In Brief: Ad Dollars Appear Alongside Health Misinformation; Change Comms Overwhelm Workers

Health and government organizations have spent millions of dollars on advertising that has sometimes appeared on websites that promote health misinformation, CNN reports. 

The U.S. Surgeon General defines health misinformation as “incorrect or misleading … according to the best available evidence at the time.” According to researchers at Yale University, health-related falsehoods have spread through social media platforms, online forums and small media outlets. 

Health misinformation includes false claims about vaccines and remedies not supported by science, the researchers said. 

Working with NewsGuard, which says it identifies reliable information online, researchers found 11 websites they say promote health misinformation, and for which data on advertising expenditures was available. The study does not name the websites.

Along with brands of nonprescription health supplements, reputable nonprofits such as the American Heart Association and the Alzheimer’s Association were among the organizations whose advertisements appeared on websites that promote health misinformation, researchers said. Automated advertising doesn’t always indicate every site where ads appear.

Change Communications Overwhelm Some Internal-Comms Teams 

Knowing how to communicate company changes has become the most valued communications skill among internal communications and human resources teams, a report from Arthur J. Gallagher finds. And yet, 61% of organizations have no formal strategy for communicating changes. 

In surveys of communications and HR professionals in 40 countries, 83% of respondents say information-overload is a growing problem, according to the report from Gallagher, an insurance and risk-management firm.

As organizations send more messages to employees, internal-communications teams are under pressure and often understaffed. Both internal communicators and their audiences feel burned out by constant organizational changes and related communications. The risk of burnout for internal communicators has risen by 24% since last year’s report. 

Internal communications teams are being stretched thin while asked to deliver more. One in five companies has less than $20,000 allocated for internal communications, and one in three has no budget for internal communications, the report finds. As organizational changes become constant, under-resourced communications teams face an unsustainable challenge.

Nearly Half of Workers Are Struggling, Survey Finds

More workers report struggling (49%) rather than thriving (46%), research from Gallup suggests. At the same time, worker engagement has fallen to 31%, its lowest level in a decade.

More than half of workers surveyed are looking for a new job or watching for opportunities. Nearly half of those searching say it’s been a negative experience, with many unable to land a job interview.

College-educated workers are the most pessimistic about the job market, possibly reflecting slowdowns in white-collar hiring and layoffs in professional sectors. Younger workers are more likely than older ones to say this is a bad time to find a good job. 

Employees who are not thriving are more likely to miss work due to illness and to be seeking a new job, Gallup finds. When workers cannot, or believe they cannot, leave their current job, discontent can accumulate inside organizations and undermine productivity, morale and culture. The decline is especially pronounced among federal workers.

Airlines Add Premium Seats, Compress Economy Cabins 

Airlines are retrofitting jets or buying new ones to add premium seats, shrinking economy cabins in the process. As The Wall Street Journal reports, airlines are trying to squeeze more revenue from each seat by catering to travelers willing to pay for extra legroom and lie-flat seats.

Delta Air Lines has been adding premium seats over the last decade. Now, Southwest Airlines and bargain carriers like Spirit and Frontier give passengers the option to pay for a few extra inches of leg space.

Since January 2020, the number of scheduled business and first-class seats on domestic flights has grown by 27%, compared to 10% for economy seats during the same period, according to Visual Approach Analytics, an aviation-data firm.

Premium-economy seats cost travelers at least twice as much as regular economy seats but occupy only slightly more space on the plane, according to the Global Tourism Forum. For larger airlines, selling a greater number of premium seats reportedly helps subsidize lower-priced economy seats.