In this episode of Smart in Public, The Katies sit down with Kerry Flynn, reporter at Axios, to unpack the seismic shifts reshaping media, marketing, and communications and try to understand what it all means for PR professionals, founders, and marketers trying to figure it all out.

Kerry brings a rare insider perspective on how the creator economy, AI, and media consolidation are colliding to create an entirely new playbook for communications peeps.

What we cover in this episode:

• The power shift from institutions to individuals — Why individual journalists and creators now hold more influence than legacy media brands, and how to build relationships in this new reality
• Creators as strategic partners — The evolution from treating creators as distribution channels to recognizing them as sophisticated marketing operators (hint: "Creators are the best operators")
• AI's real impact on journalism and PR — Beyond the hype, what AI is actually changing about content creation, pitching, and the future of SEO vs. generative search
• The long-form content comeback — Why quality, in-depth content is more valuable than ever in an AI-saturated landscape, and where YouTube fits into the equation
• B2B creators on the rise — The emerging class of niche industry creators that smart brands should be partnering with now
• Agency consolidation and the boutique advantage — How media agencies are restructuring and what it means for how brands access communications expertise
• Rethinking your pitching strategy — Why the fragmented media landscape demands an entirely new approach to media relations

Whether you're a communications professional rethinking your media strategy, a founder figuring out how to tell your story, or a marketer navigating the creator economy, this conversation is packed with actionable insights you can use right now.

Chapters

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 02:41 - Shifts in the Media Landscape
• 10:03 - The Role of Creators in Marketing
• 18:45 - The Future of Advertising and Creator Partnerships
• 28:54 - AI's Impact on Content Creation and Journalism
• 30:00 - Legal Precedents in AI and Fair Use
• 32:58 - The Shift from SEO to Generative AI
• 35:49 - AI in Content Creation: Opportunities and Pitfalls
• 39:00 - The Evolving Role of Journalists in an AI-Driven World
• 42:00 - The Future of Long-Form Content
• 46:00 - Agency Consolidation and the Rise of Boutique Firms
• 51:01 - Understanding Media Professionals' Needs
• 53:58 - The Fragmented Media Landscape
• 56:59 - Predictions for the Future of Media and PR

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This week, Brooke Hammerling, founder of The New New Thing, joins the Katies for a Pop Culture Monday x Smart in Public mashup episode.

Brooke has seen the PR industry from every angle -- from building reputations for founders before "founder brand" was a thing, navigating crisis moments when social media didn't exist yet, being in the ear of some of the world's most important executives, and decoding culture weekly for thousands of newsletter subscribers. In this episode, she dissects how we're going in the world through the lens of pop culture.

We cover:

🎯 Super Bowl ads — Which brands actually landed and which ones burned millions on forgettable creative (Brooke doesn't hold back)

🔥 The tech trust collapse — Why the playbooks that built Silicon Valley's reputation are now actively working against it

💡 Crisis PR in the social media age — How the speed and scale of online culture has fundamentally broken traditional crisis management

📱 Culture as a communications skill — Why understanding pop culture isn't a nice-to-have, it's the new competitive advantage for PR professionals

🧠 Looksmaxxing and the future of our youth — Social media's impact on young people, shifting beauty standards, and what communicators need to understand about the next generation of audiences

Chapters

• 02:56 - Reflections on Loss and Cultural Impact
• 05:59 - Navigating Celebrity Culture: LA vs. New York
• 08:59 - Brooke Hammerling's Journey in PR and Communications
• 15:00 - The New New Thing: Strategic Advisory for Founders
• 18:02 - The Teflon Founder: A Case Study on Mark Benioff
• 21:52 - Pop Culture Mondays: The Birth of a Newsletter
• 26:06 - Navigating the Speed of Culture
• 27:45 - Pop Culture Monday Highlights
• 28:37 - Bad Bunny's Impact at the Super Bowl
• 30:16 - Cultural Representation and Misunderstandings
• 32:55 - The Role of Social Media in Public Perception
• 34:56 - The NFL's Global Branding Strategy
• 36:35 - Super Bowl Ads: Hits and Misses
• 39:53 - AI in Advertising: A Double-Edged Sword
• 42:14 - Communication Strategies in Crisis
• 46:00 - Transparency and Trust in Tech Companies
• 47:24 - The Erosion of Trust in Tech
• 50:00 - The Role of Relationships in PR
• 52:00 - The Impact of Outrage Culture
• 53:58 - Fashion and Pop Culture in the Olympics
• 56:01 - Looks Maxing and Its Implications
• 01:01:01 - The Changing Landscape of Masculinity

About Brooke: Brooke Hammerling is the founder of The New New Thing, a strategic communications advisory firm that she launched in 2020, working with clients across tech and media. She has spent more than 25 years helping tech entrepreneurs and business leaders shape their communications strategies. In 2005, Brooke started Brew PR, a pioneering media relations agency that represented some of the most renowned and disruptive tech companies. Brew was sold to London-based PR firm Freuds in 2016. Brooke also created the “Pop Culture Mondays” newsletter, a weekly round-up of the biggest news and trends in pop culture, and hosts the accompanying “Pop Culture Mondays… on Thursdays” podcast. Brooke divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

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In the spirit of Season 3's unofficial theme of 'are we helping or hurting', The Katies take to Reddit to uncover some of the questions that are on our fellow comm's folks minds. Did we give some good advice? Hopefully! Did we have fun pretending like we're not both individual contributors in our day jobs? Definitely!

Whether you're an intern trying to break into PR, a mid-level pro feeling stuck, or an agency leader managing impossible client demands, this episode might be just what you needed to hear to turn on your heels and change careers -- lol, JK. We do our best to try to navigate every question the same way we would if we were in a off-the-cuff career conversation in the hallway. It's a Katie & Katie Special after all, so this one guarantees to be fun!

Hot topics include:

🔥 Have client expectations have gone off the rails?

💼 Is the internship-to-job pipeline is broken?

🚪 Can gatekeeping kill careers?

📱 Is paid media ownership a comms land-grab?

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