The Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening (JURIST) Project will conduct conducting virtual
Being Media Ready (BMR) Training commencing on March 16, 2022.
The online workshop on Being Media Ready: Engaging the Media with Confidence will enhance judicial and justice sector stakeholders’ theoretical know-how and hands-on experience in performing at a range of media appearances including interviews and media conferences.
During the period February 2018 to June 2018, a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) survey was issued to judicial and court officers identified by the Heads of Judiciary of Barbados, Belize, Guyana and St. Lucia to evaluate their training needs in the area of conducting media interviews and their confidence levels in engaging the media.
Regarding respondents’ comfort with interacting with journalists, 42% of survey respondents were uncomfortable with the idea, 35% felt comfortable and 23% were confident with the prospect.
Approximately three in four respondents believed media training was “important” given the judicial reforms underway, while just under two-thirds indicated that media training is “absolutely relevant” to their portfolio at the court. Furthermore, approximately 88% of survey respondents had no prior media training.
Based on the TNA findings, this training was designed to build judicial officers’ and senior court personnel’s capacity to confidently perform at a range of media appearances including interviews and media conferences.
The training covers seven modules over a nine-week period and will allow participants to achieve the following learning outcomes:
- Understand the nature of news and the different needs of key players in a media house.
- Understand the judiciary’s publics, stakeholders and their information needs and expectations of the judiciary.
- Develop key messages for a media interview.
- Prepare for a successful media interview.
- Demonstrate key interviewing techniques to manage one’s emotions and stay on message.
- Communicate effectively in response to a crisis.
The online training will employ a mix of informative, collaborative and application-based teaching methods to keep participants engaged. There will be two train-the-trainer Cohorts – Cohort 1: Court staff (starting March 16, 2022) and Cohort 2: Judicial Officers (starting March 23, 2022).
