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Rebecca Pardon

Journalist and magazine editor based in London, UK. 

My Articles

Bulgaria’s big brother

What is Brussels turning a blind eye to? Rebecca Pardon explores.

In 2019, a tourist park was opened to the public in the small, north-eastern Bulgarian village of Neofit Rilski, situated 40km from the Black Sea city of Varna. The vast site was constructed on 130 acres of land and is designed to give visitors the experience of stepping into an ancient, Neolithic village. Each building is constructed of stone, wood and metal. Contented ducks lap around lakes. Traditional Bulgarian food and drink is served in venues adorned with Thracian helmets and swords, and visitors can fill their time practicing horse-riding and archery or simply revelling in nostalgia for a time no longer in living memory.
Communicate magazine •

Company culture or cult?

Are you starry-eyed at your boss’ superstar appeal? Rebecca Pardon explores the rise in star CEOs. This article is from Communicate magazine's print issue.
When OpenAI’s disgruntled board attempted to oust its CEO, Sam Altman, last year, a subsequent coup saw the majority of the company’s staff, along with lead investor Microsoft, signalling that they would rather work with Altman than with a version of OpenAI without him. When reinstated as CEO shortly after, Altman must have felt not only sec...
Communicate magazine •

Inside OpenAI

OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman receives a text one Thursday night from one of OpenAI's co-founders asking him to join a Google Meet chat the next day. 
OpenAI reportedly contacts CTO Mira Murati, tapping her to be the next OpenAI CEO.

OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman receives a text one Thursday night from one of OpenAI's co-founders asking him to join a Google Meet chat the next day.

OpenAI reportedly contacts CTO Mira Murati, tapping her to be the next OpenAI CEO.
Communicate magazine •

Are you ready for AI?

Data quality was the focus of many conversations at Big Data LDN.

While you may feel ready for AI tools – and already use them when your colleagues aren’t looking – your data may not be.
The big concern in the data industry is the need to build greater awareness around ‘clean’ and ‘usable’ data. Before charging ahead with AI strategies, businesses need to ensure the data being used is good enough to do its job and avoid bad results.
“We describe it as ‘garbage in, garbage out’,” Gaurav Patole...
Communicate magazine •

Data visualisation at a time of distrust

Companies are under growing pressure to prioritise sustainability, with corporate operations being shaped by developments in regulatory reporting, supply chain focus and greenwashing claims. As a result, many are growing sceptical of corporate data. How can data visualisation combat this?

As misinformation swirls across social platforms and scepticism plagues the climate commitments of big corporations, data is not only the most important commodity, but one of the least trusted. For issues su...
Communicate magazine •

Elon Musk jets to Cannes to repair his reputation

The US billionaire and X owner flew to Cannes Lions festival this weekend to win back brands, months after insulting advertising industry.

US billionaire and X owner Elon Musk landed in the Côte d'Azur this week, where pale waves lapped white beaches, boats tinkered in somnambulant slumber and thousands of the industry’s chief marketing officers, tech leaders and creative workers from around the world were gathered at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Musk's interview with WPP CEO Mark R
Communicate magazine •

AMEC: Is there still time for ethical AI?

As tech companies hurtle towards ever-smarter applications of the technology, governments are scrambling to keep up with a growing array of risks.

Last month, a summit on artificial intelligence safety took place in Seoul, where 16 tech companies made fresh safety commitments. As several of the companies and officials who took part in a similar summit in the UK last year were absent however, the scaled-down gathering seemed to mark the public's ebbing concern over AI regulation.

One panel disc
Communicate magazine •

AMEC: The need for an IT-comms coalition

When crisis planning requires scope enough to incorporate pandemics, global conflicts and cyber-attacks, organisations must re-think how important information is shared across departments.

For all the enthusiasm in abundance at the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication’s (AMEC) annual summit held in Bulgaria this year, those who took to the stage didn’t mince their words when describing the global context in which businesses operate today. Following the Covid
Communicate magazine •

Are you still watching?

The Rail Safety and Standards Board’s safety programme, produced with Big Button, has been an overwhelming success. Rebecca Pardon talks to Big Button client services director Simon Crofts on why video campaigns should be as captivating as a Netflix episode in order to engage audiences, and how employee involvement is integral to achieving this.

Deaths due to trespassing on UK mainline rail have risen for the first time in five years, with 15 trespassing fatalities in the months from April 2021
Communicate magazine •

Are your smart speakers feeling engaged at work?

Use of AI voice is growing but privacy concerns and limitations to its application mean it may be slower to catch on in the workplace. Rebecca Pardon explores.

