FIRST STEPS IN FINANCIAL JOURNALISM

Journalists increasingly need to understand how the world’s financial markets drive business reporting, economic change and political reactions. This workshop outlines concepts and terminology to equip reporters and editors with a broad overview of foreign exchange, equities, bonds, money markets, commodities, oil and derivatives markets. Journalists completing the course will have the confidence to inject financial background into copy, cover market developments and explain the impact of interest rate changes. Accumulated knowledge is reviewed regularly in writing exercises based around a deepening case study that begins with a government announcement and then charts its impact on various markets.

Journalism skills addressed during the course

1. •News judgment
   

2. •Cultivating sources and obtaining exclusive stories
   

3. •Handling news releases
   

4. •News conferences
   

5. •Interviews
   

6. •Writing accurate, balanced business stories quickly with solid context
   

7. •Handling market reports
   

8. •Writing good leads and headlines
   

9. •Rumours and hoaxes
   

Financial subjects addressed during the course

1. •Monetary policy and interest rates
   

2. •Raising capital
   

3. •Stock markets and basic equities
   

4. •Foreign exchange
   

5. •Fixed income markets and instruments
   

6. •Futures markets - commodities and energy
   

7. •Introduction to derivatives
   

8. •Basic technical analysis.
   

Financial terms explained during the course

Shares, treasury bills, notes, various bond types, yield curves, syndicated loans, futures, options, credit derivatives. Balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, gearing and corporate finance.

Course Objectives 

After completing the course, participants can expect to be able to:

1. •Write clear, newsworthy markets reports with authority and context
   

2. •Describe cross-asset links between markets
   

3. •Explain basic foreign exchange, equities and fixed income instruments
   

4. •Identify the difference between spot/physical, forward and futures contracts
   

5. •Handle economic indicator announcements
   

6. •Produce stories from corporate announcements, including capital changes
   

7. •Cover a bond issue and explain how ratings agencies work
   

8. •Handle central bank intervention and interest rate change stories
   

9. •Cultivate both buy-side and sell side contacts
   

10. •Demonstrate the use of varied story structures to enhance writing clarity.
    

Course Outline

Participants handle a case study, launched by an economic indicator announcement that impacts the foreign exchange and fixed income markets. Journalists write their way through market reports, learning about instruments along the way and editors copy-coach their output. During this phase they will also encounter central bank intervention. In the next phase, the impact will spread to two companies with different financial structures. Participants will handle company statements, learn about basic corporate structures be introduced to options. The third phase of the case study will embrace basic derivatives instruments, including futures contracts. Learning reviews during the course ask participants in facilitated discussions to extract learning points from the output of all writers, including trainer versions, and they will build a personal action plan for post-course learning.

Pre-work/Pre-requisites

Pre-course reading, learning agreements and a short evaluation to establish existing knowledge.