International News Safety Institute (INSI)’s Post

Join us in making a difference for journalists worldwide! We're looking for an Editorial Assistant to assist our Director with communications, administrative, and editorial support. This individual will play a vital role in helping editors and safety managers proactively manage the safety of their media staff. Location: UK based, remote, occasional meetings in London Type: Full time, flexible hours Salary: Competitive, depending on experience The role: This individual would have applicable experience in a news media organisation or international NGO. They must possess excellent communication acumen, time management skills, and attention to detail, and will be a key link between INSI and its members. They would also be able to write clearly and practically, proofread to a high ability and be flexible in providing a range of support to the director and INSI’s wider network. Key responsibilities: 1. Provide logistic and administrative support to the Director: Be flexible in assisting the Director with a variety of daily tasks and longer-term projects, coordinating the director’s comms and scheduling with INSI members and other contacts. 2. Project work: Participate in ongoing projects monitoring press safety and journalist casualties; help compile reports and resources. 3. Website maintenance: Add and edit articles, upload resources, and manage the secure members’ area. 4. Writing, research, and proofreading: Create advanced notes and minutes from meetings, write and edit advisories and briefings, transcribe, and conduct research into developing news stories and high-risk hotspots. 5. Manage comms and collaborations: Handle mass comms such as email campaigns, contact lists, events, calendars, queries, social media, organising meetings, distributing information, and dealing with security providers. The successful candidate will have: 1. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills and a desire to build organisational processes. 2. Attention to detail: High standards in all internal and external communications. 3. Adaptability and independence: Ability to work effectively independently. 4. Collaboration skills: Eager to work closely with the Director on many tasks. 5. Writing skills: High-quality, succinct writing with clarity, and proofreading. 6. Passion for journalism: A thorough, demonstrable knowledge of international news and current affairs. 7. Experience: Background in news media or international NGOs. 8. Discretion: A thorough understanding of confidentiality needs and how to handle sensitive information. 9. Compliance and cybersecurity: Knowledge of best practices in these areas. 10. Technical and social media fluency: Competency across tech and social media platforms. Please submit your CV and cover letter detailing your relevant experience (no more than one page) to info@newssafety.org with the subject line ‘Editorial Assistant Application’. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

You should hire a journalist as your next marketing or comms pro. Here's why. As a former journalist, it always stings to hear that former colleagues of mine aren't even considered to interview for roles in marketing or communications. Our experience and titles are often "mismatched" to the keywords of automated HR software, and without a personal referral, I expect most recruiters and hiring managers never even see our resumes. As someone on my third marketing role, I can tell you right now: Journalists are highly desirable colleagues to have in these roles, and for very specific reasons. 1. 🔎 We're researchers. Journalists are obsessed with becoming SMEs on whatever their reporting beat asks them to cover. Have to write about AI? A journalist understands you have to start somewhere, you have to use the product, and that no one is going to come hold your hand through the process. We spin up fast and gain command of knowledge quickly — well enough to write about it convincingly! We aren't afraid of new tooling or terms, just point us at it. We'll figure it out. 2. 💪 We're cross-functional pros. Journalists understand well the delicate balance of working with multiple stakeholders, managing expectations, and providing visibility — while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries and moving projects forward. We work with editors, external PR, designers, and external peers frequently to get our work done. 3. 📣 We communicate. Journalists are only as good as their sources, and we are incredibly cognizant how critical maintaining relationships is to building the best story possible. We're not afraid to ask questions, especially the hard ones. We know how to navigate pushback and to keep others apprised of the changing information landscape. 4. 🥇 We want our team to win. No journalist ever wants to be the last to publish a story. No journalist ever wants their work to die on the vine after it goes live. No (good) journalist "just writes." We want that writing to achieve something, we want it to be seen. And we know how speak up when we're proud of that work. We love seeing our teammates win, too. 5. 🤔 We move fast and learn from failure. Content often fails, a story doesn't take off, or an angle doesn't land well. Journalists ruthlessly analyze their failures — often more than their wins. In the cutthroat world of content, if your production doesn't gather an audience, your production needs to change. We will never take success for granted, and we see failure as a chance to change methods and challenge assumptions. Hire a journalist. You'll be very (pleasantly) surprised.

