Learning From the “Out of Context” Alibi in the Underwear Bomb Case
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 05-01-2010
(This entry was originally posted on January 5, 2010) On Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, was subdued by crew and passengers when he tried to blow up the Northwest Airlines Airbus bound for Detroit from Amsterdam. Abdulmutallab had packed his briefs with a high explosive known at PETN, but rather than destroying [...] [...]
11 years ago / No Comments
Denialism and the Five F Words
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 05-11-2009
[Originally posted November 5, 2009] Alumni of my media training workshops know that today’s media are driven by five F words (all of which can be broadcast without fear of a huge fine from the FCC). They are: Fear — The media love to scare us. Fright glues us to the page or the TV [...] [...]
11 years ago / No Comments
Presidential Teachable Moments
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 30-07-2009
On July 24, 2009, President Obama made an unscheduled appearance at the daily White House press briefing to back off remarks he’d made in a nationally-televised, prime-time news conference two days earlier about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Lewis Gates Jr. In his July 24 remarks, the president said he hoped the incident could [...] [...]
11 years ago / No Comments
Media Mastery Fundamentals VI — Polishing Your Answers
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 10-05-2009
In media training workshops I stress that a major goal of any media encounter is to have the resulting story convey your interview agenda, preferably in your words. So you want to phrase your major points in compelling, soundbite language: “gotta use that” language. We want the reporter, upon hearing your answer, to say to [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
Media Mastery Fundamentals V — The Good Answer Radio Stations
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 01-05-2009
There is an old expression in media training that there are no bad questions, only bad answers. In other words, someone who is on his or her game can use any question to lead to their chosen answer; to take control of the interview situation. Last time I explained how to bridge from a reporter’s [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
Media Mastery Fundamentals IV — Bridging & Flaggin
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 30-04-2009
The last installment of The Fundamentals dealt with your interview agenda: how to create one and how to make it come alive; how to make it compelling to the journalist. First your have your ideas — the message points — and then your craft the Grabbers that turn the ideas into soundbites or pull quotes. [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
The Fundamentals of Media Mastery III — Your Agenda and Grabbers
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 03-04-2009
In an early news conference during his first term in office, President Obama was asked why it took several days before he expressed outrage about the notorious bonuses received by AIG executives after the government bailed out the insurance company. He answered, “I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.” Knowing what [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
Fundamentals of Media Mastery II — What is News?
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 25-03-2009
(Second in series of postings that will give newcomers to the challenge of media mastery the basics and give alumni of our media training sessions a quick refresher) When Dr. Steven Chu is the Nobel prize-winning physicist who headed the U.S. Department of Energy was asked what he liked least about his new job. His [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
The Fundamentals of Media Mastery — I.
BY George Merlis IN BLOG On 19-03-2009
[This series of postings will give newcomers to the challenge of media mastery the basics and give alumni of our media training sessions a quick refresher.] Anyone equipped with an agenda can turn most media encounters to his or her advantage. The key word in the last sentence is “agenda.” An agenda is the America Express [...] [...]
12 years ago / No Comments
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