The Channel | 2003 | September

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14 | the channel
AIB Member and
Partner News
Training is everything
After the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet
Union, many democratic governments and NGOs began to support
media in a multitude of countries. Donors lined up to establish radio
and television stations, networks and international stations as well as
newspapers and magazines. It is no secret that functioning media helps
to “democratise” society. In other words, a free flow of news,
information and good entertainment.
Millions are spent in each country to get stations and networks on the air
as well as newspapers distributed. In addition, training must take place
for the staffs that will be working in the media. Training takes all forms:
journalism, technical, management , sales and marketing, elections,
gender sensitivity and countless other forms of instruction. The weakest
link in all training performed clearly falls into the areas of management,
sales and marketing. This is really quite amazing because without
management,salesandmarketingtherecanbenosustainablebusinessentity.
Donor after donor has chased the journalism side of training and in many
countries there has been a duplicationof efforts for the same kindof training.
It is now years since the fall of Communism and stations, networks
and publications find
themselves in a critical
position as they try to move
forward to self-
sustainability. Most are
unable to “go it alone” at
the present time. They
continue to need the
support of donors and
government to help in
running their properties
and paying their salaries.
At the same time, many
NGOs and government
organisations are down-
sizing and have already left
after years of in country residence. If there was a proper time for
training management and owners, it is now!
InterMedia has found through our work that management training
must take a completely different form in post Communist countries.
Staffs must be taught how to market and sell in a difficult economic
environment. They must be taught to establish associations, networks,
cross media sales and other areas that are not taught in the “normal”
Western world.
InterMedia has recently enlisted a group of top consultants to help
the company in its Media Training Seminars worldwide.
InterMedia customises its training seminars to meet the specific needs
of a participant’s country, region and markets focusing on:
• Preparation of sales and marketing materials
• Forecasting revenue and building sales plans
• Production of presentation kits
• Sales and station promotions
• The application and usage of research
• Cross media opportunities
• Rate cards and pricing
• Staffing, training and recruiting sales persons
Now in addition to its own staff, InterMedia has experts available to help
implement programmes/training in: syndication and domestic production,
network operations, business plans, infrastructure rebuilding/start-ups,
feasibility studies, programming and promotion.
InterMedia’s geographic expertise spans over 120 countries in the
Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Central & Eastern Europe, CIS,
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. With the continued strain on
economic markets worldwide, InterMedia is available to help
international media survive and excel with some of the best advisors
on long-term sustainability and success.
For further information, contact Dennis R. Israel, InterMedia Survey Institute
1401 New York Avenue, NW 10th Floor, Washington D.C. 20005 USA
T +1 202 434 9332 E
We’ve escaped, but who’s going to
teach us how to work in freedom?
| t e c a el
Media friends – here today, gone tomorrow
This month radio, television, press and photojournalists from around
the world will have the chance to trace old colleagues with the launch
of the first reunion website exclusively for
media people. In addition to journalists, Mediabuddies’ membership
is only open for advertising, public relations and marketing
executives, researchers and corporate designers, whether or not they
are staff, freelance or retired.
The site has been founded by David Davis, former International
President of Medialink Worldwide, the broadcast public relations
company, after he had failed to trace any former colleagues from his
first reporter’s job on a weekly newspaper in Surrey, England. Davis
says: “Media people live in a world of their own. A world in which
you meet many people, get to know some but where real friendships
are hard to come by and certainly more problematical to keep. That’s
the downside of an anti-social lifestyle that can change course with
a single telephone call. You are faced with a future life of fleeting
relationships whether you are a reporter on a trade magazine, a roving
foreign correspondent for a major TV news network, or an account
handler in an advertising or public relations agency.”
In his search, Davis first tried telephone calls and then the Internet.
He recalls: “I quickly hit a brick wall and as my desire for answers
grew, it dawned on me how much the different facets of the media
world are inter-related and the number of people who had played a
part in my career began to quadruple. My list of grew geometrically
into print & broadcast journalists, PR executives, news photographers,
corporate spokespeople and advertising specialists. Then I realised
that my situation could be multiplied thousands of times and there
was a vast global population of ‘lost’ friends and contacts”
First reaction to MediaBuddies has been swift and encouraging. Even
before the site became fully active, more than 500 media people had
registered as Founder Members fromNorthAmerica, United Kingdom
and 8 other countries around the world. Annual membership is £10
and in addition to the search & contact service, Mediabuddies can
enjoy sharing stories andmemories at The Forumwhile anAssignments
Directory has been created for freelancers only to offer their services
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