Creating Effective Press Releases and Increasing Media Coverage Online Training

Sara McCracken is an award-winning communications specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in different areas including environment, health, education, politics, equestrian and agri-rural businesses. She has worked in a range of businesses – a trade union, charities, political party, membership organisations and an alpaca farm.

Sara has been involved in activist campaigns including smoke free workplaces; organ donation; minimum pricing of alcohol; chest, heart and stroke illnesses; care of older people; education; children and young people; mental health; and the environment. She also co-found Women in PR Northern Ireland in 2018.

Sara led the CIPR double-award winning Revive our World campaign for RSPB NI, which resulted in climate change legislation being passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Nigel Gould is an award-winning journalist with 35 years experience across the industry.

He has held many roles including Senior Reporter, Health correspondent, Weekend Edition Editor and Deputy Head of News with the Belfast Telegraph. Nigel was also one of the youngest weekly newspaper editors, and was crowned Northern Ireland’s print specialist journalist of the year in the early noughties.

In 2013, Nigel was appointed Head of News and Sport at Northern Ireland’s biggest local radio station, Downtown Radio and Cool FM, owned by Bauer Media.

Since then, he has led the team to a number of prestigious UK and All-Ireland media awards.