by owates | Oct 14, 2013 | Blog
When it comes to news releases, words alone just don’t do it any more. With thousands of press releases being distributed every day, communication staff are constantly looking for opportunities to cut through the information overload and reach a broader audience....
by admin | Jun 3, 2013 | Blog
MediaTrain’s seminal work on Disasters and the Media for Fordham University’s International Humanitarian Affairs Institute is now included in a selection of the best contributions to the American academy’s 10-volume series on aid issues....
by admin | Jun 2, 2013 | Blog
Just over 10 years ago, Mogadishu International airport was just a strip of tarmac in the middle of turmoil; teenagers with guns extorted “landing fees” from passengers descending from whatever United Nations or NGO flight touched down; sometimes rival gangs of...
by admin | Jan 3, 2013 | Blog
“You have a problem here, don’t you?” a prominent British radio journalist asked recently. “No, but we have some issues to look into,” the interviewee replied. “I’m not sure I know the difference,” the journalist responded. Well here’s a suggestion. A problem is...
by owates | Oct 23, 2012 | Blog
UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, is naturally very keen that journalists should produce stories that promote children’s welfare. It matters for basic areas such as pre-school care, primary education, health care, internet access and the like. But it’s also important...
by admin | Aug 23, 2012 | Blog
Coverage of the new Somali parliament in Britain’s main left-wing newspapers makes for an amusing case study. The Independent and The Guardian are both anti-establishment, relentlessly “Third-Worldist” in their international perspective and instinctively critical of...
by admin | Jun 5, 2012 | Blog
Are you a Communications Officer? Which of the following would be your single most important asset? 1) Thorough knowledge of your organisation’s goals. 2) Thorough knowledge of your organisation’s staff. 3) Thorough knowledge of all the challenges your...
by admin | May 6, 2012 | Blog
It’s all a bit obsessive – a U.S. reporter who’s been dead for 49 years wins an “apology” from the employer who had fired him 18 years earlier! Who cares? Actually there’s an important principle at stake here. Associated Press (AP) wire reporter Ed Kennedy broke the...
by admin | Apr 5, 2012 | Blog
There are plenty of questions that just should not be answered directly. And I’m not talking about the “Where did you spend last night?” domestic variety. These are questions in media interviews or panels where there is no direct answer which will not prove...
by admin | Mar 15, 2012 | Blog
Sound bites get a bad press. Politicians are often accused of “talking in sound bites” instead of giving clear and honest answers. So what is this animal?: Wikipedia says: A sound bite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio. It is...
