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Journalism and mass communication students enthusiastically capturing Ms. Sullivan’s presentation at ­College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Speaker Marguerite Sullivan:  How to Use Media to Promote Dialogue

July 27-31, 2009

Speaker Marguerite Hoxie Sullivan focused on “Strategic Communication: How to Use Media to Promote Dialogue” during her week-long visit in Kathmandu.  She visited media houses, government offices, media organizations, and training institutions and shared with Nepali audiences her lifelong experiences as a journalist, a spokesperson, and a communication expert.  At each venue she spoke on different aspects of the jobs of spokespersons and journalists.

During one-on-one meetings with the press advisors to the President and the Prime Minister, she made suggestions on the steps that can be taken to establish a responsible press office.  She suggested to the Press Advisor to the Prime Minister that he could make better use of their website and Facebook to reach out to a larger audience.

Sullivan also met with Nepal’s Minister for Information and Communications and offered insightful recommendations on how to better inform journalists and the public.

At Sancharika Samuha, a media organization working for the empowerment of women, she shared her experiences as a journalist.  The upcoming women journalists were inspired by her accomplishments.  She encouraged a group of female journalists from Nepal’s southern plains, the Terai, to continue improving their skills and to inspire more women to become journalists.

She also gave presentations to journalism students, academics, and military officers.  Her wide array of programs included lectures on “Women and the Media,”  “Journalism Education in Colleges,”  “Media Research and Its Importance,” “Quality of Journalism Education,” and “How to Make a Government Press Office Effective.”  Each lecture was followed by a discussion and question/answer session.

Attentive listeners during one of Ms. Sullivan’s programs with journalist trainees at a Journalism Training Institute in Kathmandu

On the final day, Ms. Sullivan conducted a presentation on" Effective Press Relations" as part of  a workshop, where the audience included a ministry secretary, members of the legislature parliament, government spokespersons, journalists, academics, and political leaders.  The workshop was followed by a lively discussion about the roles and responsibilities of a spokesperson and about how to fix loopholes in effective communication.  The workshop provided a platform for Nepal’s journalists and spokespersons to come together and share the problems they face and find solutions together through discussion.