The media have rightly emphasised the one big difference between any possible flu pandemic in 2009 and previous pandemics: nations today are able to spot the signs early, and act coherently to prevent spread. What they haven’t emphasised is the vital nature of handling media announcements carefully and efficiently so that the public plays its part – the most important part – in preventing spread. But in these very early stages, there are good signs. President Obama’s “A time for concern – but not alarm” hits exactly the right note. Early warnings in the UK against non-vital travel to countries affected will be heeded – everyone knows this is not an idle threat. Here, the Scottish Health Protection Agency is coping admirably with the first two cases to appear in the UK. What is needed is a sure-handed approach which plays down fears but indicates that there are clear, straightforward plans of action which can be put into practice immediately they are needed. That’s being picked up by NHS trusts in the North West who have already been trained by Media Mentor for just this event. They took the view three months ago that it was only a matter of time – and more importantly, that the best line of defence against the spread of a flu pandemic is the action the public takes. And that can best be achieved by getting the media message right.
At last, something positive has come out of the misery that is the economic downturn! Council leaders have banned 200 of the worst uses of jargon in a bid to help the public understand exactly what civil servants are talking about.
The Local Government Association hopes that banning the gobbledygook that is so loved by public sector employees will encourage more effective communication – and help humble taxpayers understand what our hard earned cash is being spent on. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a rollercoaster ride when you’re front page news, as egghead Gail Trimble has found. Suddenly, life in the tabloid lane for the woman dubbed the “human google” is beginning to reflect the media experience of her reality TV counterpart Jade Goody. Stripped of her title as Chief Challenger through an irregularity of which she was not a part, and almost certainly not aware, she was down in the dumps yesterday (Monday). Today (Tuesday..No conferring! keep up!) she’s bounced back again, by announcing her engagement to 27 year old Tom West, a trainee solicitor and the son of a vicar. All human life is here…and in our view that is what makes journalism a positive force. Up or down, tragic or bouyant, genius or intellectually challenged, we’re all human beings in the ultimate democracy of the red-tops.
Major wins for Media Mentor have made 2009 our busiest year ever – reflecting the view that the right communciation skills are essential to UK organisations’ chances of pulling themselves out of the recession. Birmingham City Council, Stockton Borough Council and South Lanarkshire Council in Scotland have signed up senior directors and elected members in their hundreds. A recent comment at one council was “every manager should go on this course” and it seems to us that they all are! The NHS continues to demand our services in almost every part of the UK, with NHS North West covering Greater Manchester and Cumbria assigning Media Mentor as their appointed supplier of media training. Already we’ve held over a dozen sessions on Flu Pandemic and other crises, and the NHS Computer system Lorenzo which has had more than its fair share of media attention in the past few months. Our work for the Blood Transfusion Service and Counter Fraud Services in Scotland has kept us busy behind the scenes of some of the most prominent headline stories in recent weeks, and with recent wins from the Scottish Parliament and a major National Park authority, 2009 is proving to be a bumper year for Media Mentor.
University Challenge brainbox Gail Trimble was thrown into the media spotlight this week when she led her team from Oxford University to victory in the 2009 grand final of University Challenge.
Even Jeremy Paxman was left speechless by Trimble’s intelligence; she scored a massive 825 of the 1,235 points amassed by Corpus Christi on the road to the final and was integral to their triumph in the last few rounds over Manchester University on Monday night.
But what does it say about Britain that she was labelled by fans on the programme blog as “horribly smug”, “immensely annoying” and a “hateful know it all”?
