China Changes

In an action viewed as a serious escalation of bilateral tensions, President Joe Biden has issued a long-anticipated executive order limiting certain U.S. investments in China. 

When implemented, the order will require companies to notify the U.S. government of investments in some industry sectors, while prohibiting U.S. investments in others. Its goal is to prevent U.S. companies from financing Chinese technology sectors that could have military uses, particularly in quantum computing, advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence. 

This action marks the first time the U.S. has broadly limited outbound investment flows. China responded angrily, with a spokesperson calling it “blatant economic coercion and technological bullying.”

The Treasury Department will be responsible for further delineating and enforcing the order, which begins with a 45-day comment period before draft regulations are published. 

With many details left to federal regulators, businesses are expected to actively seek to shape the final rule, with its implementation not expected until the end of this year or into 2024.

Some on Capitol Hill have criticized the order as being too narrow in scope and limited in impact. Congress may attempt to enact stronger restrictions via pending or future legislation.

In the current political environment, competition to protect U.S. national security virtually ensures these rules will be lasting and may be expanded over time.

News organizations are pushing to include more solutions-oriented reporting in their coverage.

In partnership with Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), for example, CBS News is training news leaders at 14 of its local stations – including big markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. CBS News also created an innovation lab for journalists in different markets to work together on solutions-oriented stories.

Our friends at FGS’ Health Media Insights newsletter explored this growing newsroom trend of solutions journalism in a previous issue. With more reporters and outlets focusing on solutions in their coverage, here are a few questions to consider if your organization wants to be included in these types of stories.

• What problem are you addressing? A solutions story focuses on a response to a social problem and how that response has worked or why it hasn’t. Think outside of the box and try to offer up solutions to social problems that aren’t getting as much attention in the news. 

• Are you able to share data? Solutions journalism is all about evidence, and what that evidence does or doesn’t tell us. This type of reporting often focuses on public policy, so consider sharing data or frontline perspective that could help a journalist analyze the success of government initiatives to address problems. 

•  Has your solution faced challenges? Solutions stories often reveal a response’s shortcomings. Something that works well for one community may not work for others. Be prepared for reporters to point out limitations and be ready to speak about how you’ve overcome any obstacles.

To sign up for Health Media Insights, email health@fgslgobal.com.

Online conversations can move markets—and publicly traded companies are embracing new strategies to engage retail shareholders online like never before.

Digital retail shareholder engagement programs allow corporate communications professionals to better understand, reach and engage retail investors.

With strategic implementation and innovative deployments, companies can better define who their retail shareholders are and how they perceive the company and create more effective strategies for engagement. 

Digital retail investor engagement is a new frontier for corporate communications. It requires strategic implementation and innovation to make it successful. Here’s how to get started:

1. Learn more about your retail shareholders and how they perceive you. Your retail shareholders are diverse and varied in their perception of your company. Without better intelligence about that perception, it may be difficult to effectively engage them.

2. Leverage the growing ecosystem of technology, tools and data to better engage retail shareholders directly. Armed with insight on your retail shareholders, engaging them online requires a deep understanding of the tools and targeting available to you. Understanding where and what to leverage will make your program successful.

3. Build a lasting community to be activated in normal course and contested situations. With the right intelligence and activation plan, publicly traded companies can develop lasting communities that provide increasing value from a growing retail shareholder base to more favorable outcomes in voting scenarios.