Media training day for Catholics

A day-long media training day for Catholics takes place Monday 3 November at the University of Surrey, Guildford. Organised and promoted by the Catholic Writers' Guild of England & Wales, MP Ann Widdecombe, Master of the Guild, will be present for part of the proceedings. The aim of the day is to give people involved in church organisations an insight into how the media works, how a news story is put together and to make successful approaches to the media. A team of ten trainers from the University of Surrey - many of whom have experience in working in the national media - (one was a director of BBC TV news) will be running a series of workshops to give people practical, confidence-building experience in front of the camera and in an interview setting. scenario. Adrian Thacker, Sales and Marketing Manager at the Catholic Truth Society, said: "At CTS, we're finding that the national media are becoming increasingly interested in our work, they solicit our opinion on a variety of hot topics. It's essential that organisations like ourselves are able to deal effectively with media. We're expecting a media frenzy when the inevitable event happens. "The Catholic Church has not always had a good profile in the media... we're either frightened of it - accusing it of institutional bias - or we simply don't understand it. I want to see a much more pro-active approach, and coming from the whole Church. Media relations isn't just about reacting to the latest scandal. "The Catholic Communications Service has made great strides to improve matters, but this still leaves many lay organisations ill-equipped. The Media Day is a lay initiative, and we're privileged to have some clergy among the attendees." For more information contact : Adrian Thacker on: e-mail: a.Thacker@cts-online.org.uk or telephone: tel: +44 (020) 7640 0042