate use in the United States has reached epidemic proportions and affected all walks of life including the corporate world. Employees need to call attention of drug use on the job by alerting their supervisor or Human Resources department, so they can address the abuse.

6. Federal Hiring Freeze

The year began with President Trump instituting a federal hiring freeze, which meant that departments and agencies could not bring new employees on board. Job seekers were forced to look elsewhere for employment until the freeze was lifted in April. Now, federal job seekers are again searching for employment by creating and submitting a federal resume.

7. Paid Parental Leave Policy

When it comes to parental leave programs, the United States lags behind other developed countries. President Trump has endorsed a plan that would give six weeks of paid leave for working mothers after the birth of her child. But many American working families want a national parental leave program that will provide paid time off for both mothers and fathers that could begin even before the birth of their children.

8. Workplace Violence

Violence in the workplace costs American businesses between $6 billion and $36 billion each year, according to FBI statistics. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, has a two-page fact sheet that defines what is considered workplace violence and how it has affected employers over the years.

9. Ethics in Leadership

Perceived injustice in business is the most common cause of today’s increases in cases of workplace espionage and sabotage. With roughly three million individuals cleared to access classified information and a multitude of ways to compromise it, determining who might pose a significant threat is a monumental task. So how can American business expand both ethical policies and standards for employers and employees?

10. Guarding against Cyber Attacks in the Workforce

In 2017, hackers accessed Equifax’s consumer credit reporting files and potentially compromised 143 million American consumers’ Social Security and driver’s license numbers. The hack was one of many this year that targeted businesses, including ransomware attacks to extract payment from the victims.

The hackers behind encryption-for-ransom distinguish between private and corporate victims. Predictably, business and public users on average are ready to pay more than ordinary citizens, because they have more data to protect than private individuals.

Start a management degree at American Public University.

By Jill Kurtz
Online Career Tips Editor

The press release is a tried-and-true way for people and organizations to share their news. It is easier than ever for anyone to publish releases via blogs or free distribution services like PRLog, which increases the competition to get a release noticed. With that in mind, there are several ways to increase the impact of a press release.

By Carol Froisy
Program Director, English at American Public University

This article is based on a conversation with veteran journalist, chief copy editor: Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times, Northwestern journalism professor, now freelance writer/editor, and Chicago native Tom Carkeek.

Lately, it’s hard to be optimistic about the newspaper industry, primarily for two reasons: digital competition and media bias.

Recent high-profile events in Baltimore and Ferguson have caused public outcry regarding questionable ethical and moral practices by police officers. These stories have negatively affected the relationships police have in some of the communities they serve. While it is important that these wrong-doings are acknowledged and punished, such incidents should not detract from all the good police officers do each and every day for the citizens in their communities. To ensure that the good deeds of officers do not go unnoticed and in honor of National Police Week, here are just a few stories of officers who go above and beyond the call of duty for the citizens of the communities they serve.

By Jill Kurtz
Online Career Tips Contributor

Many organizations have questioned the relevance of the press release for online exposure because Google had devalued press release links in search engine results. Now there is news that Google has removed some of the barriers to good press releases earning good search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.

By Kristen Obst, PhD
Program Director, Public Administration at American Public University

How we produce and consume news is changing, but not with the civic implications that many had predicted when the internet was young and content was free. Predictions made in the earliest days of the internet of massive change in how news is produced and consumed have come true in some respects, but have fallen short by some of the most meaningful measures.