Dealing with the Media Guest Panel

You are invited to attend a special guest panel organised for students completing the subject Dealing with the Media (MECO6901). This postgraduate subject is part of both the Strategic Public Relations and Media Practice Masters Degrees offered by the University of Sydney.

Background to the Unit of Study:
Dealing with the Media combines theoretical and practical perspectives on public communications campaigns. It examines the relationships that exist between stakeholder groups in the communication process and is particularly focused on the relationship between clients and the media, and the role of the public relations practitioner in building this relationship.

The Panel:
We are delighted to host an exciting panel of four speakers with a range of experience across print and broadcast media, non-profit and government communications:

• Christopher Zinn, journalist and spokesman for CHOICE
• Mark Skelsey, journalist, editor and Communications Manager, NSW Department Planning
• Reuben Young: Director of Communications, Amnesty International Australia
• Jeff Cooper: Business Innovations Planner
• Ashton Bishop: Head of Strategy, The Brand Shop

Biographies of our speakers are below.

Topics will include:

• How to frame news stories for government and non-profit organisations
• How to find newsworthy angles for media releases
• How to build relationships with media contacts
• How to balance the expectations of clients with the needs of the media
• How to create electronic media kits and use grassroots strategies in campaigns
• Useful methods for measuring the success of campaigns

Format:
A 15-minute address by each speaker followed by 15-minute question time.

I hope you can join us on September 22. No RSVP necessary. Please contact me if you have any queries.
Pam Walker, Unit Co-ordinator – Dealing with the Media
pam.walker@usyd.edu.au; ph 61 2 9114 1219

Christopher Zinn: Choice
Christopher Zinn has been the spokesman for CHOICE, the Australian Consumers’ Association, since July 2007. Prior to joining CHOICE Christopher was a print and broadcast journalist in Australia and the United Kingdom for 25 years.

Immediately prior to CHOICE, Christopher was a producer and reporter for the ABC’s 7.30 Report and history program, Rewind. He also worked at Channel 9 as a reporter on the Today on Saturday program and a producer on the Sunday program.

In 2003 Christopher was nominated for a Walkley Award for investigative journalism for his story about an historic railway bridge that was in danger of collapse.

Christopher worked as a reporter/producer on two ABC TV series for features and documentaries: the award-winning environmental series A Question of Survival and the social affairs weekly program, Living in the Nineties.

He has a passion for radio, having been a reporter for the AM and PM programs. One of his most personal projects was a documentary he created about going back to Russia to find his family's treasures lost after the 1917 October Revolution.

For many years Christopher was the Australian correspondent for The Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers in London. He is a founder member of the Foreign Correspondents Association of Australia.

Reuben Young: Director of Communications, Amnesty International Australia
Reuben has held the position of Director of Communications at Amnesty International since September 2007. In this role he is responsible for leading Amnesty International’s external outreach, including relations with governments, online engagement, media relations and print publications. Prior to joining Amnesty International, Reuben worked in Communications for IBM in a range of senior communications positions including: Communications Manager for the Chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Manager of Public Relations for IBM’s Asia Pacific Business Consulting Group. Reuben holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Post Graduate Certificate in Business Management. He has lived and worked in Wellington, London, Paris and Sydney.

Mark Skelsey: Media and Communications Manager, NSW Department of Planning and former Urban Affairs Editor, The Daily Telegraph
As Urban Affairs editor for The Daily Telegraph and in his current role as Media and Communications Manager for the NSW Department of Planning, Mark can provide great insight into political PR and help identify the essentials for building a working relationship with the media.

Jeff Cooper: Business Innovations Planner and Ashton Bishop: Head of Strategy, The Brand Shop
They will give a presentation on:

• Presenting media kits in innovative ways eg. electronic media packages
• Using new media to engage stakeholders, including grassroots strategies such as social networking
• Useful methods for measuring the success of campaigns.

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