WRITING ABOUT THE ECONOMY

All economics is politics. In an intermeshed financial world, economic forces and political decisions conflict and collide. Participating journalists learn to explain how an economy works and the impact of global change. They will be able to identify statistics used to chart economic change, such as gross domestic product and the balance of payments. This workshop places journalists in the position of an economics reporter covering privatisation plans, international loans, a government budget, central bank activity and interest rate movements. In terms of journalism skills, the course will cover interviewing, news conferences, handling speeches and economic statistics announcements.

Journalism skills addressed during the course

1. •News judgment based on an understanding of basic economic affairs
   

2. •Cultivating sources and obtaining exclusive stories
   

3. •Handling economic indicator statistics accurately
   

4. •Writing with authority about state budgets and fiscal policy
   

5. •Covering central banks and explaining monetary policy
   

6. •Interviews with economic policymakers
   

7. •Writing accurate, balanced economic stories quickly with solid context
   

8. •Capturing reader interest with short, active leads and interesting headlines
   

9. •Knowledge of legal dangers.
   

Financial subjects addressed during the course

1. •Economic growth and political decision-making
   

2. •Fiscal policy and budgets
   

3. •Supply side economics
   

4. •Monetary policy and the actions of a central bank
   

5. •Foreign exchange rate policy and exchange reserves
   

6. •Brief history of fiscal and monetarist policies
   

7. •Current economic policies and state of the business cycle.
   

Financial terms explained during the course

Risk/reward investment decisions, economic growth rates and their measurement (GDP, GNP etc), employment, inflation, inflationary expectation, business cycles, budgets and fiscal policy, central bank open market operations (OMO) and open market committee interest rate decisions, inter-bank money markets, treasury bill markets, yield curves, balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, devaluations, IMF and special drawing rights, World Bank, ECB and EBRD.

Course Objectives 

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

1. •Write with confidence and context about major economic indicators
   

2. •Explain the business cycle impact on policy-making and investment
   

3. •Writ analytical stories about fiscal and monetary policy
   

4. •Cover a budget announcement
   

5. •Explain domestic economic policy decisions
   

6. •List the functions of the main international economic policy agencies
   

7. •Develop contacts to raise exclusive copy.
   

Course Outline

The course uses a special model to help journalists recognise and simplify economic forces, then reduces lecturing to an absolute minimum by asking participants to write stories or media scripts in a case study based on a country loan renegotiation with international banks. Information is provided in the form of handouts, interviews and news conferences. The final review exercise requires participants to cover a budget announcement in teams. Copy coaches provide personalized feedback and participants will assemble 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 of economics.