In the same week that Trimble has been vilified for her intelligence, Jade Goody, a woman famous (by her own admission) for her ignorance, has won the nation’s heart (yet again) by marrying a violent convict with only weeks to live. Although Goody’s story is undoubtedly tragic, it seems bizarre that she is being showered with love and support while Trimble is being publicly condemned. Read the rest of this entry »
Slumdog Millionaire, the moving and powerful rags-to-riches story of forgotten slum dwellers who struggled in the face of insuperable odds to pull themselves from the obscurity of ’straight to DVD British Film’ and won a life changing prize – Eight Oscars including Best Film and Best Direct0r! Oh wait, that was the real story, not the Slumdog plot. Everyone now knows what Slumdog Millionaire is about. But only two months ago it was largely unknown. Advertisements emblazoned with the title would have made no sense, and would have been largely ignored by the public. What catapulted this obscure film into worldwide fame was good old-fashioned PR. Articles about “The Real Slumdog Millionaires” explaining the reality of the teeming, vibrant extremes of life in the slums of Mumbai, followed up by the extraordinary story of the making of the film itself captured the imagination of the public. With understanding came enthusiasm – and how quickly it spread even to the insular world of Hollywood. Advertising can’t do this – which is why Slumdog proves the Power of PR.
From Edinburgh to Balloch then up to Inverness and back to Glasgow, Media Mentor is having a busy month in Scotland. Many of our courses this month have been taken up by the public sector – we’re training the NHS, Councils and Charity groups.
But in the private sector, Government -backed finance makes this the best time ever to book yourself in. New training grants are easily avaliable – you can get £500 per person towards our courses from the Learning Skills Council – and that’s more then enough to pay for a place on one of our open courses, at £275, reduced to £195 for more than a single booking. Check the link below for more information.
http://www.media-mentor.co.uk/media-training-grant.html
To find out more about out open courses in London and Scotland, click the link below.
We look forward to seeing you at a Media Mentor course in the future.
How powerful are digital TV channels? Has the brave new world of 300+ channels brought the giants of terrestrial broadcasting to their knees? Pity poor Five, forced to cut newly-commissioned programming. And ITV, scraping at the bottom of the barrel for any advertising they can get! And Channel 4 hawking its wares round everywhere from the Government to BBC World!! Well, it’s not quite as bad as it looks. Re-arrange these words into a well-known phrase or saying: Richard and Judy, Eleven Thousand, Watch. The channels may be available, but human behaviour is almost impossible to change. Where there is a BBC local radio station, where BBC and ITV run regional television bulletins, brush up your interview skills. There are still plenty of people watching…so better be careful out there.
The UK’s two most influential animal charities are, er… locking horns in what must be the year’s most unexpected dispute so far. 70% of people in Scotland who donate to the RSPCA think, quite reasonably, that at least some of the money will support the welfare of animals in Scotland.
This is a definite, er…bone of contention with the SCOTTISH SPCA, an entirely separate body. Not a penny of RSPCA funds goes towards animal welfare in Scotland, even though the RSPCA advertises for donations in Scotland. The SSPCA, having failed to get a line introduced into RSPCA adverts making this clear, today published their own ‘knocking’ advert, complete with heart-rending pictures of emaciated pooches, and claiming the RSPCA is “stealing food from the mouths of Scotland’s defenceless animals”.
But of course the real publicity comes from the news coverage of the dispute. SSPCA Chief Executive Stuart Earley has been in every newspaper, radio and TV bulletin he can, putting his case with determination and passion. And the RSPCA? No spokesperson on the Today programme. Nor on Radio 4’s PM. Nor any interview in the papers.
Why? Instead they issued a statement. A statement which does not answer the SSPCA’s points, or any journalist’s questions, or say whether they will clarify where their funds are spent in future. So the coverage in all parts of the UK has been overwhelmingly supportive of the Scottish charity. We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: don’t just issue a statement. As a tactic, it flies in the face of open debate. It does not allow an organisation to be held to public account. It’s the equivalent of running away with your tail between your legs.
According to advice from the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Department of Health, a UK-wide 24-hour telephone and web-based service would be the route of information for the public in the event of a flu pandemic.
The advice, as reported in Health Insider, warns that a pandemic would put the NHS under “unprecedented pressure” and stretch general practice “beyond its current limits.”
It also estimates that during the flu pandemic’s peak, an average GP practice could see almost 200 additional cases of flu a week.
So how can the NHS prepare?
Another route for relaying information of course is through the media – namely on radio and television. It is vital that NHS bodies prepare their communications strategies in advance, and prepare their spokespeople who will undoubtedly face great pressure once a pandemic hits.
