Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Economics Journalism Handbook - Book review
ECONOMICS JOURNALISM HANDBOOK
For the Malawi Media
Author: Nixon K. Kariithi
Economics journalism in Africa is one of the branches of media that most people classify as having a strong appeal to elitist orientation. Most business and economic stories lack the spark to ignite public interest as they are characterized with jargon and issues that affect large corporate bodies. The Economics Journalism Handbook for the Malawi Media by Professor Nixon Kariithi seems a timely intervention in the empowerment of economic journalists to broaden their outreach so too reinforcing their writing skills.
The handbook consists of 7 chapters and appendices of glossary of national budget terms and copy editing marks. Chapter 1 provides an insight into the state of business and economic journalism in Africa. It clarifies that reporting on business and economic issues in Africa has become of significant importance as a result of the realization that most of Africa’s major problems – war, poverty, dictatorship, and ethnic hostilities – have an economic dimension worthy reporting on. Not only that, the increasing trade in business interaction between African countries has also lead to the growth of economic reporting.
On the state of business and economic reporting in Africa the chapter highlights some problems that hinder progressive reporting, among them, reporters inability to distinguish between personalities and issues, nor developing links between related macroeconomic events; and reluctance of government sources to provide data.
The second chapter narrates what the author calls: ‘Writing as a way of life.’ It is in this chapter that economics’ reporters are reminded that in journalism effective writing is measured on the barometer of effective communication. Journalism has to narrow at reporting persuasively, interestingly, powerfully and effectively. Another beauty of this chapter is that it gives economic reporters a good dose of putting parts of speech into good use. With examples, it further clarifies how best to use punctuation.
Reporters who have been having headaches in newsgathering will find relief in chapters 3 and 4 as they give tips on newsgathering techniques. Kariithi challenges journalists to source all stories clearly and exciplictly to enable their audience to form their own judgement of a story’s credibility, and to protect the newsrooms’ reputation if stories are challenged. The handbook cautions that though press releases are sources of information, journalists should be handling them with skepticism. Press releases are intended to promote the interests and favourable reputation of the individuals and organisations that disseminate them. Reporters should have the edge to unearth circumstances leading to the issuing of the press releases.
Business and economics can not survive without numbers. It is in this regard that chapter 5 takes an intrinsic look into the significant importance of statistics in news stories. Chapter 6 attempts to reinforce the understanding and covering of national budget. National budget coverage should encompass the whole budget cycle that covers the following stages: preparation/formulation; approval/enactment; implementation/execution; monitoring and evaluation; and audit and reviews
The handbook says: “Journalists should report on the budget issues throughout the year.”
Among the essential documents that the Handbook encourages economic reporters to refer to when reporting national budget issues include: the budget statement, the annual economic report, the financial statement, draft estimates of expenditure on recurrent and capital account and supplementary estimates of expenditure on recurrent and capital accounts.
The final chapter of the book is entitled: “Improving economics news writing and reporting.” The chapter emphasizes on the power of writing strong news’ introductions. It also offers some practical ways of improving news reporting.
The handbook has great relevance to the Malawi setting as most of the examples illustrated in it are reprints of paragraphs of news stories published in newspapers in the country. Kariithi, an associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa did a fair job of research. The handbook, as the author emphasizes, is a critical addition to resources available to African journalists as they endeavour to accurately and effectively report their national economies. The handbook can also be used for academic studies in journalism.
The author however could have done much justice to the book if there had been balanced coverage of print and broadcasting illustrations used as examples. Almost all illustrations are from print media. Probably this has been the case as most broadcasters do not keep records of news they air. On 3 occasions, the term ‘to’ had been referred to as ‘co’ and in another sentence ‘days’ was spelled as ‘clays.’ However, these few errors do not undervalue the content of this vital resource.
For the Malawi Media
Author: Nixon K. Kariithi
Economics journalism in Africa is one of the branches of media that most people classify as having a strong appeal to elitist orientation. Most business and economic stories lack the spark to ignite public interest as they are characterized with jargon and issues that affect large corporate bodies. The Economics Journalism Handbook for the Malawi Media by Professor Nixon Kariithi seems a timely intervention in the empowerment of economic journalists to broaden their outreach so too reinforcing their writing skills.
The handbook consists of 7 chapters and appendices of glossary of national budget terms and copy editing marks. Chapter 1 provides an insight into the state of business and economic journalism in Africa. It clarifies that reporting on business and economic issues in Africa has become of significant importance as a result of the realization that most of Africa’s major problems – war, poverty, dictatorship, and ethnic hostilities – have an economic dimension worthy reporting on. Not only that, the increasing trade in business interaction between African countries has also lead to the growth of economic reporting.
On the state of business and economic reporting in Africa the chapter highlights some problems that hinder progressive reporting, among them, reporters inability to distinguish between personalities and issues, nor developing links between related macroeconomic events; and reluctance of government sources to provide data.
The second chapter narrates what the author calls: ‘Writing as a way of life.’ It is in this chapter that economics’ reporters are reminded that in journalism effective writing is measured on the barometer of effective communication. Journalism has to narrow at reporting persuasively, interestingly, powerfully and effectively. Another beauty of this chapter is that it gives economic reporters a good dose of putting parts of speech into good use. With examples, it further clarifies how best to use punctuation.
Reporters who have been having headaches in newsgathering will find relief in chapters 3 and 4 as they give tips on newsgathering techniques. Kariithi challenges journalists to source all stories clearly and exciplictly to enable their audience to form their own judgement of a story’s credibility, and to protect the newsrooms’ reputation if stories are challenged. The handbook cautions that though press releases are sources of information, journalists should be handling them with skepticism. Press releases are intended to promote the interests and favourable reputation of the individuals and organisations that disseminate them. Reporters should have the edge to unearth circumstances leading to the issuing of the press releases.
Business and economics can not survive without numbers. It is in this regard that chapter 5 takes an intrinsic look into the significant importance of statistics in news stories. Chapter 6 attempts to reinforce the understanding and covering of national budget. National budget coverage should encompass the whole budget cycle that covers the following stages: preparation/formulation; approval/enactment; implementation/execution; monitoring and evaluation; and audit and reviews
The handbook says: “Journalists should report on the budget issues throughout the year.”
Among the essential documents that the Handbook encourages economic reporters to refer to when reporting national budget issues include: the budget statement, the annual economic report, the financial statement, draft estimates of expenditure on recurrent and capital account and supplementary estimates of expenditure on recurrent and capital accounts.
The final chapter of the book is entitled: “Improving economics news writing and reporting.” The chapter emphasizes on the power of writing strong news’ introductions. It also offers some practical ways of improving news reporting.
The handbook has great relevance to the Malawi setting as most of the examples illustrated in it are reprints of paragraphs of news stories published in newspapers in the country. Kariithi, an associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa did a fair job of research. The handbook, as the author emphasizes, is a critical addition to resources available to African journalists as they endeavour to accurately and effectively report their national economies. The handbook can also be used for academic studies in journalism.
The author however could have done much justice to the book if there had been balanced coverage of print and broadcasting illustrations used as examples. Almost all illustrations are from print media. Probably this has been the case as most broadcasters do not keep records of news they air. On 3 occasions, the term ‘to’ had been referred to as ‘co’ and in another sentence ‘days’ was spelled as ‘clays.’ However, these few errors do not undervalue the content of this vital resource.
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