“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain The wry wisdom of Samuel Clemens resonates in the modern world of communications. I often tell clients, particularly those facing crisis, that the best strategy is always to do the right thing. In the...
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Category Archives: News Media
Media Training-Beyond the Basics
Just as you don’t take just one piano lesson, media training is not done when you’ve been introduced to the basics. Recently, I led a session for one of my best clients, a prominent industry organization that is often in the news. Its leaders have already gone through my proprietary...
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When Key Messages Aren’t Enough
(Originally posted on LinkedIn March 25, 2019) Advisors to Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson must have thought long and hard before agreeing to book her for an interview with CBC Radio’s Matt Galloway. It meant subjecting a minister with a sketchy performance as a communicator to one of the most...
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Rachel Notley’s Big, Dry Tent
Rachel Notley has almost nothing in common with Lyndon Johnson. But in developing her climate change strategy the Alberta Premier followed the practical political advice of the Texan who was US President in the 1960s. Talking about the fearsome J. Edgar Hoover, Johnson pithily observed: “Better to have him inside...
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Spin Doctor Heal Thyself
Like long time convicts suddenly released into the light of day, Parliament Hill journalists were perplexed at the burst of information sunshine on the first day of the Justin Trudeau government. There was the new prime minister striding out from Rideau Hall to take questions, several questions, with no preordained...
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Open Door Perils: The Risks and Rewards of Letting in the Camera
For a few months it was the most discussed documentary that nobody had ever seen. When it finally made it onto TV screens, you had to wonder why all the fuss over Premier, The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne. It was a well-crafted and fascinating look behind the scenes look at the...
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When the Media Advisor Needs Media Training
The most memorable quote out of Ottawa this year sprang not from the lips of a politician, but a top-level aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It came in a lively and contentious interview that Conservative campaign spokesperson Kory Teneycke gave to Tom Clark of Global News. They were speaking...
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Media Training Means Facing the Music
Poor Melanie Streeper. Until last week her modest notoriety went not much further than the walls of St. Louis City Hall. But now the aide to the city’s comptroller has earned days of online ridicule for a truly memorable display of media relations bungling. If you have not seen the...
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Bridging the Divide:
Reporters Make Great PR People
Let us begin with full disclosure: for more than 30 years I was a reporter. A few weeks ago I became an independent communications consultant. As a result, I bring a certain bias to the debate. I covered election campaigns and disasters, great moments in world history and local stories...
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The Mayor Who Won’t Shut Up
And Shouldn’t
He no longer has a broadcasting gig, but there were times this week when it seemed that all Toronto stations were simulcasting the John Tory Show. Act One was on CBC’s Metro Morning, where Matt Galloway expertly grilled him on the reasons behind his decision to change his mind about...
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