Capricorn Media Group

Chelsea cheer

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:26:14 +0000

Chelsea’s 2-2 draw in Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium last night was the stuff of dreams. As a pure neutral, having been to a couple of games at Stamford Bridge as a kid to watch Charlie Cooke and the like in their 70s pomp, I can’t remember enjoying a match as much. And I loved Gary Neville’s reaction, played over and over on SkySports…. because that was the exact sound I was making on my sofa at home as Torres rolled the ball in the net. I had no expectations but it was for moments like that ,that makes sport more than just a career for me. It’s a passion, a hobby, a fantasy ride. But for Ramires’ unbelievable goal I might have switched channels. I’m glad to say that I didn’t and witnessed a little bit of sporting history. But that’s not all that was special about last night’s game. Did you see every Barcelona player, to a man, going up to the ecstatic Chelsea heroes, congratulate them and wish them well for the final? How refreshing, and Barcelona come out of it with so much dignity. As I say in all my media training interview sessions: “Win gracefully, lose gracefully … and your image will be enhanced more in defeat than it is in victory”. I hope Chelsea would have reacted in the same way had roles been reversed…we will never know. But this was a special night in so many ways and I feel privileged to say: “I was there”…well, screaming on the sofa at least!!

Graduate Recruitment Contract

admin — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:59:41 +0000

Capricorn Media is proud to announce we will be working again in 2012 with the Shearman & Sterling law firm’s London office on a graduate recruitment film for their 12/13 campaign. Filming is due to take place in June. Capricorn first worked with Shearman in 2007 and we updated that film twice for the clients to accommodate staff changes and new intakes of trainees. This video will be a complete revamp, with fresh filming and interviews – all in glorious HD.

More Media Training

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:24:08 +0000

With Capricorn’s close links with IMG Media, and it’s sports management arm, we have picked up some media training work with Carly Booth, the 19 year old Scottish golfer. Carly is one of the most glamorous talents on the Ladies European Tour and remarkably is in her third year as a pro after a hugely successful amateur career. Capricorn’s work with Carly will stand her in good stead and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in April is a tournament she wants to do well in – not only is it her home event but it is also sponsored by one of her personal sponsors. We await her interviews with interest.

Work Experience

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:27:47 +0000

Capricorn Media welcomed student Tommy Wathen on a work placement last week, which would allow him to shadow the company’s director Robin Bailey for seven days.

Tommy Wathen is a 20 year old student at University of East London and he studies Sports Journalism. Tommy is in his second year of his course, and is currently studying a work placement module called ‘Working in the Culture Industries’.

Tommy contacted Capricorn Media and was delighted to receive the chance to follow Robin for a week, which would see him experience various areas that Capricorn are involved in, from the productions of Golfing World and Premier League Preview to Media Training courses.

Monday began with research work in Brentwood, Essex where Tommy looked for suitable sponsors for a fishing programme that Capricorn would be producing for television. Capricorn Media also had a meeting with US based law firm Shearman and Sterling over a video production for their graduate recruitment page, which Tommy sat in on.

During midweek, Capricorn Media hosted a ‘Writing to Pictures’ course at IMG Media in Chiswick for the script editors and workers of the Premier League. This involved writing short scripts based on images viewed, possibly that would be used on Premier League programmes on Sky Sports and worldwide.

On Thursday, Tommy did more research work for Capricorn Media. This involved looking for suitable sponsorship companies for a cricket based documentary about Lashings Cricket Club. Lashings are a team of ex professional cricket players that tour the world playing exhibition tests against local teams to raise money for charities and good causes.

Friday saw Tommy watch as Robin did the voiceover for IMG Media’s Premier League Preview programme, that would be aired on Sky Sports and all over the world. Robin edits the scripts and voices the programme weekly, and it was very interesting for Tommy to watch how the programme was produced.

The weekend involved Tommy joining Robin as he reported on the Ipswich v Barnsley match at Portman Road for BBC Final Score. This day allowed Tommy to gain entry to the match and watch as Robin reported via an ISDN telephone signal to the studio.

The final day of the work placement was the day that Tommy would get to watch the Sky Sports programme Golfing World being produced at IMG Media. This was the same process as the Premier League Programme.

Tommy ended the week having experienced many different areas that a sports journalism degree can direct you into. Tommy said “It was very kind of Robin to take me on for a work placement this week and I feel I have learnt an incredible amount about the media and journalism industry with first hand experience.”

Sports Broadcast training

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:13:29 +0000

Capricorn is delighted to have been commissioned in 2012 for a series of broadcast training seminars and workshops for IMG Media. Director Robin Bailey will be delivering “Writing to Pictures” sessions for staff working for Premier League news and feature programmes and for reporters/camera operators working on the Golfing World magazine programme. The first Premier League seminar was presented before Christmas and this series will continue shortly. A provisional date of March 14th has been drawn up for the first selection of Golfing World staff.

Sports broadcast training in Writing, Presenting or Reporting can be booked via email robin@capricornmediagroup.com while sports broadcasters from around the world are invited to take part in sessions either in London or in their own country. Director Robin Bailey presented sessions on behalf of football’s governing body FIFA and their broadcasting arm HBS prior to the 2010 World Cup in Kenya, Ghana and Botswana.

