SIDESWIPE COLUMN: If you have arrived here after reading the NZ Herald Sideswipe column, please bear two things in mind. Firstly, this post was written at the first hint of an issue with Oravida, before most of the allegations against Judith Collins were made (2 months ago). I stand by what I said at the time, but obviously things changed dramatically very quickly. If you look at the blog I wrote immediately after this one with new information that came out,...

While most commentators say Colin Craig should drop any legal proceedings against Russel Norman, could it actually work in his favour? The general view among commentators is that he should harden up, and he should get used to being attacked by political opponents if he wants to be a serious politician. But from a media training perspective, this could be a great opportunity for Craig to get more priceless publicity. The point here is that those who like Craig seem to...

Labour leader David Cunliffe made a critical media training mistake this week when he tried to downplay his affluence and the value of his house. He tried to create the impression that Prime Minister John Key was out of touch with average New Zealanders because he owned a $10 million house in the leafy suburb of Parnell. This clearly left him open to attack, as he also lives in a wealthy suburb and has an expensive house (although not as expensive)....

Its failure to front up on TV in the first few hours after the claims made against it by Shane Jones under parliamentary privilege yesterday could hurt Progressive Enterprises. This situation is the type of worst nightmare our media training and crisis communication clients describe when we ask them their reason for attending our courses. Progressive (owners of Countdown) have done a number of things correctly when it comes to crisis communication. They got a statement out reasonably quickly. Their spokesperson...

The media skills of new Act leader Jamie Whyte will largely determine how well his party does at this year’s General Election. Although Act is likely to win Epson with help from National, the hopes of getting another MP or two over the line will be determined by how much positive media attention Whyte gets around the country. This is where his media training skills will be vital. If he learns how to speak in sound bites, like John Key and...

Lorde was not the first person to be surprised by the media scrum she encountered at Auckland Airport this week. And she will not be the last. When people are thrust into the media spotlight, the demands from journalists and their editors can be irritating to say the least. But these days, it’s a fact of life that someone who has achieved such an amazing feat on the world stage will attract intense media interest. And remember that’s only because the...

When giving media interviews, you should have up to three basic points you want the subsequent story to include. Remember that only snippets of what you say will make it into the final story. The best way to attract the journalist to your points is to mention them in different ways throughout the interview and dress them up with interesting language. This is an important part of our media training workshops. Prime Minister John Key is an expert at this. Yesterday...

It may have come only a few months after last year’s contamination scare, but this week’s cream recall shows that Fonterra has learnt some important media training lessons. Firstly, it was announced and dealt with immediately. This meant no-one could accuse the company of wasting time or not being transparent. These were big complaints last year. The company should also be congratulated for apologising at the outset. This is important and is something that is often overlooked. In situations like this,...

Advice this week from the Medical Protection Society (MPS) for doctors to divert all media calls to the society comes with its risks. MPS has made the call because “media scrutiny of you and your practice of medicine could put your personal and professional reputation at risk.” I understand their reasoning. Doctors who are unaware of how a conversation with a journalist is different from any other type of conversation could get into trouble. They could be taken out of context,...

While there were lots of big media issues in 2013, four stood out that offer valuable media training lessons for anyone who will, or may, find themselves in the news during 2014. 1 If you make a mistake, apologise completely and immediately. Aaron Gilmore found this out the hard way. He first offered a semi-apology for abusing a barman in Hanmer Springs and then went to ground. By the time it came to the full apology, he had already lost the...