Testimonials
Media law consultancy
Andrew Carter, former group head of news
The Local Radio Company
'Cleland provided legal cover for 29 radio stations for five years and we found his advice practical, well informed, easy to follow and above all, he kept us legally and ethically safe.
His service was professional and immediate and I would recommend it to anyone needing advice in a hurry.'
Richard Catlow, former editorial director
Greater Manchester Weekly Newspapers
Cleland was legal adviser to our group of more than 20 weekly titles and he helped our editors with important legal decisions on dozens of occasions.
He was easy to work with, his advice was unfailingly reliable and he spotted many issues that could have caused problems for us.'
Maria McGeoghan, former editor
Manchester Evening News
'Cleland provided advice, night and day, with our pre and post-publication issues, which has always been sound, sensible and you never missed a deadline!'
Media law training
'The most interesting day course I've ever done. Thanks!'
'Very helpful and useful. Well taught in a vibrant way, so the law doesn't bog you down, but focuses on really relevant topics.'
'Very relevant, and presented in a fun and informative way, which helps when taking in information.'
'I found it interesting to be able to relate what was talked about to situations we face in the office.'
'Very worthwhile and questions were answered very well.'
'Cleland gave us a whistle-stop tour of the potential legal pitfalls for journalists, with some memorable dos and don'ts which will hopefully be applied with more confidence, so I am not afraid of pursuing big stories.'
'Extremely useful and informative – I would suggest every journalist in the company comes on this course. It was great to have a refresher after finishing my postgrad course years ago.'
'Despite the complicated nature of some of the subjects covered, everything was explained in a way that was easy to understand.'
'I learnt some invaluable information. This training is certainly something that should happen regularly.'
'It has been very helpful to my development as a broadcast journalist to have been part of Cleland's training programme.'
'I found the session both enjoyable and informative. What could have potentially been a very complicated lesson, was explained in a very easy to understand manner.'
Web writing training
Mike Smith - Web Editor, Capital Ambition
Cleland ran several web writing training courses for our predecessors, London Connects.
Attendees included web editors and staff from around 24 of the London boroughs and many other public authorities.
The sessions were incisive and relevant and received very positive feedback from attendees. They were very popular and helpful – we began planning to run two sessions, but ended up running 16. More than 150 people attended.
We are delighted to recommend Cleland Thom for web writing training and consultancy.
Jon Wilkinson - Web Team, London Deanery
Cleland was a massive help to the London Deanery, providing consultancy and training around our main website and associated microsites.
He carried out an in-depth review of our website content and provided bespoke training sessions in web writing skills to our many authors.
In addition, the analysis and findings from his review have been distilled into a style and best web practice guide for our staff.
We have been very impressed with the professionalism of his approach and the efficiency in producing the training and analytical report.
Cleland’s insight into creating fresh and relevant copy is refreshingly candid. We appreciated that a consultant challenged the status quo and guided us into better practices.
His expertise in what he does is evident in every phone call, training session and email.
We are still in the process of augmenting our sites based on the web copy analysis Cleland undertook, and we feel confident our sites will be much improved.
The style guide, along with the face to face training of our authors, will mean that Cleland will have played a crucial role in ensuring our website realises its full potential in support of our mission.
Gary Smith - Director, XP Networks Plus
I contacted Cleland because I had heard of his expertise with web copy writing and consultancy, especially for companies, local authorities and other government bodies.
The process was very simple – it involved a meeting with him where I told him about my business, and he just got on with it!
I always find it difficult being objective when describing my own business. Cleland was able to interpret the core values and objectives of my business in modern-day language without jargon and IT-speak.
He wrote the copy in an easily understood format that describes my business in an uncomplicated but powerful way.