The Mass Media Foundation, together with Hudson Sandler, a British consulting company in the field of strategic communications and ESG, held seminars for media specialists on May 23, 2023.

The target audience of the first seminar on the theme "Perception of Uzbekistan by the international media - challenges and maximizing opportunities" were journalists and bloggers. The second one is “Formation of corporate reputation. Communication Strategies: Research, Ideas, Implementation” was aimed at expanding the tools used by PR and IR specialists of government agencies and private companies.

Addressing the participants of the training at the beginning of the event, Nozima Davletova, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, noted that in the modern world, the media are expected not only to cover current events, but also to form trends and even social norms.

“The Foundation organized this training so that the national media could navigate the current trends that are taking place in the media sphere abroad and use professional knowledge and experience in their work.”

The speakers of both seminars were employees of the Hudson Sandler company, who have significant long-term experience in the field of corporate and financial communications.

“We see that the ongoing economic reforms in the country have given impetus to the development of business journalism in Uzbekistan, the formation of the communications industry. Companies and government bodies are beginning to open up to the public, investors, and all stakeholders. And we want to contribute to the efforts of the Mass Media Foundation in the formation of a professional communication and media environment,” said Charlie Jack, partner at Hudson Sandler.

The seminars were held in the form of case studies, during which the best practices in relation to corporate communications and methods of working with the media were presented.

During the training with journalists and bloggers, it was discussed how Western business media have changed recently, how they work now and why. The issue of coverage of Central Asia, and in particular Uzbekistan, was considered in detail, as well as what opportunities exist to enhance the attractiveness of the country and business with the help of well-built communications.

Cases were analyzed in detail, dedicated to such aspects of media activities as working in the digital space, readership, levels of influence, attracting investments.

In the dialogue with PR and IR specialists, the focus was on building corporate reputation. What you need to pay attention to when developing a strategy and forming an idea that “sells” a business to interested parties, whether they are investors, government agencies or residents of specific regions. And also how you can implement the planned with the best result.

It was noted that one of the most important elements is an effective communication strategy. In addition, it is necessary to clearly understand what information should be collected and analyzed in order to draw the right conclusions. It is also very important to have effective tools to measure the effectiveness of the implemented measures.

Thanks to the analysis of real practical cases, the participants were able to get acquainted with the most common mistakes, which will allow them to take into account this experience and avoid them in their activities.

For information: Hudson Sandler is an international strategic communications and ESG consulting company headquartered in London. Its employees have extensive experience in the implementation of international communication campaigns. One of the main activities of Hudson Sandler is advising large businesses in the field of corporate finance and sustainable development, as well as the implementation of anti-crisis projects. In this regard, the company has extensive experience in interacting with the media and has developed tools for how to interest the representatives of the mass media in information, and how the media themselves can find investors and expand their sphere of influence.