Event reports
What makes a capable business journalist? And how should university lecturers motivate their journalism students? Seasoned economics journalism trainer Reg Rumney believes we need to sensitize and stimulate the interest of students in economic affairs and promote an understanding of these issues. The former Rhodes University lecturer and Mail & Guardian journalist led the three-day KAS Media Africa Economics Journalism Training Workshop in Nairobi, guiding the participants in how they can promote the reporting of complex business issues in their own countries.
From the start of the workshop the participants - lecturers and curriculum developers from universities across Africa - presented the difficulties of offering Business Journalism courses: most of the students seem to be more enthusiastic about sports or TV journalism, whereas reporting on the economy is regarded as a much more complex field. Many experienced reporters and business editors are also lured away by better-paid PR jobs, meaning many African countries have a shortage of skilled business journalists. The demand is great.
"We need to get our students to question what large companies, governments and business agents tell them," insisted Reg Rumney. This is also a crucial step in raising the interest in understanding complex economic relationships. The teacher should always point out that although business journalists need a basic understanding of these complex relationships, much more importantly, the journalist has to know the experts in the respective fields to ask to interpret and contextualize the information. The ability to foresee certain developments in the financial markets or in the business sector comes with experience and the practice, Rumney said.
Aside from the didactic questions the workshop participants also discussed content. Knowledge of relevant variables such as Gross Domestic Product, the EBITDA coverage ratio or the liquidity of a country are fundamental tools of good financial journalists. The calculation of percentages even belongs to these tools just as grammar and spelling do. However Rumney warned against lapsing into jargon in the journalistic representation of numbers. The aim of good business journalism should be to impart complex information in a manner that engages and interests the audience, not alienates them.
“That is the point, and you should always remind your students of that," Rumney said. Given the fact that the Internet is constantly changing and reinventing itself, the teachers also have the responsibility to show their students new paths for research. Twitter offers a fantastic medium for exercises. To accommodate news in just 140 characters and to raise awareness of this coverage would sharpen the perspective of the students. In addition, mastery of social media tools offers a good opportunity for the student to dive into any industry. All NGOs, financial institutions and governments are active in the online space now said Rumney.
Practical training has not necessarily been part of the courses at the participating universities. In Ghana and Tanzania, for example, internships during the studies are mandatory, yet in the DRC such opportunities are not yet provided. All participants agreed to make attempts to change this. Most of the lecturers were familiar with the UNESCO curriculum for economic and financial journalism and at some universities this curriculum is already part of the teaching. On the final day of the workshop the participants were tasked with developing individual curriculum plans for their educational institutions. Aside from learning goals for students and course content, the lecturers also shared possible resources that could be helpful in their teaching. Suitable textbooks, access to electronic learning platforms and guest lecturers from the financial and business sector are part of future planning.
By 2019 KAS Media Africa aims to have assisted with the implementation of customized curricula within the faculties of the workshop participants with the aim of enabling a new generation of journalists with comprehensive economic-specific training.
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