Media Mentor will assist the NHS to:
● Understand the dynamics of a flu pandemic crisis situation
● Handle an influx of media enquiries, from local and national media
● Develop key flu pandemic messages.
● Generate trust and professionalism during interviews
● Perform confidently and calmly in the face of probing, persistent and critical questioning on radio and television.
A motto often quoted by hardened journalists is “never let the facts get in the way of a good story”…usually as a warning to callow enthusiastic young pups tempted to exaggerate.
But politicians rush in where journalists fear to tread. No one more enthusiastic than Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland who told an amazed audience that no less a person than Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations had written to him asking to be allowed to come to Scotland to make a speech in honour of the poet Robert Burns as part of the Scottish Executive’s tourism campaign, called Homecoming.
Beaming with pride, Mr Salmond said “It’s a sign, a symbol, of the power of Robert Burns that the former Secretary-General of the United Nations actually writes to offer a lecture as a contribution to our Year of Homecoming.” But none of it was true. Kofi Annan actually wrote regretting that he would not be able to come to Scotland for the Homecoming celebrations, but would be giving a speech in Scotland on the economy later in the year and was looking forward to that. The First Minister was happy to seize on the phrase “I would like to travel to Scotland to deliver a speech later in the year” as hard evidence that the great man was an ardent fan of Burn’s broad Scots poetry.
Anyway it’s hardly a diplomatic blunder is it? After all, Kofi Anan’s office merely issued a statement to the media saying: ““There has been some misinformation and Mr Annan would appreciate a correction. We are irritated by this.” Jings!
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg scooped the Slot Of The Week by getting a major interview on BBC 1’s Andrew Marr Show last Sunday (January 25th).
But the occasion must have got the better of Cameron-Lite. When asked to explain his view that Britain could survive the recession better by acting more like the rest of Europe he said… (I paraphrase) Well…reducing spending, tackling global warming…in things like HOME INSULATION we’re LAGGING behind. Yeesss….
“In recent years there has been no bigger disaster than the visit of David Miliband.”
- Arun Jaitley, a politician from the Opposition Party BJP
Foreign Secretary David Miliband could have done with some media, and diplomacy, training before he set off on his recent trip to India.
By publicly airing his views on Kashmir, Miliband managed to upset the Indian establishment so much that Indian Prime Minister has allegedly written to Gordon Brown about the matter – although Downing Street denies receiving a letter.
India sees Kashmir as an internal matter and so did not take kindly to Mr Miliband writing in a report for the Guardian: “Although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders.”
He then managed to worsen things by going on to say that India needed to “incentivise Pakistan” by showing “some movement on Kashmir”.
Oh dear. The storm that this has caused has overshadowed Business Secretary Peter Mandelson’s current trip to India. Miliband’s comments have been described as “shabby,”, “unacceptable” and “a textbook example of how not to conduct foreign policy.”
It’s the last full day in office for the 43rd president, George W. Bush, who is planning a low profile day at the White House.
For the last eight years however, Bush has been all but low profile – unfortunately for him – for the wrong reasons.
Media Mentor looks back at a legendary era of media mishaps by the world’s most powerful leader.
As the violence in Gaza continues to dominate headlines, organisations on opposing sides of the conflict have spoken to PRWeek about their comms strategies.
The body, an independent organisation that promotes awareness of Israel in the UK, has taken journalists on press trips to Sderot, an Israeli town that has been under rocket fire.
BICOM has a dedicated team in Israel whose members act as fixers for foreign journalists. It is also encouraging Israeli citizens to speak to the media to give a personal perspective on the conflict.
Meanwhile, the chairman of an NGO that defends Palestinian human rights has spoken of the challenge of keeping the protests interesting. Friends of Al-Aqsa is also organising the UK protests against the Israeli offensive.
Friends of Al-Aqsa chairman Ismail Patel said: ‘We are protesting on a daily basis, but that means it is no longer a news item. Instead, we are providing new focal points, like reading out the names of the children killed in Gaza or getting protesters to lie down to depict the dead in Gaza.’
