BackOn 19 November 2020, the IOI successfully held its first session of the IOI Remote Media Training.
The interest in this training was enormous and participants from all six IOI world regions applied. In this first training session, a total of 18 persons from 18 different Ombudsman institutions from all corners of the globe took part in this high-end media training.
The training consisted of three parts. The first one was an online module that participants had to complete individually from their desk prior to the joint session. On the day of the training, the participants were split into small groups of six persons and paired with two exceptionally renowned trainers provided by MediaFirst. Topics discussed were e.g. preparing for press interviews, learning what makes a good story and hands-on techniques like “bridging”. In the afternoon each person had 1-on-1 interviews with the trainers that were recorded and analysed for a maximum learning experience.
In his welcome address, IOI General Secretary Werner Amon stressed the importance of capacity building for Ombudsman offices especially in challenging times like these. “Key media training techniques are essential to improve communication with the media in order to bring across the core messages of Ombudsman Institutions and to allow us to reach out to the people in need of support”, he added.
One of the participants, Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland, Maija Sakslin, stated “The thing I learned today is that giving interviews can actually be fun! I learned that it is so important to bring along the key message to the people. To be believable and get the message across to the people. I can most warmly recommend this training.”
To accommodate all those who have applied, the IOI Board of Directors already decided to finance a second round of this remote media training that will be held in January 2021.
Source: General Secretariat IOI
