Roar Media

Building Communications around Audience Understanding

It all starts with understanding the story before deciding how to tell it. My background in journalism, including experience as a CNN journalist and producer, taught me to identify what matters to an audience, ask the right questions, and communicate complex information clearly. That perspective continues to shape my approach to PR.

Over the years, I’ve built relationships with journalists, editors, and media outlets across travel, hospitality, aviation, real estate, retail, technology, business, politics, and entertainment. This has given me a strong understanding of different media, what makes a story relevant, and how to identify the right opportunities.

I approach communications from both sides, considering what an organization needs to communicate and what audiences, journalists or stakeholders need to understand. From there, I focus on clear messaging, the right audiences and channels, and credible ways to reach them.

Ultimately, strategic communications is about building understanding and trust while ensuring every message supports broader organizational objectives.

Translating Complex Issues for Global Audiences

When communicating complex issues to an international audience, clarity and relevance are essential.

This year marked Roar Media’s third consecutive UN General Assembly supporting the Government of Panama, working alongside the president and cabinet on communications and media relations. Over three years, we have helped communicate issues spanning climate, conservation, nature finance, economic development, and international diplomacy to global audiences and media.

These subjects involve policy, science, economics, and geopolitics, and can mean different things to different audiences. The key is identifying the central message and connecting it to issues people understand and care about. Rather than communicating every detail, I focus on the strongest narrative, the necessary context, and adapting the message for each audience and outlet.

The experience has reinforced the importance of preparation: anticipating questions, understanding different perspectives, and ensuring spokespeople can communicate sophisticated ideas clearly.

International communications is not about creating one message and distributing it everywhere. It is about building a strong strategic foundation and adapting how the story is presented based on the audience, platform, and conversation.

Translating complexity into something clear, relevant, and compelling is one of the most valuable skills I bring to strategic communications.

How do you balance transparency, consistency, and responsiveness when managing high-profile media relations?

It all starts with understanding the media perspective. Having worked as a journalist and producer at CNN, I understand the importance of accurate information, timely responses, and access to credible sources. That experience continues to shape how I approach media relations from the PR side.

In high-profile situations, I focus on establishing facts quickly, aligning internally on what can be communicated, and responding clearly, promptly, and credibly. Transparency means being open while ensuring information is accurate and appropriate to disclose. Consistency means keeping key messages aligned across spokespeople and channels. Responsiveness means recognizing that timing matters and avoiding unnecessary delays.

"I approach communications from both sides, considering what an organization needs to communicate and what audiences, journalists or stakeholders need to understand."

I also believe in being transparent when information is still developing. If facts are unavailable, I would rather communicate that clearly than speculate. Journalists appreciate knowing where things stand, even when additional information is still being confirmed.

My crisis communications experience has reinforced the need to move quickly without sacrificing accuracy. Ultimately, the goal is to build trust with media and audiences. My journalism background gives me a newsroom perspective, while my PR experience allows me to apply it strategically for clients and organizations.

Building Media Trust through Accuracy and Responsiveness

Every crisis is different, and the approach must be tailored to the circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all response. The nature of the issue, stakeholders involved, media attention, available facts, and potential organizational impact all shape the communications strategy.

The first priority is to understand what happened, establish facts, and determine what can responsibly be shared. From there, I create a clear communications process, closely monitor the media landscape, identify emerging narratives and questions, and provide timely guidance as the situation develops.

I’ve supported organizations through situations where media interest can escalate quickly, including a major resort incident earlier this year. That experience reinforced the importance of moving quickly while remaining disciplined and relying on verified information rather than assumptions.

My journalism background also shapes this approach. Having worked in a newsroom, I understand how quickly information moves during breaking news and what journalists need. That perspective helps me anticipate questions, identify information gaps, and prepare spokespeople to communicate clearly under pressure.

Ultimately, crisis communications require judgment, adaptability, and credibility. The goal is not simply to respond quickly, but to respond appropriately while protecting trust and giving the organization a clear path forward.

Keeping Human Judgment at the Center of Communications

I see strategic communications becoming increasingly integrated, data-driven, and multidimensional. The lines between PR, journalism, digital media, social media, and corporate communications continue to evolve, while technologies such as AI are changing how information is created, distributed, and consumed.

At the same time, the fundamentals remain consistent. Strong storytelling, credibility, relationships, sound judgment, and understanding your audience will always matter. Technology can improve efficiency, but it cannot replace human judgment in understanding a story, navigating sensitive situations, or building trust.

For emerging professionals, I encourage curiosity and learning beyond communications. Understand how newsrooms operate, how businesses make decisions, and how industry and cultural trends affect audiences. Build relationships early and treat every interaction as an opportunity to learn.

Most importantly, stay adaptable. Continue learning and embrace new tools while remaining grounded in good communication: listen carefully, ask thoughtful questions, understand your audience, and protect your credibility.

The best communications professionals remain curious throughout their careers. There is always another story to understand, a perspective to learn from, and a way to communicate more effectively.