Was Dominic Cummings right to make his 260-mile trek to Durham a few weeks ago? You probably have your own view. I’m not going to get into the rights or wrongs of his decision but as someone who provides media training courses and advises organisations on how to manage difficult issues, I’m interested in how [...]
Just when the emissions testing controversy seemed to have died down Volkswagen has been bit with a new scandal – and a PR disaster. Their crisis communications capability has once again been put to the test. We’re getting more requests for crisis media training courses and our short, sharp, results-orientated virtual crisis communications courses have [...]
If you happen to be Sir Elton John, Barbra Streisand or Andrew Lloyd Webber you’re probably feeling rather nervous this week. That’s because the business details of these celebrities and many others were reported to have been the subject of a ransomware attack. New York based Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks is the latest law [...]
Donald Trump’s press conferences are always entertaining and newsworthy if not necessarily enlightening. Not only is Mr Trump one of the most powerful people in the world but he doesn’t appear to care what he says. What more could the media ask for? There is, however, another, less obvious reason why journalists enjoy these events. [...]
ITV’s This Morning programme managed a royal coup today as Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby interviewed the Duchess of Cambridge about a community project that she is promoting called Hold Still. The idea is that members of the public submit photographs that capture the mood of the nation during the current crisis. Kate is a [...]
I hate to mention the “C” word but it’s noticeable that since coronavirus struck the media has never been so keen to speak to experts. Doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, vaccinologists and others are constantly popping up on TV, radio, podcasts and in the print media to offer explanations and insights. Some have come across as interesting, [...]
Human interest. It’s the biggest cliché in journalism. Look at any newspaper, magazine or website or watch any TV report and almost every picture will be of a human being. Go on to read the first paragraph and again the focus will be on a person or a group of people - famous people, infamous [...]
As well as growing demand for our online media training courses, we’re getting a lot more requests from people looking for advice and training on how to run a virtual meeting. This is hardly surprising. The number of daily active users on Microsoft Teams soared by 12million to more than 44million last week. The company’s [...]
Last Saturday Trevor Cox, a professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, popped up on that interesting little final interview slot on the Today programme. Presenter Justin Webb asked him about the effect of the sound quality of interviews conducted by Skype and Zoom on audiences. Professor Cox explained listening on a poor [...]
The woman doing the most important job in Britain right now delivered an excellent media interview last week. Professor Sarah Gilbert, a vaccinologist at Oxford University, is leading the research in the UK to find an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. As a journalist who’s interviewed scores of doctors and scientists and as a media [...]