Why Organizations are better off hiring Journalists as PR officers. Journalism and Public Relations are two faces of the same coin; however, the former can survive without the latter while the latter can’t. When hiring a professional PR officer, the success of his/her endeavors will largely depend on the journalist who will come in handy to frame the idea in the public sphere. In the digital age where information is a click away, as an organization targeting the online population, getting an updated professional journalist will save a great deal. Here are some basic reasons that put journalists ahead of their professional peers in the PR field. 1.      Use of appropriate SEOs Digital convergence is fast outpacing the traditional media, television, radio receivers, and newspapers; the digital space requires quick action to increase visibility. The cardinal role of the PR officer is to create a friendly environment with the public with the aim of either bringing profits or just a cordial existence. Modern journalists are acquainted with the best SEOs that will improve the organization’s image. 2.      Factual Information Journalists rely on facts when communicating. Before disseminating the press releases and briefs, they are always fact-checked and corroborated. Factual information improves the credibility of any organization in the face of the public.      3.      Setting an agenda for public consumption.        Based on the content that journalists have been creating, they know what is best for which type of audience. Framing information that will sell the image of an organization to the public is a task that journalists do best. 4.      Building and Maintaining Relationships Organizations, on many occasions, need to create partnerships with people, the public, the government, and other organizations. Journalism skills are essential in creating mutual relationships between different partners, thus ensuring continual growth. 5.      Proactivity in preventing crisis While PR officers are large, from training, focused on reactive measures to safeguard the image of organizations, Journalists are proactive thus minimizing such occurrences.   I                                                                              

This week marks a decade since I left the world of journalism and went to the “dark side” of communications. I remember how lost I was my first day on the job. My wife and I went out to dinner that night to celebrate our wedding anniversary (happy 12th btw Jaime Holtzman). I told her about what a miserable day I’d had and asked her if I had made a horrible decision. She talked me off the ledge and told me to give it some time. As usual, she was right. It took me a little while to get comfortable and find my footing, but I’m so glad I took her advice. Reflecting on the last 10 years brings to mind all the things I’ve learned about strategic communications. If I could time travel, here are 5 tips I’d share with my younger self on that first day. 1. Do your research. This has been said a million times before, but it bears repeating. Do your homework before you send out a pitch. Journalists get bombarded with pitches daily. Make sure you’re targeting the right journalist with content that’s relevant to their beat. Failing to do this is a surefire way to end up in a journalist’s spam folder. It’s also a wasted effort on your part. If your pitch lands and you get a response, return their call/email/text/DM quickly. And if you don’t hear back within 48 hours, follow up (but just once). 2. Think critically. Not everything your client or customer does is a story in the eyes of the media. Know when to push back and have an honest conversation with people who may be setting unrealistic expectations. Same goes for op-eds. Sometimes, the right move is to save the pitch and either wait for a better hook/news cycle or repurpose the content for your owned channels. 3. Know your goal and audience. What is your organization trying to accomplish and who does it need to reach? Answering both of those questions before embarking on a campaign or story pitch goes a very long way. And if the answer is unclear, then you probably aren’t ready to go live. 4. Use simple language. Again, this is where knowing your audience really comes into play. If you’re communicating to a non-expert audience, avoid jargon and complicated language. Convert dry technical terms into active, catchy, and emotionally appealing phrases. Speak conversationally and use words and phrases that the average person understands and are friendly to the algorithm. 5. Answer the question you want to answer. Hearing this was one of the biggest ‘aha’ moments I’ve had in the last decade. If you're in a tough interview, don’t get pinned down. It’s worse to take a question head on and stumble through it poorly than it is to confidently address the question you’d prefer to answer. When situations like this arise, find a way to quickly pivot to the message you want to get across. Much of this will come as common sense to veteran communicators. But I hope it can help someone who is just starting out – like I was 10 years ago. Here’s to learning even more in the next decade! #communications #storytelling

