Perth and Kinross Council is going to pay a Glasgow-based company thousands of pounds to train its top brass to deal with media inquiries.
The local authority has hired Pink Elephant Communications to teach its “senior managers” techniques over the coming months as it says it is currently unable to provide this kind of training itself “due to staff shortages”.
Pink Elephant Communications counts the likes of ScotRail, Transport Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority among its clients and offers several courses to its customers including an introduction to the media course, an advanced media training course and a crisis management course.
It is unclear which course PKC intends to put its senior managers through but a contract award notice published online indicates it is prepared to pay the company up to £20,000 to instruct its staff between now and the end of March.
The company declares on its website: “Many body-swerve the media in case it goes horribly wrong. We’ll show you how to plug in to the power of the media with our intro-level media training course.”
Expanding on the content of this course it adds: “We start by asking people their views on the media. Here’s some of what they say: ‘Powerful’. ‘Ruthless’. ‘Out for a story’. ‘Necessary to stop the abuse of power’. ‘They lose perspective’.
“Here’s what we say: ‘The media is an amplifier ... a magnifying glass ... a microscope. So make sure what you’re holding up to examination is truthful, accurate, easy to understand ... and is principled.
“We’ll help you simplify and clarify your message. The media will amplify it.”
A PKC spokesperson remarked: “In common with most councils, PKC organises training periodically for officers and councillors to help them understand and work with the media, and to ensure media articles are accurate.
“Due to staff shortages, we are currently unable to organise this training in-house.
“We are currently offering training to officers at manager level and above who frequently receive media enquiries about their services, and as such, it is not possible to say exactly how many will take part. The training will be held in coming months in council buildings in Perth.
“Pink Elephant won the contract with a competitive quote, coming in below the range suggested.”
