Media Training Fuels Spinning

"A media environment of round-the-clock news shows and a seemingly insatiable demand for talking heads is creating new opportunities for media trainers," writes the New York Times. "Traditionally, media training was offered by large public relations firms like Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton," but now there's competition from "midsize firms" like Qorvis Communications and independent shops. The Center for Media & Democracy's Sheldon Rampton "said the problem with media training - especially in crisis management - is that it's more about presentation than facts. ... 'You're getting canned talking points rather than something genuinely informative,'" he told the Times.