A bank of top international business journalists took a break from chasing global events in the world of finance, to sharpen their pencils and share their knowledge of their trade at Rhodes University this week.
They were here to attend the first Financial Times Master Class, hosted by Rhodes Centre for Economics Journalism Africa.
A bank of top international business journalists took a break from chasing global events in the world of finance, to sharpen their pencils and share their knowledge of their trade at Rhodes University this week.
They were here to attend the first Financial Times Master Class, hosted by Rhodes Centre for Economics Journalism Africa.
Sponsored by media company Pearson, it attracted journalists from the Herald, Business Day, Business Report, eTV and I-Net Bridge, the country’s leading provider of economic data.
Top Financial Times journalist and a highly regarded trainer, Graham Watts, created a flexible platform for the participants to learn everything from how to better craft a perfect lead, to talking about the South Africa as an emerging market.
In addition to the course, top business journalists from Financial Times, such as Chris Giles and Stacy-Marie Ishmael, presented talks giving journalists advice on how to cover complex topics, such as the growing economic and political power of emerging markets – and South Africa’s place in that scenario – or the shift of economic power from the West and toward Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The conference room was on fire with lively discussions, as the journalists and panels challenged each other with questions, or debated global issues and how they could make a difference in the economic challenges that South Africa faced.
Lee-Anne Butler, from the Herald, said, “It’s opened my eyes to how big the business journalism beat is. Attending a course with the likes of Peter Bruce (Business Day editor) and Chris Giles (Financial Times economics editor) is a great opportunity for me as a fledgling business writer.”
Dirk Lotriet, of the Sondag tabloid, also said he had learnt a great deal from the course – even though he had been in journalism for more than 20 years.
He said this beat was somewhat new to him, but he had a plan to develop an unconventional approach to business reporting for the tabloid, through the angle of fuel prices, jobs and salaries.
Reg Rumney, director of the Centre for Economics Journalism in Africa, said the course had been interesting and successful. “The aim was to improve the skills of the journalists, mid-level to senior journalists,” he said.
Lisa MacLeod, managing editor of the Financial Times, said business journalists had a challenging job, because it was an area that was under-resourced. She said business journalism was the “engine of the country” and should not be overlooked, and its coverage must be balanced.
MacLeod said she hoped that the journalists who had attended the course would leave with a better understanding of the world economy, the standards to expect of themselves as business journalists, and their responsibility to execute their work accurately.
Business Day Editor Peter Bruce shared his thoughts on how reporters should go about making a compelling and competitive news agenda each day.
1. Participate.
Try and think of ways to get involved in the day to day running of the newsroom. Make it difficult for the next person to fill in your shoes.
2. Be ambitious.
I say this about myself, and I am well known in the business journalism field – "There is no obvious successor in my job.” Bruce said it was pathetic that this was the case.
3. Be creative.
4. A reporter has the ability to say no to his news editor, provided he has something better that he will get together.
5. You got to want to be on the front page. That’s where you get noticed and build your reputation.
6. You have to understand people’s point of view before you write about them.
7. You need to empathise with the subject, in order for the readers to be more informed.
8. Care about what you do. Do not just merely clock in and out.
9. Teach people things they do not know. From information about Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to the petrol attendant who is participating in the current strike.
10. Use your time to the best effect. When you walk out of the newsroom, make sure you have done your job.
11. Make sure the story has the “so what" factor and is critical.
This is Bruce’s 11th year as an editor of Business day. He says his greatest ambition in life is to write a column with no adjectives – really tight copy. His greatest joy is letters to the editor. Words of motivation to journalists: “We will survive as a trade in whatever field – even if it's sky writing, people will look up.”
