By Amar Guriro
KARACHI: Spokespersons and public relations officers working for government departments, private institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who are confused over how to deal or communicate properly with the media personnel, have something to cheer about — US-based author, public affairs and communications specialist Marguerite H Sullivan is in the city to conduct a series of training sessions on these issues.
During her stay in Karachi, she is conducting different workshops to train spokespersons for different departments of the Sindh government and NGOs as well as students.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Times, Sullivan stressed the need for a strong communication link between media personnel and spokespersons for better reporting.
“Citizens want to know more about what’s happening; therefore, better communication between media personnel and spokespersons is important,” she said.
Former executive director of the US National Commission for UNESCO and director of the UNESCO Affairs Office at the US Department of State, Sullivan has conducted several trainings on issues of freedom of the press, transparency, ethics and effective and open communications. “Usually there is lack of training for spokespersons and also media personnel,” she said. The senior director of the Center on International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy, Sullivan said media personnel must have access to information about departments, so that he or she could write properly.
Quoting the example of the US, she said the State Department and White House arrange press conferences on daily basis, so that the general public could be informed about what is going on through the media.
Talking about the role of the spokespersons, she said they must not hide information from the media. “Spokespersons should be aware of the problems faced by journalists and how filing a report on time is important for them,” she said.
A former reporter and columnist for Copley News Service and different newspapers, Sullivan said there is pressure on media after the increase in citizen journalism and now media personnel might get proper training to cope with the deadlines. “Look what happened in Iran, where citizen journalists broke different stories… the same is happening in New York, where citizens report the increasing prices of commodities before the media… media personnel need to get trained for that,” she said.
Beside media organisations, institutes like press clubs might arrange training on different issues so that journalists could be trained properly. “Besides that, media institutes in developing countries might ensure sustainability of journalists’ career and also an increase in their salaries, so that they do not get involved in corrupt practices,” she said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:5/10/2010