Kenny’s blind faith in Suarez

admin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:51:28 +0000

I am not about to jump on to the bandwagon driven by Sir Alex Ferguson suggesting Luis Suarez should be kicked out of Liverpool Football Club. But I do believe the club that I followed in the Keegan/Toshack days is tarnished. The blind faith that manager Kenny Dalglish showed in support of Suarez after his refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra was staggering and defies all understanding. Dalglish may be known as King Kenny but he’s emerged like a pauper who is out of touch with the modern world. Even after the Uruguayan returned from an 8-match ban, he said the ban should never have happened, and then he claimed, on national TV, that he didn’t know Suarez hadn’t shaken Evra’s hand. The world saw it…they have monitors on the sidelines and you could see from the reaction that all did NOT go smoothly. Kenny himself needed the Liverpool owners to tell his man to apologise. It seems Dalglish would never have asked! My feeling is that Dalglish has never understood the media, how they work, and why is there is a need to look after a club’s image. As a BBC TV reporter covering the build up to his Newcastle side’s FA Cup Final against Arsenal in 1998, I remember all of us with cameras being consigned to one end of the practice pitch at Newcastle’s training ground in Durham….after Dalglish had taken his players as far away as he could take them. We weren’t interested in pin-prick pictures of the players shaping up for a momentous occasion. Dalglish thought it was amusing but you could not help but be pleased when his team lost to Arsenal. It was a great PR opportunity lost. Dalglish has always been monosyllabic in interviews, one-eyed in his analysis. Fiercely loyal to his players and friends yes… how sad it was that his great friend Alan Hansen on Match of the Day had to tell him and the club how they should be reacting to the Suarez affair. Liverpool may well win two trophies this year but they are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League once again…and those American owners may remember the day their manager refused the chance to show the leadership that great Anfield club deserved.

Who’s next after Terry?

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:59:13 +0000

Since John Terry has been stripped on the England captaincy, there is another
decision to be made … Who is next? Well I thought it may be useful to promote
a view from a media trainer’s point of view. Bear in mind that this man must be
an ambassador for England, a role model for millions. And I see Steven Gerrard
is favourite for the job?
Not for me… he’s now 31 and his injury record is not good. I am not sure he fits into England’s
best line up. and remember he hasn’t been immune from controversy himself back in Liverpool. Also, and even by default, he was party to Liverpool’s disastrous decision to wear tee shirts supporting Luis Suarez, after his 8-match ban for a racist comment aimed at Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
So who else? Well I would go for Scott Parker, one of the first men on the England
teamsheet on current form, and a man who has helped to turn Tottenham into a title contending force this season. People will have seen yet another man-of-the-match performance for Spurs against Liverpool last night. Parker is a pure team man, a vocal motivator in the dressing room and someone who leads by example, he is in the mould of a Bobby Moore. I have never seen him try to get opponents booked or sent off either.
I remember when I was working for ITV Sport back in the early noughties, I asked
Scott for an interview after a man of the match performance for Charlton in the
premier league. He said yes, but asked for me to wait a few minutes. That is
often a euphemism for “I can’t be bothered really” and I half expected him not to
re-emerge from the dressing room. He actually did come back out 2 minutes later.
I said: “thanks for coming out Scott, what happened in there?” to which he
said:”my girlfriend would kill me if I didn’t do my hair before I went on
telly!”
It was a tremendously disarming comment from a really nice guy who has all the
right credentials. It’s unthinkable he would become involved in some of the
scandals other captains of England have. At 30 time is not on his side, but give
him the job for the Euros now, and the FA can at least sleep easily in their
beds.

Our RFL media training

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:08:59 +0000

Capricorn recently conducted media training sessions with most of the Super League’s up-and-coming young players ahead of the 2012 season. The training was commissioned by the Rugby Football League…. see who you can spot with these few screen shots of our sessions at Huddersfield University.

Lancaster’s good start

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:59:43 +0000

As the interim manager of England’s rugby union team, Stuart Lancaster has made an excellent start. He comes from a teaching background and I think the lesson that if you step out of line, you lose your place in my squad is a powerful one. I doubt whether it would have been any different even without the World Cup debacle of Mike Tindall and company. Lancaster was a man I met in 2004 when he was running the joint Union/League academy at Leeds. He commissioned Capricorn to run media training sessions with a number of players from both codes…most memorable was Kevin Sinfield, the Leeds, GB and England captain. He knew how important it was to educate players in the right way, give them practical training, encourage them to give opinions, show their personality, while being an ambassador for themselves, their club, their country. These are all powerful messages we delivered in that session, and I’m delighted that Stuart has come through the pack to get his chance. This week Delon Armitage got himself arrested and lost his place in the England A set up. It was the right message to send out from a man who is setting the right example for all England players for now and the future. Good luck to him.

FSB Media Training

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:40:16 +0000

If you are not a member of the FSB you should be…the benefits are wide and varied and membership could save you hundreds of pounds.
But for those who are members in Essex, Capricorn Director Robin Bailey is running two Media Training courses in February and June alongside the regional organiser Keith Brown. You can register at: www.essexfsb.org.uk/events
The dates are Wednesday 29th February and Wednesday 20th June. Robin hopes to meet you there.