JOURNALIST, SPEAKER. MEDIA ANALYST
“Beyond the Battlefield: The Untold Stories of War Reporting”
PSASA annual conference in Durban
“From Boots to Bots:
What War Zones Taught Me About Speaking Credibility in an Age of Noise and Information Warfare”
– Umshlanga
ORT LEAD SA Seminar on “Trust” – JHB
ORT LEAD SA is a six-week leadership development programme designed to support both emerging and established leaders within the organisation. The programme focuses on developing self-awareness, leadership capability, and the skills required to build high-performing teams.
MC at the 90th anniversary dinner of ORT-JET – Johannesburg
From Physical War Zones to the Information Battlefield Rosebank Union Church, JHB,
How to Know What’s True
I just didn’t have a name for it yet.
For more than 30 years, I’ve worked as a journalist, spending the past two decades reporting from war zones, political upheavals and humanitarian crises. I’ve learnt that the most important battles are often fought long before the first shot is fired.
By the time conflict reaches a battlefield, a battle for hearts, minds and attention has often been raging for years.
Over the years, I’ve seen how stories can shape what people believe, how they act and the decisions they make.
Those experiences led me to the work I do today. Today, organisations are trying to build trust in increasingly sceptical environments. Leaders, governments and individuals are operating in a world where information moves faster than ever before, and people increasingly disagree on what is true.
The challenge is no longer access to information. The challenge is knowing what - and who - to trust. The ability to distinguish truth from manipulation is no longer a specialist skill. It is a leadership skill.
The most valuable currency in the world today is attention. Every platform, movement and brand is competing for it. Every day, we make decisions based on information designed to capture and hold our attention.
I work with leaders, organisations and audiences around the world to think more clearly in a world competing for their attention. Through keynote speaking, advisory work, media literacy programmes and leadership development, I help people recognise manipulation, think more critically, communicate more effectively and make better decisions.
My work draws on lessons learned in war zones, newsrooms, boardrooms and classrooms. Because the challenge of our time is not simply access to information. It’s learning how to think clearly amid noise.
Warm regards,
Paula
WHY LEARN WITH PAULA
SPECIALIST MASTERCLASSES
BESPOKE PROGRAMMES
HALF + FULLDAY PROGRAMMES
LEADERSHIP RETREATS
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Selected Organisations
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
TV FINLAND
ORGANISATIONS I BELONG TO