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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MEDIA personnel training institutions need to revamp their circular to fit the ever changing trends in the knowledge industry, a senior Government official has said.
Addressing participants at the ongoing two-day Office of the Auditor General (OAG) media engagement workshop here at Montclair Hotel in Nyanga, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services chief director Mr Jonathan Gandari said the training of journalists needs to equip them with basic terms, phrases and knowledge of specific news beats, such as finance environment, health and others, in order for them to effectively play their role as Government’s Fourth Estate.
“When you look at the local media landscape, there is one element that is clearly lacking and that relates to financial reporting or financial journalism. Journalists come across terms and phrases that they never learnt in college and that places a burden on them in discharging their duties. For them to sift through information presented to them and come up with an interpretation for a well articulated story, it becomes a challenge,” said Mr Gandari.
The two-day workshop is meant to improve journalists understanding of the OAG’s operations and improve on flow of information from OAG to the media.
Mr Gandari added: “Others in the journalism industry are privileged to be able to learn these principles on their own. I found a good model in Kenya where they brought together a group of journalists for intensive training. When a reporter does not understand the difference between a percentage point and a percent that reflects in their product and it can cause unnecessary alarm. As the Fourth Estate, the media needs to play its role in interpreting complex information for the generality of our society.”
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