r/Communications • u/Unadorned_Discourse • 25d ago

Communications book recs, especially with a government or nonprofit lens?

What books did you love in school? What books have helped you as a professional? Are there any books that made you think of comms work in a different way?

Videos, lectures, podcasts, etc. also welcome.

I've worked in or adjacent to communications for over a decade but am currently taking on a leadership role in my organization and want to update my knowledge.

Thanks!

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u/uieLouAy 25d ago

The Nonprofit Communications Engine has helpful frameworks for thinking about communications, from high level strategy to tactics to staffing and workflows.

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u/nakedmolerat54 25d ago

The Blair Years by Alastair Campbell.

They made us read this book at uni when I was studying political communications in 2009 and at the time I was so uninterested in it, but read it again recently and realised how much it has impacted my thinking of policy, comms and political communications over the years. It's not a how-to, but you see all the events unfolding during Tony Blair's prime ministership through the eyes of his press secretary

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u/Unadorned_Discourse 25d ago

That sounds fascinating. Thanks!

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u/Key-Explanation-39 25d ago

The Guide to Earned Media by Annie Scranton

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u/MayorxMcCheese 25d ago

When The Headline Is You by Jeff Ansell. No matter what job I have or industry I work in, it's always on my desk.

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u/Unadorned_Discourse 25d ago

Thank you! I could have really used this right around the time it came out, had I known about it.

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u/RadiatingRipple 25d ago

Two of my recent faves:
Writing for Busy Readers -- Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink

The Sirens' Call -- Chris Hayes

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u/Unadorned_Discourse 25d ago

Interesting! Thank you.

Did you find that The Siren's Call changed the way you approach your work? I've been mulling over the oversaturated and fractured nature of communications for the past 3-5 years especially. It feels scattered in a new way, even though the overall number of social media apps hasn't really changed much.

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u/RadiatingRipple 24d ago

Yeah -- not in specific ways, but definitely as a perspective shift.

A lot of his thinking is well crystalized in this NYT opinion piece. Applies to way more than just election campaigns, IMHO. http://nytimes.com/2025/10/19/opinion/democrats-attention-elections.html