by admin | Mar 12, 2012 | Blog
Back in 1968 at the Democratic Party Convention, the Chicago police gained widespread infamy by wading with unnecessary and gratuitous brutality into a crowd of radical demonstrators outside the conference centre, under the gaze of the tv cameras. A recording of the...
by admin | Mar 6, 2012 | Blog
At a recent MediaTrain workshop in Manila, participants discussed and practised how to write Press Releases that have impact. One of the examples they worked on is below, an Oxfam/Save the Children press release about the East African drought.We all agreed that the...
by admin | Feb 23, 2012 | Blog
Where does “the public interest” end and “what the public is interested in” begin? Journalists from Britain’s now defunct News of the World used fake identities and a string of lies to expose three Pakistani cricketers for taking bribes to make deliberate mistakes in...
by admin | Feb 7, 2012 | Blog
It’s been a disappointing week for old-fashioned purists who believe a man is innocent until proven guilty. It’s a simple principle; if, after due process, he is found guilty as charged, any amount of ordure can be poured over his reputation. But if cleared in a...
by admin | Jan 11, 2012 | MediaTrain Tips
Social media is on top of most organisations’ communications agenda, from UN agencies to businesses and governmental bodies. They acknowledge its value in disseminating messages, reaching key audiences, and ultimately promoting the organisation’s aims. Today, around 2...
by admin | Nov 11, 2011 | MediaTrain Comment, MediaTrain Tips
The “Rick Perry Moment” will delight all but supporters of the Republican hopeful from Texas. But it carries a useful lesson for all public speakers. For anyone who missed it, Governor Perry was on a nationally televised debate with rival candidates and listed the...
by admin | Nov 10, 2011 | MediaTrain Comment
Ryanair, now claiming to be Europe’s largest airline, has a reputation for adding charges for bags and baggage to bolster its low fares. So when Chief Executive Michael O’Leary was interviewed about his company’s forecast of a 20 per cent rise in...
by admin | Nov 8, 2011 | MediaTrain Commendation, MediaTrain Comment
“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...
by admin | Oct 25, 2011 | MediaTrain Comment
Is 10 per cent alarmingly high or surprisingly small? It depends on where you’re coming from … The British government has come under a lot of criticism for raising the ceiling for university fees from £3,000 per year to £9,000 from 2012. So when the latest...
by admin | Oct 21, 2011 | MediaTrain Tips
Much of our work at MediaTrain involves responding to Invitations to Tender, or Requests for Proposals. If you ‘re considering putting together a tender invitation, you may like to consider the following suggestions, which should apply whether you are...