Frank Strong has a good post on what B2B PR people might consider in the context of a survey of journalists. Link is below and here are some of my own views, based on years of experience in journalism and marketing. First point about credibility. Absolutely. I'd add cut all exclamation points. Focus on what is inherently convincing, not in hyping. Reporters on the job any decent length of time are cynical by experience. And don't tout studies if you don't understand basic stats and logic. Second point on journalist workloads. I'd add don't offer sources unless you know they will be sources. I understand why PR people want to know there will be something to offer the clients, but if you promote someone and then say, oops, sorry, you can burn a bridge. Journalists wanting exclusives — I think this is easy to misunderstand. Experienced journalists want stories others don't have. In my case, at least, that doesn't mean an exclusive announcement. I look for insight that doesn't appear everywhere else. Much harder nut to crack. Regarding images provided by PR. It really depends. I almost never use them. However, if you have a study or other data that is legit, consider offering the data in a spreadsheet as many, though not all, publications have house styles for infographics. Value in pitches? For many of my freelance colleagues, forget 25%. Try 1% or less. Follow-ups? Ask the reporter. I don't like any because I look at everything that comes in and don't have an extra hour or more necessary for even brief "no thanks" emails as that's unpaid overhead for me. Others may have other takes, which is why you ask. And then set your contact management system accordingly. https://lnkd.in/efbYYRwf

Most corporate case studies sent to me as a journalist aren't fit for purpose. I'm not talking about them just requiring a few tweaks. I mean that they are badly written, missing key information and require a lot of back and forth with a company press officer/PR agency before I can use them. All for something that is a staple of PR/marketing and journalism. (I know that working in corporate comms and PR is hard. Sometimes clients will ignore the advice of comms/PRs and insert sales plugs or be vague about return on investment and other benefits. But churning out sub-standard case studies is a waste of time for comms people, their clients and journalists.) Common problems with the thousands of case studies pitched to me: 1. (The biggest problem.) The case study doesn't give enough detail on benefits/return on investment/progress 2. They don't tell a story - problem, solution, setback, resolution/benefits 3. They aren't written clearly - including basics like explaining what the company/organisation does 4. The case study is a sales plug for the client, instead of focusing on their customer. The customer is more newsworthy. 5. The client quote has clearly not been said by the client and has been written by the press office/PR. And then rewritten several times to squeeze any remaining humanity from it! 6. Other important details are missing, e.g. timeframes. A case study without a date is worthless for a journalist. How to create better case studies: Email few bullet points to a journalist in your target publication and offer a 15-minute interview with the client. - The organisation - It's problem/challenge - How it overcame the problem - any challenges it faced in doing so - Benefits of the product/service/project/new way of working - Optional … Brief, punchy quote from client What do you think? Have I missed anything? PS: When I research and ghostwrite case studies for my tech clients, I'll say "What do you mean by?", "Roughly how much time was saved per worker?", "That's not clear, can you explain it a different way?", "Roughly what per cent did the software improve productivity compared to the old software?" multiple times when interviewing experts/ the client. To the point where the expert may even get a little frustrated and claim that I'm trying to over explain things. But you need to push for as much detail as possible and write something that you aunt or uncle would understand on the first read. Otherwise it's not a case study. ** Need help writing case studies that give journalists what they need? Message me or email me: nickhuber72@googlemail.com **

Stop writing posts on LinkedIn... hire a journalist instead. Journalists offer a unique set of skills that can elevate an executive's online presence and message. We're adept at conducting thorough research, distilling complex information, and presenting it in a compelling narrative. Whether it's retail or aerospace, this translates to articles that not only showcase industry expertise but also resonate with a wider audience. By hiring journalists, executives gain access to professionals who are trained to care deeply about their work and its impact. Moreover, journalists bring a fresh perspective to corporate communications. We're skilled at identifying newsworthy angles and crafting stories that capture attention in a crowded digital landscape. If journalism is what we need to make democracy work, in the corporate world, it's what we need to make thought leadership readable - and influential.

Do you know what press office is? Press office is one of the forms of communication that aims to establish a relationship between institutions and the final public in a humanized and transparent way. In other words, it is the modality that mediates relations with the press, especially in times of crisis. Whenever a company appears in the press as news, it generates spontaneous media, that is, at no cost. This can bring some good consequences, such as publicity and visibility – positive effects for the business. This communication with the press is maintained through the production of editorial content that helps the journalist in his work, in addition to having an impact on society – the final public. This content must be produced with quality and offer reliable sources to journalists. Therefore, it is the role of the press office to identify positive points, events and news about the institution that may be of interest to both the press and its end audience. These are examples of good topics, content involving market research, free services, sector movements, new technologies, etc. But what is the responsibility of the press officer? The press officer is generally a person trained in journalism or public relations. This professional does not work with the purchase of media space to promote his client, but creates a relationship with the press and offers topics that may be of interest to the public. The development of communication strategies is among the functions of the press officer. They determine which vehicles and editorials should be prioritized when releasing information for dissemination, which are called press releases. In addition to defining the subject and producing a good story based on it, the press officer's role is also to monitor interviews and follow-up with journalists.