With thanks to PR Week
2009 has hardly begun and already the PR blunders are coming thick and fast. Well done The Baroness Vadera who informed a gobsmacked nation on the ITV lunchtime news that she could see “a few green shoots” of economic recovery. Baroness Vadera’s comments came as Barclays announced it was to cut 2,100 UK jobs, Jaguar Land Rover said it was cutting 450 staff and administrators of music chain Zavvi announced it would close a further 18 stores, with the loss of 353 jobs. As always, there’s an excuse. She was asked when we might see “green shoots” of hope…and she repeated the wording in her answer. Now now Baroness. Had she attended a Media Mentor course she would have noted that you NEVER repeat the negatives in an interviewer’s questions. And she’d have practiced avoiding just such a trap. What’s next? A prime minister telling us to Rejoice…Rejoice?
Next up for 2009 has to be the happy-go-lucky “aw shucks” past president of the Good Ol’ United States Of America. What a great leader of the free world George W Bush has been. Terrorism came to the shores of America. Thousands were left homeless in New Orleans. Hundreds died fighting in Iraq. And a financial crisis to rival the Great Depression was visited upon all mankind. Or as George W said in his final press conference: “It’s been a lot of fun”. Eight years being the most powerful man in the world? Or a few ill-chosen words at a press conference. Which of these will he be remembered for?
Closely followed by our own first family whose sole purpose is to fulfil their duty to Great Britain, this jewel set in a silver sea. Burdened by the responsibilities of royal duty, is it any wonder that they make strenuous efforts to show that they are only human? Step forward then Prince Harry whose “hilarious” comments on video show that he is just like the rest of the population – completely oblivious to the damaging effect of ill-chosen words which will almost certainly be published. Best have a word with your wise Dad, Harry. Oh, and his good friend Sooty.
2009 will be a tough year. Those who thrive will be those we trust. Honesty, clarity, confidence can only be conveyed by knowing your audience and communicating with sincerity. Don’t leave it to chance. With media mentor on your side, you can be the one who keeps his head, while all around are losing theirs.
Since Britain’s long-running blooper show ‘It’ll be All Right on the Night’ premiered in 1977, Denis Norden presented five episodes up to 1987, a further seven episodes between 1987 and 1997, and 11 between 1997 and now – a 120% increase. This shows just how easy it is to say the wrong thing at the worst time – on live T.V it is impossible to take your words back!
Our top three T.V bloopers include:
Our media training can help you to prepare for television interviews and appearances. By establishing strong key messages and learning how to promote good news and delicately handle bad news it is possible to avoid these embarrassing and potentially career-threatening situations!
For more please see -
www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2006/aug/25/keepingaweath
Prince Harry wasn’t to know when he spoke confidentially into his camera that his ever-so-hushed tones would make headline news three years later. But he should have. As they often say at the BBC “You’re never alone…with a microphone”. Even the most guarded and experienced public figures can find their mouth issues cheques that their brains haven’t cashed. As you read these examples from across the pond the thought might cross your mind “This could happen to me! Better book some training from Media Mentor…”
‘Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can’t help but cry I mean I’d love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.’
–Mariah Carey
‘Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.’
– Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.
‘That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I’m just the one to do it.’
–A congressional candidate in Texas
‘It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.’
–Al Gore
‘We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.’
– Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor .
Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez has become the latest professional football player embroiled in contractual difficulties with his club. Unfortunately, this in turn has led to some regrettable comments being made.
Tevez, who is owned by an independent company has been at the Manchester club for two seasons on a loan type deal and has been waiting on United to pay the remaining £22m to make the move permanent. However, contractual negotiations have not gone as smoothly as both parties hoped and Tevez went and did something silly:
In two weeks time, George W Bush will leave the White House as president for the final time. Barack Obama will begin his first term in office in what, to many people, will be a welcome change.
For the last eight years though, Bush has been in charge of the most powerful country in the world and gun-hoe-ingly led his allies into the war against terrorism. However, unfortunately for him, he will not be remembered as a righteous leader who took on the evils of the world. Instead, he is more likely to be remembered as a simple man who had the tendency to say rather simple things.
In commemoration of Bush’s time in office, here is a list of ten of his best ‘Bushisms’:
