PA Training
NCTJ's Level 7 Senior Journalist Apprenticeship
By Mark Wray 13/10/2020
The coronavirus pandemic has simultaneously squeezed the revenue of news organisations while generating huge appetite for up to the minute and trustworthy information about all matters COVID.
Since the introduction of lockdown in the UK in late March, partly through the Black Lives Matter movement, there’s also been a brighter light shone on the need for diversity in all sectors. This is no less true, or important in the media industry.
So, another development over the last six months is both timely and welcome in opening the door to a new group of journalists.
After a long campaign the National Council for the Training of Journalists, supported by many leading industry figures, successfully had its Level 7 Senior Journalist Apprenticeship approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
Mediapoint
Product update October 2020
By Marc Koskela 06/10/2020
This month we’re pleased to announce significant updates to our Diary functionality, to better allow users to find, contribute and react to newsworthy events.
Helping inform PR and communications professionals as they plan, develop and execute their strategies is central to Mediapoint, which is why we continue to work hard to further enhance the capabilities of the platform.
The new update, live this week, allows subscribers of the Diary to fully interact with its versatile features and functionalities, which include:
• An authoritative list of up-and-coming events across a wide range of categories, up to six months in advance
• The ability to contribute to newsworthy events and gain potential visibility to over 5,500 journalists across the UK media landscape who access the newswire
• Real-time email alerts so you never miss an event and add to calendar options available to individual users
Sports
Navigating through sport’s new normal
By Colin Armitage 20/08/2020After sharing his thoughts on the widespread cancellation of live sport at the start of the lockdown, PA Media’s Sport Data Services Manager reflects on the more recent return of live sport, and how the teams he has worked with have responded to the change whilst looking ahead to a calendar of sporting events with more certainty.
Sports
Delivering sports coverage in unprecedented times
By Jamie Gardner 31/07/2020With live sporting events cancelled or postponed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and only recently returning behind closed doors, PA Media’s Chief Sports Reporter Jamie Gardner reflects on what has been a crazy few months for the world of sports journalism. From looking ahead to the exciting calendar year of live sport events back in February, to the hard-hitting reality of the pandemic’s impact on sport through to the new normal of reporting on live sport in new and never before experienced settings – Jamie shares insight into his experience of delivering sports coverage in unprecedented times.
PA Training
PR Writing: Why Just Good Isn’t Good Enough.
By Howard Smith 27/07/2020
Good writing skills are more crucial than ever in PR.
The ability to write varied content for different audiences is in demand and can give you an edge.
It is no longer good enough to turn out a workmanlike press release or a competent white paper. PR professionals need to write stand-out messages for social media, persuasive opinion pieces for chief executives, engaging newsletters and so on.
The skilled writer spends time thinking about the best way to get their message across in an engaging style to different audiences.
The sharper and more accessible the writing, the greater the chance it will achieve its goal.
In this era of information overload, you must get to the point quickly before the reader’s attention wanders.