One technique that has always worked for me is asking open questions. It worked in journalism and I think it works in comms too. By asking an open question you shift the conversation from a scripted "auto-pilot" dialogue to a personal interaction building rapport and achieving a lot more overall. I used this method to connect with people at the conference I was at last week. I say "method" but it's something I've always done naturally and it worked really well in journalism. Instead of starting off by pitching what you want to say or asking a blatantly leading question, you find out how they are. That could be a straightforward question but just as much it could be something about where you are or the reason you are currently chatting that reveals something about them. As they answer, you look for clues but not just in what they say, but in how they react, how they look, etc, etc. You then connect with them on that. For instance, if someone mentioned they were tired from standing all day, I’d respond with, “My feet are tired too, but it’s so worth it, isn't it? So much to see! What have you been looking at?” The question connects us on a personal level but also allows me to understand what they might want to know about what I am there for too. In journalism, I always aimed to break the interviewee’s "state". Most people come into interviews with rehearsed lines, resulting in bland answers and as a listener you switch off too. By breaking their state they became much more open, authentic and interesting. Many PR professionals use overly enthusiastic, high-energy language in their initial outreach. While this can work, it often feels insincere. Instead, my advice is to try focusing on the person. By breaking the state and learning about how they feel, you not only open up the conversation but start to genuinely care about their needs too. That allows you to connect on a much deeper level whether it's a journalist, celebrity, influencer or someone you met at random in a bar. In short, my advice from my experience is to focus on listening to them much more than your pitch. This was something I discussed in my daily PRBites newsletter today.

I am a backpack Journalist, Public Relations Officer and Corporate Communicator. Worked at LTM (La Television Du Monde) Douala, INFO TV Yaounde, RIS RADIO FM Yaounde, CAM10 TV Yaounde. My Media Prime Television Douala, host of Iya's Hour Talk Show programme which bagged home an AWARD as best women's programme in Cameroon 2023 thanks to my unending efforts and professionalism. Producer of documentary programmes and news reporter. Executing great photojournalistic and editing skills which makes me a great experienced backpack Journalist. Producing and editing SPOTS (adverts) being a Public Relations Officer. I own an equipped media studio and an editing office in Bonaberi, Douala where I train Journalists on photojournalistic and editing skills. I also run my own talk show in this studio known as RL TALK SHOW with focus on growing relationships and saving marriages since I also double as a Marital Counsellor, Relationship Therapist. With a Facebook forum known as (RELATIONSHIP LABORATORY by Collette Lum Fungwa) since 2018, where we have saved many marriages and grow healthy relationships by the help of God. I am also an ardent advocate of the girl, child owing to my background, - growing up as a young tormented girl child from age 9 to early 20s with no one to sponsor through school. Had to worked as a Computer secretary and used my little pay to attain my Certificates with bagging home an AWARD as best Journalism student upon graduation in School of Journalism. Later graduating with a BSc in Communication, Public Relations, Corporate Communication issued by Advance School of Mass Communication. Due to the so much suffering before obtaining great trainings in my dream career, i feel an inner call and the inner zeal to be there for every young girl out there - working towards empowering them in order to prevent the kind of suffering I encountered through life as a girl child. I run an online business where I sell quality jewelries, wrist watches and blouses. Before delving into Communication, I had worked as a Computer Secretary / Cashier in numerous Enterprises in Douala for 6 years. And had successfully run a lucrative MOTHERCARE business in Douala for 8 years (which I'm contemplating re-running). I adore watching documentary programmes, sightseeing, love watching reality and intellectual TV shows, with comedy series. I am naturally a quiet and reserve person who loves and enjoys private time and family life and love to see everyone succeeding. The nature however of my job as a Journalist/Public Relations officer, Corporate Communicator has brought out an outspoken and interactive side of me, though I still find time to enjoy loneness and calm.