Name: Janine Hogan

Job title and company: Company Director specialising in External Affairs, Slingshot PR Limited

When did you join the committee? July 2019

Why did you join? I saw the magnificent Rachel Royall on stage at a Pharma PR event (just prior to lockdown), talking about the CIPR Health Committee and, in that moment, having been a CIPR member since 6th September 1988, I knew I had to join. I knew I had to be part of it. And I have never regretted the decision to pursue a place on the Health Committee.

How long have you worked in health comms/PR? Since 1986 – I was the very first Public Relations Officer for Smith Kline and French Labs (now GSK).
Your new best friend knows nothing about health communications or PR, how do you describe your job to them – in ONE sentence? I’m a storyteller and a broker. In order to build stories that capture the attention of audiences, I curate poignant info and data and, often patient perspective, into the building blocks of a story, and then I set about negotiating/ brokering/ bringing in the individuals/ groups/ personnel to make the story live.

2025 predictions for health comms/PR? I predict that 2025 will see wider use of AI in the field of communications and way more mismanagement of it leading to greater levels of disinformation. As in any vicious circle, lack of understanding of AI may lead to more fear and potentially a heightened threat of job loss by communicators. We already know AI is going to be an integral part of our communications lives and, let’s face it, our personal lives, too, so we need to embrace it. But we also need to take control of it. We need to educate ourselves, understand the capabilities and fallibilities of AI. Put AI to work for you - sort out all the drudge jobs that are time-consuming and keep the sparkly innovative work for your mighty brain.