The Economic Media Centre’s Media Spokesperson Training is a two-day program for change makers working on issues connected to economic and social justice.
This training provides you with the vital media communications skills to maximise campaign success. It includes media theory, practical interview simulations, a deep dive into the media landscape, case studies, building compelling frames and messages, and developing effective media strategies. Upon completion, participants have the opportunity to join the Economic Media Centre’s Spokesperson Network.
Our current focus areas for media advocacy include First Nations justice, the cost of living crisis, housing, disability and pushing back on the far right – all of which are key issues heading into an election cycle. We are prioritising media training for spokespeople wanting to advocate on these issues. We will continue to work with advocates working on income support and building a stronger social safety net.
OUTCOMES / SKILLS
How to frame your issue and devise strong campaign messages
How to prepare and pitch media stories
Delivering your message – practical interview practice
Hear direct from journalists about what’s happening on news desks
Draft your own campaign media strategy
DATES
The training will be delivered online via Zoom on the following days:
Tuesday 10 November — 10:00AM to 2:00PM AEDT
Wednesday, 11 November — 10:00AM to 2:00PM AEDT
COST
The Media Spokesperson Training is offered at no cost, and is designed for economic justice advocates.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
The program is currently offered at no cost and is designed for grassroots activists and people with lived experience of economic and racial injustice.
For this training, we prioritise change makers directly affected by the issues they are working on.
We encourage First Nations people, people with disability, refugees and people seeking asylum, people of colour and unwaged change makers to apply.
FACILITATORs
Alex Kelly
Director, Economic Media Centre
Alex (she/her) has worked across publishing, the arts, strategic communications, organising and documentary filmmaking. Alex was impact strategist on the releases of The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone, In My Blood it Runs and Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything. Alex was a founding Director on the board of Original Power from 2018-2025, was a former advisor to Greens leader Bob Brown and is a founding member of the Unquiet Collective. Alex is a PhD candidate at Uni SA researching co-design and ethical approaches to impact producing. Alex also has a keen interest in the role of speculative futures in justice work.
Jinghua Qian
Senior Media Advisor, Economic Media Centre
Jinghua (ey/eir/em) joins the Economic Media Centre after two decades in media, arts, and activism. As head of news at Sixth Tone in Shanghai, Jinghua shaped the publication’s influential coverage of contemporary China, in particular its reporting on trans and feminist movements. Since returning to Australia, Jinghua has written for The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Meanjin, and ABC TV's China Tonight. Jinghua is passionate about foregrounding decolonial and anti-border perspectives in economic discourse and class analysis.
Nick Cassella
Senior Media Advisor, Economic Media Centre
Nick (he/him) is a political communications professional who has worked for progressive campaigns and organisations in the US and Australia. Nick is in charge of managing the development of the Economic Media Centre's Spokesperson Network and creating messaging guidance on economic policy issues. Nick specialises in digital campaigning and holds an International Relations degree from the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
Alex Leon
Senior Trainer, Australian Progress
Alexander is an internationally recognised educator, speaker and campaigner, with over 10 years experience working in LGBTQ+ equality, focused on LGBTQ+ mental health and intersectionality. His day job is as a social justice educator, delivering workshops on campaign strategy, communication and anti-oppression to activists, politicians and businesses across Europe, Australia and beyond. His writing (fiction and non-fiction) has been featured in The Guardian, BBC, Huffington Post, 14poems, and more.
ACCESSIBILITY
We will work with you to support you to fully participate in the training.
We ask for any access needs in the expression of interest form — let us know what you need in that form. When we accept you for a place in training, we will double-check if you have any additional access needs that we are not yet aware of.
Click here to read about our accessibility measures. If you have different access needs or need other measures to fully participate, please let us know when applying for the training, and we will contact you directly.
For questions or more information, contact Jess Herne at jess@australianprogress.org.au.