Media training course now available to entire Berkeley community online

Professor Jennifer Doudna speaks with CBS News reporter Dan Rather about her co-invention of CRISPR gene editing. (UC Berkeley photo by Roxanne Makasdjian) One of the toughest courses to get into at UC Berkeley isn't in the academic guide and isn't restricted to students. It's the media training course developed by the campus's Office of Communications and Public Affairs that is now online for the first time. "Media Training for Academics Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Spotlight," previously offered by invitation only, is a 6-hour course on how to work effectively with print, online and broadcast news outlets. The free, self-paced course is crafted around a series of videos and ranges from the basics - like how to prepare for media interviews - to how to write engaging op-ed pieces for local or national news outlets. It's open to all Berkeley faculty, staff and students, but Roxanne Makasdjian, Berkeley's director of broadcast communications, and Diana Harvey, associate vice chancellor for communications and public affairs, say the course is particularly useful for faculty and for postdoctoral and graduate students. Robert Sanders of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs shares tips for communicating on camera in the new bCourse, Media Training for Academics.