Crisis Media Handling

Learn how your comms team can leverage its media relationships to shape coverage and limit reputational damage during a crisis

This half-day Crisis Media Handling training focuses on helping you shape the media narrative when your brand is affected by a crisis.

What you’ll learn

How can you predict and prepare for a crisis? Who are the right spokespeople and when should they do interviews? How do you balance the priorities of your organisation and your stakeholders with the demands of media outlets? How do you use tone and empathy across your channels to defuse hostility and maintain trust?

All this and more is covered in this Crisis Media Handling training, to ensure your team understands how the media works in a crisis and how to ensure your organisation’s point of view is heard in the most difficult periods of media scrutiny.

Learn from experts

This Crisis Media Handling Masterclass for teams takes place in-person at your own offices. Remote training via Zoom is also available, if preferred.

The course is led by a broadcast journalist who is also a specialist media trainer with years of experience training spokespeople and comms teams. They’ll share their expertise and use presentations, case studies, discussion and practical exercises to build your ability to manage the media during crises.

After training, you’ll receive full course notes by email and a link from which to download your interview recording.

Who this Crisis Media Handling Masterclass is for

This course is for teams responsible for liaising with media during and after reputational crises, including press officers and people working in communications, PR, external affairs and public affairs.

You could consider pairing this course with Advanced Media Handling training and our Crisis Media Training for spokespeople.

Enquire Now

Course Modules

Crisis Media Handling Theory

Crisis audit – what are your potential issues?
Managing the media relationship in a crisis
Priorities for limiting reputational damage
The Golden Hour – what to do at the start of a crisis
Prepping spokespeople for crisis interviews

Practical exercises

Analyse media interview case studies
Brainstorm responses to tricky questions
Use tone and empathy in crisis messaging
Record a TV crisis interview (optional)

What our students say

View all testimonials

The small class sizes nurture a comfortable environment where everyone supports and learns from each other. The staff helped me hone in on my writing skills and develop the confidence to feel comfortable on camera.

Camilla Foster

, Reporter

, Newsquest

I honestly thought that the whole day was fabulous!!! You really couldn’t have done anymore for us. The combination of practical exercises and feedback was particularly useful, it was a challenging day (in a very good way) in that we really had to think, learn and adapt quickly. I know the team are significantly better prepared for media interviews after this training.

Fragile X Society

, Managing Director

The methods and techniques you learn (and apply) on a daily basis through teaching, coursework and eventually exams crop up again and again in both job applications and jobs themselves – the course content is directly relevant to the realities of the industry.

James Saunders

, Digital News Reporter

, GB News

The lifelike interview settings and tasks that PA Media Training deal in replicate perfectly the real-world feel of a tough media interview and help the delegates come out of the day feeling much more confident that they can play an active role in representing their organisation.

Transport for London

, Director of Communications & Corporate Affairs

I learned to write concise articles and features, while developing my skills in social media, interviewing sources, and producing stories for an increasingly online audience. The course has allowed me to start a full-time journalism career.

Jonathan Moynihan

, Social Media Producer

, Forces News

The training scenarios are as real to life as you could possibly get. They took considerable time to research our current plans and issues and used these to design a series of true to life radio and TV interviews. The team is outstanding, and their expertise and knowledge has been invaluable. Book them – you’ll be glad you did.

NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group

, Communications Manager