Academy Attend Media Module

The Greencore Munster Academy squad gathered in Rockwell College yesterday for an educational module in Media Management.

The objective of the event run by the Munster Communications Department was to give Academy players a greater awareness of appropriate behaviour in all aspects of the media – social, print, broadcast and online. In providing first hand practical examples of how to protect both the promotion of Munster Rugby and the players themselves, the session was attended by Senior back-row Tommy O'Donnell who covered media management from a player's point of view, while John Fallon of Media West Ireland did likewise from a journalist's perspective.

O'Donnell discussed how he prepares for pre-arranged one-on-one interviews, press conferences and focused mainly on post match interviews, the latter often an area where players need to think on their feet and manage emotions carefully, especially in defeat.

Speaking after the event, the Tipperary native noted again the importance of media savviness in the modern game.

"Media is a massive part of rugby, and with the increasing growth of the sport in the country, media now take a big interest in what players get up to during the week and how they're feeling in the countdown to, or in the aftermath of, a game. To be able to master media interaction and to manage social media properly is an essential skill for all modern day players."

Providing players with insight from the opposite side of the fence, John Fallon spoke about what it is journalists and news outlets look for from an interview, what separates a good story from a bad one, and the need to articulate oneself well, especially with the advent of social media where all comments made have a potential audience of tens of thousands. Stating humility as a trait that every audience respects, he also suggested some practical and effective exercises such as recording mock interviews, playing them back, and constructively critiquing the answers.

Commenting afterwards, Fallon found the exercise beneficial for both players and media professionals alike.

"It's helpful for us as well to engage with players that hopefully we will be dealing with quite a lot in the coming years. We're storytellers and in this case it's the story of Munster Rugby and the players coming through. Today was about how they can engage with that story and come across in a positive light.

"Not that long ago players didn't do interviews, whereas nowadays it's part of their job and they are contractually obligated to do so. I think a lot of the barriers have come down in recent years and players feel a lot more comfortable with journalists. No one is out to get anyone, all of these players have fantastic stories to tell and what we try to do is find those stories. Hopefully they'll go on to make the grade and we'll have the privilege of telling those stories for them. We look forward to that and you can see from the interaction today that those players are very well tuned in."

While players' use of the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine is welcomed by the province, the Munster Communications Department ended the module with examples of appropriate and inappropriate tweets, posts, photos and videos, educating players on responsible use of social media.