Last week, a group of us from a variety of departments here at Wessex Archaeology were lucky enough to partake in a day of Media training, run by Studio-Ready Media. We were taken through a series of presentations by our trainers Vince and James allowing us to see how the media works and how news travels. In the morning, we took part in individual radio and television interviews on a topic we had worked on at Wessex Archaeology that we felt passionate about. Once the interviews were recorded, we listened to and watched them back, which, although slightly embarrassing, was very helpful. Constructive criticism and feedback was given on the interviews by our fellow colleagues and from the professionals.

We were also given useful tips on how to prepare for an interview and how to behave in front of a camera and a radio mike, because they are always running, as several high-profile cases have shown. We discussed how the media approaches a subject and how their viewpoint on that subject may be different to our own. To tackle this, we discussed how to highlight key messages so that we could re-iterate them during an interview and get them across to the wider audience.

We then had a second television interview on a project that Wessex Archaeology had previously worked on. With a film of the excavation running in the background, the interview was also about practising doing ‘voice overs’ to pre-recorded videos. The playback of the second interview highlighted that we had already picked up some of the tips and recommendations given to us during the first round of feedback and most of us saw an improvement although I do need to smile more!

During the afternoon session, Katy Taylor, the press officer for Wessex Archaeology gave us an overview of her role and highlighted the importance of the bigger picture during an interview before they conducted the last round of interviews. The second radio interview of the day was a ‘down the line’ interview that occurred over the phone, which would normally happen when on site.

The final television interview of the day was an ‘on the doorstep’ interview where we were filmed outside the main Wessex Archaeology office at Salisbury on a previous archaeological evaluation that had attracted media attention. As before it was vital to get our key messages across using all the skills and tips we had acquired throughout the day to provide a smooth and professional interview. During the final playback, it was obvious that the training had been worthwhile as we all felt we had improved and achieved a better understanding of the process of interviewing and what to do when next asked.

By Lowri Roberts, Maritime Archaeologist