Salaries made modest gains, but a loosening employment market and PR's rising influence fueled competition for the industry's brightest talent.

Hint: She's a lady.

An elite group of judges gathered in December to arrive at this shortlist. Winners will be revealed March 1 at the PRWeek Awards dinner in New York City.

From Osama bin Laden's demise to Occupy Wall Street's rise, 2011 was full of memorable comms stories. PRWeek's editorial team looks back on the year that was in the world of PR.

This year marks the debut of the Diversity Distinction in PR Awards, supported by the Council of PR Firms in association with PRWeek. These awards aim to address the problem of attaining a more ethnically diverse workforce at all levels.

A shifting media makeup has led to the death of the scoop, the simultaneous rise of punditry, and, in turn, a crop of new influencers, finds the 2011 PRWeek/Porter Novelli Media Content Survey.

Information now moves in real time, not on 5pm deadlines, which has fundamentally altered how media operates and what it looks like.

The job of a corporate communications professional is multifaceted.

As information travels faster, reducing response lead times, the pervading ambition among those leading corporate communications is to flatten and centralize their teams.

You don't need to have been in PR that long to make a lasting impact. PRWeek identifies the industry's rising stars.