Top communicators: LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication took home first place in the country’s top public relations competition, according to an LSU release.
The Manship team beat out 84 teams from other universities this week in the Bateman Case Study Competition at the Public Relations Student Society of America’s contest, where students create a real-life campaign combining classroom and real-world knowledge. The LSU team, which formed the local Tigers with Purpose organization, was comprised of senior public relations students Josie Bonnette, Chloe Kingston, Kevin Miner, Meagan Morvant and Amanda Rabalais. During the “Fight for Five” campaign for the competition, the LSU team raised $1,500 for With Purpose and reached an audience of more than 1.9 million people through innovative approaches to placing news stories with local and national media outlets, social media, community partnerships, local events and video content. See the school’s post about the news here.
Rig count: The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by one this week to 1,046. This time a year ago there were 901 active rigs. Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday that 844 rigs drilled for oil this week and 200 for gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico added three rigs and Texas tacked on two. Kansas gained one. Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio each shed one rig in all. Louisiana actually gained one north Louisiana land rig and one inland water rig, but lost two offshore rigs and one south Louisiana rig. Arkansas, California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming saw their rig levels unchanged this week. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.
Tin can tariff: Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison is retiring and the company is undergoing a review as it tries to revive struggling sales due to changes in American tastes and rising costs, Bloomberg reports. Morrison, who has been CEO since 2011, is being replaced immediately by Keith McLoughlin, who will lead the 150-year-old company on an interim basis. Campbell Soup is also facing headwinds from recent changes in U.S. trade policy. The Trump administration slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in March and a lot of the company’s rising costs will be driven by the impact of the anticipated tariffs. Shares plunged more than 10 percent in early trading Friday. Shares of other consumer-focused companies that rely on metals fell as well, including PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Molson Coors Brewing. Read the story.
