On 8 November 2023, a network fault knocked out mobile and internet service for more than 10 million Optus customers. The chief executive's first public interview came on ABC Radio Sydney at 10.30am, more than six hours after the outage began. Twelve days later, she resigned.
The outage was an engineering failure. The silence, and the answers given at a Senate hearing the following week, were a communication failure. Media training exists to prevent the second kind.
I spent ten years as a reporter at Fairfax and News Corp, finishing as urban affairs and property editor at the Herald Sun, before moving into corporate affairs. The executives who struggle in front of journalists know their business well. Few have ever practised explaining their business under pressure, in 20 seconds, to a reporter chasing a story.
What media training is
Media training is structured practice for dealing with journalists. A trainer with newsroom experience puts you through realistic interviews on your real issues, records each one, and plays the recording back to show you where you lost control of the conversation.
You walk out with a clear set of messages, a method for delivering them, and the experience of a tough interview before one counts.
What you learn
How journalists work. What makes a story, what a reporter needs from you before deadline, and where your interests and theirs line up or pull apart.
How to build a message people remember. Your main message has supporting reasons, but your audience should walk away with one essential idea. Training puts you in charge of picking the idea.
How to answer hard questions without dodging them. At TRA we teach the CAP principle: Concern, Action, Perspective. Show you understand why people are worried, say what you are doing about the problem, then put the issue in context.
How to handle each format. Live radio, television, a press conference, a reporter calling on deadline, a doorstop outside your office, a parliamentary inquiry with cameras in the room.
How to recover when an interview goes wrong, including when to stop talking.
One line lasts for years
In December 2019, with bushfires burning across eastern Australia, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison answered criticism of his family holiday in Hawaii with six words in a radio interview: "I don't hold a hose, mate."
The line incensed communities fighting the fires and followed him into the 2022 election campaign, where he conceded on A Current Affair the remark "wasn't helpful".
Optus tells a similar story at a different scale. The Senate hearing revealed the company had no plan for a full network outage, and senators questioned the CEO on whether legal advice had delayed her first interview. Neither leader lacked experience. Both paid for words chosen without a prepared position.
Do you need media training?
You need media training if one or more of these describes you:
You are the public face of your organisation, or you become the public face the moment something goes wrong.
You work in a sector where incidents happen: energy, mining and resources, infrastructure, banking, transport, government.
You have an announcement coming: a restructure, a major project, annual results, a merger, job losses, a price rise.
You appear before regulators, inquiries or parliamentary committees.
You have stepped into a CEO or senior role and have never faced a live interview.
Your last training was years ago. Podcasts, livestreams and 15-second clips shared within minutes have changed how interviews travel.
You believe you'll handle a journalist fine because you know your subject. This belief deserves the hardest test.
If none of these describes you, hold off for now.
The objections we hear
"I'm a confident speaker."
Speaking at a board meeting or town hall is a different skill. A room of colleagues wants you to succeed. A reporter working a story wants your most newsworthy sentence.
"Our comms team handles the media."
Your comms team writes the statement. Once the microphone turns on, you answer alone. In a crisis, journalists want the decision-maker.
"We rarely deal with the media."
The interview you never planned for does the most damage. The Optus outage began at 4am. Nobody had a slot booked for it in the diary.
"Training costs money."
Weigh one day of training against one bad quote replayed for two years.
What good media training looks like
Trainers who have worked as journalists and know how a newsroom decides what runs.
Recorded interviews on your actual issues, with the questions you dread most.
Specific feedback on each answer, played back so you see what the audience sees.
Messages you keep and use long after the session ends.
A format built around you. TRA runs half-day and full-day sessions, one-on-one coaching, group masterclasses, and intensive preparation before a specific announcement, hearing or media event.
Frequently asked questions
What is media training?
Media training is practical preparation for interviews with journalists. You learn how the media works, build clear messages, and practise recorded interviews with feedback so you perform under pressure.
Who needs media training?
CEOs, senior executives, board chairs, spokespeople and subject-matter experts who speak, or will one day speak, for their organisation in public.
How long does media training take?
TRA offers half-day and full-day sessions for individuals and groups, plus one-on-one coaching. Before a specific event, we run intensive preparation focused on the questions you will face.
Is media training only for crises?
No. Media training prepares you for announcements, results, feature interviews, podcasts and panel appearances as well as crises.
What is the CAP principle?
CAP stands for Concern, Action, Perspective. Acknowledge the concern, explain the action you are taking, and give the issue perspective. The structure keeps answers honest, short and on message.
Book a conversation
If you are the person your organisation puts in front of a camera, train before the camera arrives. Book a free consultation with The Reputation Agency and we'll work out the right format for you and your team.
Sources
ACS Information Age, Optus CEO resigns following Senate hearing, November 2023
RNZ / ABC, Australian internet service Optus' CEO resigns following nationwide outage, 20 November 2023
iTWire, Optus chief Bayer Rosmarin resigns in wake of nation-wide outage, November 2023
Museum of Australian Democracy, Behind the Lines: Flat out
ABC via inkl, Scott Morrison acknowledges saying 'I don't hold a hose, mate' wasn't helpful, May 2022