WRITING FROM EMERGING MARKETS

Global investors need good financial information - and there is a clear shortage from emerging markets. This course equips journalists with the financial and economic knowledge they need to address this need. They will be able to identify the statistics used to chart economic change, such as gross domestic product and the balance of payments, and sufficient basic knowledge of financial markets, capital raising and the covering of equities to build a portfolio of financial journalism skills. This workshop places journalists in the position of an economics reporter covering a range of economic news for the first time. 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, monetary policy
   

6. •Interviews with economic policymakers
   

7. •Writing accurate, balanced interesting economic stories
   

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

9. •Knowledge of legal dangers.
   

Financial subjects addressed during the course

1. •Statistics to watch
   

2. •Economic growth and the business cycle
   

3. •Fiscal policy and budgets
   

4. •Supply side economics
   

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

6. •Foreign exchange reserves and balance of payments
   

7. •Basic principles of equity investment, initial public offerings and capital changes
   

8. •Basic approach to markets reporting
   

9. •Company structures, accounts, statements and annual reports
   

10. •Balance sheets and income statements, cash flow and depreciation
    

11. •Corporate earnings announcements
    

12. •Basic measurements of corporate value.
    

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. Ordinary and preference shares, depositary receipts, ratings corporate governance. Market capitalisation, earnings per share, price/earnings ratios, ratio analysis, economic value, dividend yield, depreciation, cash flow, EBITDA and overtrading.

Course Objectives 

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

•Explain the current economic position of their country

•Approach stories with a reader-oriented news editing decision-making model

•Write with confidence and context about major economic indicators

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

•Write fiscal and monetary policy stories and cover a budget announcement

•Write thoughtful market reports

•Map the main elements of an income statement and balance sheet

•Explain the difference between debt and equity funding

•Review a set of company accounts to produce story ideas

•Interview company officials with authority

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

Course Outline

In terms of economics, the course uses a special model to help journalists recognise and simplify the understanding of economic forces, then reduces lecturing to an absolute minimum by asking participants to write stories or media scripts in a case study from information provided in the form of handouts, interviews and news conferences. The final review exercise requires participants to cover a budget announcement in teams.

In terms of equities, participants cover plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of equities and an introduction to corporate bonds. Markets reporting will focus on foreign exchange, equities and the futures contract. Participants are introduced to new terms steadily and, as a review, incorporate them into an evolving story checked by a copy coach. Learning reviews 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 to use after wards.

Pre-course work

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