A few months ago, Media Matters for America started the Progressive Talent Initiative (PTI), a new project to discover and cultivate a new generation of progressive on-air media talent.

PTI is an intensive, four day media training program beyond the scope of anything in the progressive movement to date. Our first training was held in August and brought together members of the progressive community for lively discussions about messaging and hours in front of the camera practicing the new skills learned.

In November we will be holding our second four-day media training as part of PTI. The training will take place from the morning of Wednesday, November 4 until the afternoon of Saturday, November 7. We will be training experts from four issue areas: national security, energy/environment, economy, and legal issues. It is anticipated that 12 participants will be selected for the training, three from each issue area.

We are currently accepting applications for the November training and ask you to recommend individuals who are specialists in one of the four issue areas listed above and who would be a good fit for the program. In addition to conversations about their specific area of interest, PTI participants will be trained on technique, tactics, style, and booking. Applicants selected will have all travel, training, and accommodations paid for by PTI.

In order to provide the most hands-on training and in depth conversations, PTI will only be selecting three experts for each issue. Strong applicants will have the appropriate background to give them credibility as an expert on the issue and will have a strong command of the issues directly and indirectly related to their area of expertise.

The relationship between PTI and graduates of the program will not end in November. PTI will aggressively book graduates on a variety of networks and provide graduates with access to preparatory resources. In order to ensure that the lessons learned at the PTI training are not lost over time, continued feedback, training and post performance critique will be a core component of the program.

The application for the November training can be found at http://pti.mediamatters.org. Applicants should use the application as an avenue to showcase why they are a good fit for the program. The application provides a place to submit URLs to video links of the applicant on TV. If a video link is not available, the website gives instructions on how to create and submit a video.

Please forward this information to individuals you feel are qualified for the November 2009 training. If you have any questions about the program or application process, please contact Kelly Ronan at PTI@mediamatters.org. The deadline to apply for the November 2009 training is Friday, October 2, 2009 at 5:00pm EDT.