ADVANCED EQUITIES REPORTING

The course commits journalists to writing clear, concise and accurate breaking news stories, topped by attractive headlines and clear lead paragraphs with particular emphasis on company news. The course is biased towards active learning, asking participants to write their way through a series of breaking equities stories about three companies raising capital from equity and bond markets to finance potential mergers and acquisitions. The teaching also addresses the needs of reflection, theory and pragmatic learners.

Journalism skills addressed during the course

1. •News judgment
   

2. •Cultivating sources and obtaining exclusive stories
   

3. •Handling corporate news releases
   

4. •Interviews with company officials
   

5. •Writing accurate, balanced equity stories
   

6. •Writing good leads and headlines
   

7. •Knowledge of legal dangers.
   

Financial subjects addressed during the course

1. •Review of company accounts structure
   

2. •Balance sheets, income statements, cash flow, EBITDA and depreciation
   

3. •Assessing corporate value.
   

Financial terms explained during the course

Sources of finance, off-balance sheet financing/securitisation, enterprise value, economic value, ratio analysis, mergers, acquisitions, bid valuations, fair value, cash flow, margins, enhancing/depleting shareholder value, market capitalisation, earnings per share, price/earnings ratio and corporate governance.

Course Objectives 

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

1. •Explain the benefits and risks of debt or equity funding
   

2. •Tap sources with confidence in corporate debt and equity markets
   

3. •Use cash flow statements to add insight to an earnings story
   

4. •Explain various valuation techniques in stories
   

5. •Write with authority on takeover bids, mergers and acquisitions
   

6. •Use share analysts’ valuation tools to explain a story
   

7. •Value a merger bid
   

8. •Link the story clearly to a chnging share price
   

9. •Define a link between strategy and corporate performance
   

10. •Explain which investor types will respond to the news, and why.
    

Course Outline

The course is based on a breaking story interweaved with facilitated discussions on corporate value. Journalists will be expected to divine from the case study various changes in valuation views from share analysts. As they absorb more knowledge in an increasingly complex case study, they use the feedback from copy coaches and their new knowledge to deepen the stories yet provide readily understood financial context to attract the knowledgeable reader. Reviews will ask participants in facilitated discussions to extract learning points from the output of all writers, including trainer versions, to build checklists for better writing for use after the course. Emphasis can be placed on website writing requirements.

Pre-course work

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