Dear all
As promised I wanted to follow up about the Daily Mail story last week and
the need for the Chapter to be able to call on volunteers who would feel
comfortable talking to the media on behalf of the community. Thanks to
David Gerard for initiating this discussion on the list.
In the past the charity has offered media training for volunteers, and
whilst we haven't budgeted for this in the current year it's certainly
something to think about again in future. I attended CIPR's Media Handling
and Crisis Communications course earlier this week (with a free place
courtesy of Alastair McCapra) which I found extremely useful. As it
happens, I contacted six or seven people about the Newsnight request last
Thursday, but for various reasons we weren't able to provide a volunteer to
talk to the BBC...In several cases this was because the editor concerned
didn't agree with the decision, and so could potentially defend the process
but not the outcome. There will doubtless always be circumstances in which
a volunteer doesn't want to speak to the media about a particular story, or
is unable to do so because of work, travel, location etc; hence the need
for a 'stable' of people who can do this (sorry, I can't think of a more
appropriate collective noun!)
Either John or I will be in touch with those of you who have a) responded
to David's message about media spokespeople in the past few days or b) are
already on our radar as potential spokespeople, to create an up-to-date
list of names and contact details. Please feel free to add your name to
this list by replying to this message or dropping me and/or John Lubbock an
email.
With thanks and best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0991
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
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