“Journalists are only interested in bad news. Journalists only like disasters and coups and suffering.”
This is a real comment from a participant at a recent MediaTrain workshop in Kenya, but it echoes assertions made at practically every gathering where What Is News is discussed as part of our coaching basics.
There is some truth in this, but that seems to reflect more the appetites of society for the bad stuff rather than all the good news that is taking place, that is out there, and which deserves space in the media.
One of the problems, our trainers usually say to the “bad news” argument is that if individuals and organisations could identify and publicise data or information that shows progress, then more of it would get used in the media.
Packaging that information is often the key: a crisply-written headline with an eye-catching headline and first paragraph, a few quotes to give it humanity and immediacy, and some pictures that tell the story: that’s MediaTrain’s advice to all those who want more “good news” in our daily media diet.
Mogadishu. Hear the name of the capital and you instantly flinch in readiness for some more grim tales of suffering, privation and inhumanity. Right?
So hats off to the African Union peace-keeping media team in Mogadishu. Check out their press release below. Perhaps not the crispest headline or intro, perhaps not the best captions for photos: but the net result is a win for the boys in green.
Just a few hours later the story, much of it straight from the press release, was in the front page of the Guardian’s web edition and was still there several hours later. Google Mogadishu residents take to beaches and see how many other hits you get. We got six, at last count.
Proof positive that if you get your messages straight and deliver them in media-friendly form, good news sells.
Andy Hill, MediaTrain
From: AMISOM FORCE Headquarters <amisomforcehq@gmail.com>
Date: 6 November 2011 14:53
Subject: AMISOM PRESS RELEASE – Mogadishans Take to Beaches as City Reawakens
For Immediate Release
Mogadishans Take to Beaches as City Reawakens
Mogadishu, 06 November, 2011
Hundreds of Mogadishu residents last week took to the beaches for the first time in three years in a dramatic display of a new found sense of security following the forcing out from the city of Al Qaeda-linked terrorists.
The revelers, who included former President, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, converged on the scenic Lido beach on Friday where they enjoyed a game of football and took a dip in the waters.
Ever since the Somali National Army, with the support of the African Union Mission in Somalia, forced the extremists’ retreat in August, the capital has been experiencing something of a resurgence. Roads are being repaired, homes rebuilt and markets reopened. Real estate prices along Via Moscow have doubled and there are people out in the streets late into the night, despite the ongoing threat of terrorist attack.
Following a successful operation to secure parts the vast outlying district of Deynile, hundreds of thousands of people in the Afgoye corridor who had previously been prevented by the extremists from returning to their homes in the city are now streaming back.
Traffic at the Aden Abdulleh International Airport has also tripled and the line of ships waiting to dock at the seaport grows ever longer. The city has played host to several high profile visitors, including Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, and a number of countries have reopened their embassies.
However, as the city reawakens, it is also experiencing problems common to other capitals around the world. Traffic jams along the busy streets are a perennial headache and crime rates are up, according to Mayor Mohammed Nur “Tarsan.” The AMISOM Police Component is helping to train the Somali police force, now numbering over 5000, to manage these challenges and the AU has appealed to the UN Security Council for help in deploying formed up police units to aid the effort.
Last week, the city’s business community presented a gift of thirty animals to AMISOM in appreciation of the Mission’s effort in helping secure the capital.
ENDS
