A spectre is haunting journalists – the spectre of unemployment.
In the past decade, tens of thousands of reporters have lost their jobs. And many more will in coming years as advertising revenues slump, newspapers shut up shop and journalism becomes more automated.
The problem most people have talking to journalists is not one of delivery, but of content. Unless you are crystal clear about what you want to say to reporters, never do an interview. Even when you’re sure what your main messages are, never do an interview without evidence to back up your key points.
If you want to know what happens when you talk to a journalist unprepared, listen to this car-crash interview with former Green Party leader Nathalie Bennett.
Clear Europe is five this month. A time to celebrate. And reflect. To look back. But also forward.
I founded my company out of frustration with the quality of the information I got as a journalist. I was tired of press releases without news, quotes that were unquotable, turgid texts stuffed with jargon and dreary speeches that sent you to sleep.
NEW SOCIAL MEDIA COURSES NOW AVAILABLE
We’ve completely revamped our social media courses to make them more practical and platform-focused.
In addition to new trainings on using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn professionally, we’ve rejigged our popular courses on Mastering Social Media and Drafting a Digital Strategy. And in the run-up to the European Parliament elections we’ve refashioned our Social Media Campaigning coaching to focus on politics and policymaking.
We hope to see you at one of our tailor-made courses soon.
We are looking for a Communication Officer to join our small but growing team in Brussels.
MAKE SMARTER VIDEOS WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE ?
We’re delighted to introduce a new two-day course on how to shoot and edit videos using your smartphone.
In this interactive workshop you will learn the practical skills needed to make professional videos with your mobile or tablet. And you will discover how to mix sounds, add credits and titles and upload your video to the web or social media.
The training, led by experienced journalist, cameraman and video coach Hervé Verloes, is light on theory and heavy on practice. It’s also great fun.
Check out the full two-day programme and sign up to take smarter videos with us.
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HOW CAN WE HELP YOU COMMUNICATE BETTER IN 2018?
We hope you had a sparkling festive season and wish you the best of health and much happiness for 2018.
At Clear Europe we started the year by taking a long, hard look at the training courses we offer to make them even more focused, practical and relevant to your needs as communicators. But we can’t do this without you. So if you have a couple of minutes to spare, we’d love to hear what you think of our current courses and which new ones you’d like to see in future.
MAKE YOUR QUOTES QUOTABLE
2017 is not over yet but there are already two strong contenders for Clear Europe’s ‘worst quote of the year’ prize. And they both come from the same person.
The unquotable quotes above were cobbled together for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and tweeted within minutes of each other at a summit of EU leaders in Gothenburg on November 17.
So why are these soundbites so terrible? Because:
IMPRESSING WITH PRESS RELEASES
Press releases are still a major source of news for journalists. However, as Brussels-based correspondent James Crisp points out, many press releases contain no news whatsoever. And even when there is news, it is often buried, the quotes are unquotable and the text stuffed with technocratic jargon.
On November 7, our MD Gareth Harding will offer his tips and tricks on how to write sparkling press releases drawn from over 25 years as a journalist, political communicator and media coach. Among them: