When I left 60 Minutes to be a public relations adviser I can remember being genuinely surprised at how scared people were of journalists.
Peter WilkinsonOctober 30, 2018
Create a knockout headline first, then an amazing first par, then a fantastic picture. A great story will follow.
Peter WilkinsonAugust 26, 2018
Media Training: Overview Photo: Channel 7 News In this now hyper competitive environment, CEO’s must be able communicate on behalf of the company to external…
Peter WilkinsonMay 1, 2018
There is a basic first step in media interviews: answer the question. It’s dead simple.
Peter WilkinsonApril 24, 2018
Social media manipulation, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the allegations of Russian troll farms distorting elections, has brought sharply into focus that people are…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 26, 2018
In Australia there's a conversation, an undercurrent, about replacing PM Turnbull. Some say "Why, who else is there?"; others say "Why not replace one lack…
Peter WilkinsonJune 19, 2017
It’s a sensational period for good journalism. In the last short period: 1. The Washington Post scooped that Trump leaked classified information to the Russians. 2. The…
Peter WilkinsonJune 7, 2017
Trump’s war on media last week shone a light on its critical role in a democracy - unfettered and frank two-way communication between the people…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 1, 2017
It’s the communications professionals who have failed social media. By not taking responsibility we’ve spoilt it for the rest. Traditional media has set an expectation.…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 8, 2017
The CEO, a new client, asked me last week, “How do we measure our Public Relations?” There are two answers I know of and neither…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 19, 2016
I've written before that social media strategists need to behave like clever newspaper editors - concentrate on giving their customers the information and entertainment they…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 11, 2016
Think like a newspaper editor. Eventually, your career will depend on it. Here’s a prediction: go forward 2-3 years. More and more journalists will be managing…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 14, 2016
The importance of values I do a lot of media training, which these days includes social media training. Training people on the use of social…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 23, 2016
ABC bashing – a poor sport On Saturday the Minister for Communications, Mitch Fifield, was reported in The Australian as asking the ABC to ‘Please…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 26, 2016
The use of that hashtag is an angry shout for the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. There’s what I think is a misguided…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 12, 2016
I’m often asked this and I wonder if it’s wise to be too prescriptive? Switzerland with 60 Minutes PR is a growing sector, journalism is…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 22, 2016
People often ask why Millennials are fleeing traditional media. To me it’s too dismissive to say “They’re apathetic” or “It’s the Twitter generation”. Here’s my…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 15, 2016
Here’s a different slant on a story that’s been doing the rounds for the last week, about yet more redundancies amongst journalists, with The Independent…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 23, 2016
Is it a contradiction that one of the most effective and easiest public relations and communications tools – social media – has about lowest use…
Peter WilkinsonJanuary 25, 2016
A lot of the Do’s in social media are changing as fast as viewers’ habits change, but others are as old as journalism: Who are…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 4, 2015
The reaction on social media to the shooting of Cecil demonstrates the power of social media - even though it happened after the fact. Dare…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 2, 2015
This story in the SMH (here) is a lesson in Crisis PR; it reflects a lot of current sentiment, and you can see plenty of…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 24, 2015
Even the die-hards can't escape the impact of social media. The first graph in the below article shows that amongst USA oldies, over a third…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 7, 2015
This is a Crisis PR tip I picked up from Lord Tim Bell. It's going to sound over-protective, but it pays dividends. I was a…
Peter WilkinsonDecember 7, 2014
This week I helped a significant Australian company with a media crisis - an attack by a TV program alleging it had ripped off another…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 13, 2014
This is one of the great dilemmas for corporate affairs practitioners. Journalists hate owning up to making mistakes, but it happens. And the more pressure placed…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 24, 2014
With journalists under so much pressure, it’s worth this reminder: do journalists a favour by preparing a press release with TLC. Here’s a handy checklist…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 23, 2014
Lack of balance, trivialisation, inaccuracy, failure to pursue the truth – the complaints are recycled in every media training session. Here are two wonderful articles…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
Here is a really interesting report (IBM CEO survey: ‘Leading through Connections’), because it reinforces what we have been writing about, concerning CEO attitudes to…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
If you want a thought provoking giggle, read on. We are all grappling with social media, but none more than journalists and politicians who can…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
This is one of the great dilemmas for public relations practitioners, and this blog is inspired by Brad Phillips (Mr Media Training) who has written…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
Public relations practitioners need to be constantly reminded about the pressure under which journalists work. They have employers, which are editors in the print medium.…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
The issue of cheque book journalism comes up again and again. It’s an important topic for all public relations practitioners because at some stage we…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2014
If a company having just developed a passable sustainability policy, while negotiating with a corporate affairs consultancy, sets a KPI of one positive article per…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 14, 2014
Below is a story posted this week by JeffBulas on online videos, quoting marketing Prof. Brent Cocker from Melbourne University. Brent claims to have cottoned…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 14, 2014
I was a journalist at 60 Minutes as PR was evolving as a craft. I had some good relationships with PR folk, but regrettably more…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 14, 2014
The last three days have involved three media training sessions, with the same three anxieties about journalists: bias, shallowness, inaccuracy. This is not new –…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 10, 2012