AI technology has become so familiar that it no longer seems artificial at all, woven imperceptibly into our day-to-day activities, accessories and interactions. While few would yet count them among their closest friends, smart speakers such as Alexa, Siri and Cortana have become as common in modern homes as TVs and Peloton bikes, having
Communicate magazine •

“A story of American resilience and determination”: Verizon’s Chief Creative Officer, Andrew McKechnie, on their Cannes Lions PR Lions Gold.

Verizon snapped up a gold award at Cannes Lions this year for an entry commemorating the stories of Verizon employees following the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Andrew McKechnie gives behind-the-scenes insight to their work.

This year’s Cannes Lions ‘PR Lions’ category has been described as ‘lacklustre’ in reviews, with some entries receiving the worst of PR criticism: being branded ‘publicity stunts’. The entry that won Gold, however, was some of the best storytelling at the festival, comm
Communicate magazine •

Weathering a culture crisis

Business communications strategist Jenni Field describes her role as helping organisations move from chaos to calm. With almost 20 years’ experience in this role, Jenni gives Rebecca Pardon her perspective on today’s culture crisis.

In 2021, a ‘post-pandemic organisational culture crisis’ was forecasted in a poll by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, as the now-familiar hybrid work culture was only just blossoming. It would be wrong to call this hyperbole, as a more dispersed workfor
Communicate magazine •

The dangers of disinformation for companies

This year, digital bank runs and reputational crises have served as a warning to business leaders to take the influence of social media on stakeholders much more seriously.

The dramatic collapse of Silicon Valley Bank this year has been described by politicians as the “first Twitter-fuelled bank run.” Having invested a lot in its relationship with depositor customers through fancy events and expensive wines, the bank likely felt confident in the loyalty of its customer base.

However, rising in
Communicate magazine •

How did Credit Suisse reach crisis point?

Crisis: Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam and former close ally Iqbal Khan got into public spat, resulting in Thiam hiring a spy firm to track Khan after the latter’s departure from the bank. It was revealed that Khan was not the first to be tailed by Credit Suisse.

Response: After initially playing down allegations, Credit Suisse later admitted to having hired private detectives to track two outgoing executives, triggering a regulatory investigation.

Thiam was replaced by Thomas Got
Communicate magazine •

Is ESG a pipe dream for fossil fuels?

The proliferation of sustainability accounting standards is leading to 'reporting fatigue', but how is this impacting the validity of data? Rebecca Pardon reports.

Nowhere are corporate social responsibility efforts more proudly displayed than in a company’s sustainability report. Between photos of blooming flowers and laughing children, companies find the space to add their environmental, social and governance data, including their carbon footprint or the numbers of women on boards. Many global businesses already voluntarily report climate information: today, 96% of the world's leading 250 companies report on sustainability, according to a KPMG study. But the information that is carefully selected to be disclosed differs wildly for each company.

The business of carbon accounting is booming as regulators, investors and consumers demand more information about corporate greenhouse gas emissions, but a confusing alphabet soup of ESG regulations has led to some concerns around the validity of the data being released.
Lundquist magazine •

What will make us trust businesses?

In moments of crisis, people need businesses to be empathetic and human. Rebecca Pardon explores how businesses can earn trust, starting with their employees.

Big businesses are being watched with ever-greater scrutiny. As Ben and Jerry’s publicly feuds with parent company Unilever, and Credit Suisse surpasses its annual crisis-quota, social media serves as a stage upon which big players’ misfortunes unfold like a tragic play.
Communicate magazine •

What will make us trust businesses?

In moments of crisis, people need businesses to be empathetic and human. Rebecca Pardon explores how businesses can earn trust.

Big businesses are being watched with ever-greater scrutiny. As Ben and Jerry’s publicly feuds with parent company Unilever, and Credit Suisse surpasses its annual crisis-quota, social media serves as a stage upon which big players’ misfortunes unfold like a tragic play.

Contrary to received wisdom, transparency doesn’t seem to be making businesses behave better. Before today’s increasingly inquisitive and sceptical audience, loyalty to big companies has long disappeared from the script. Leading voice in employer branding, Simon Barrow, says being trustworthy is about sticking to strong values. “Basic company culture should be based on a level of integrity which shouldn’t stop them from making mistakes, but when they do make a mistake, they shouldn’t fudge it and should stick to their strong values,” he says.
Communicate magazine •

The way stuff gets done around here

What happens to employees who speak out against company culture? Rebecca Pardon reports.

The CBI business lobby group hit headlines this year after reports by The Guardian newspaper revealed several allegations of misconduct and forced the group to suspend its operations. Cases such as this, and the years-long speculation over sexual harassment at hedge fund Odey Asset Management, rase the contentious issue of employees' freedom to speak up when faced with misconduct in the workplace. Reports of misconduct at Crispen Odey's fund reach as far back as the 80's, and yet it took until this year for an investigation to finally be launched. In the most serous of cases, people often fear for their livelihoods when speaking out, and HR departments offer little consolidation.
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