News Editor of the Business and Financial Times Newspaper (B&FT), Obed Attah Yeboah, has graduated among 87 others from the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), Financial-Journalism Training Programme (FTP).
The first-of-its-kind graduation ceremony was made up of two cohorts who underwent about six months of training in Financial Journalism, covering topics such as data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics, among others, to strengthen their general skills.
As a candidate of the first cohort, Mr. Yeboah shared how the all-around comprehensive training for journalists and other communicators aided in upgrading his journalistic skills and analytic abilities.
“The Bloomberg training was the jolt I needed in my career. It has really helped me to develop and improve as a financial journalist. I went into the training as a senior journalist, and some months later, I earned promotion as deputy news editor, and now the news editor of B&FT. I have realised the training actually prepared me for the unknown task ahead, and I am imparting same skills to other journalists in the newsroom.
“I thank my Managing Editor and his Deputy for selecting me to participate in such an important training that has impacted positively on my career,” he said.
Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, addressing the occasion, reiterated the important role media plays in the promotion of transparency, accountability and good governance in the country, emphasising that trainings such as this – targetted at journalists – is essential to ensuring that journalists deliver on their true purpose to democracy.
“The people of Ghana are committed to a free, plural media environment and discourse. This is a necessity if we are to find and promote the best ideas which will undergird a strong democratic state delivering an improved quality of life.
“However, the persons leading and shepherding discourse in the media space ought to be well-educated on the subjects they shepherd public discourse about. That requires that the society that claims it wants a strong democracy and high-quality journalists to serve it must be interested in funding the capacity enhancement of its journalists,” he said.
He urged the graduates to be firm on the ethics of the profession and deepen their on the emerging matters in the practice of the trade.
“Put the skills to judicious use to benefit Ghana and the continent at large. We hope that as journalists participate in these and other media capacity enhancement programmes, and as the media landscape grows with the introduction of more channels and content, the quality of output will improve continuously and not deteriorate,” he added.
Deputy Minister for Education, John Ntim Fordjour, on his part, stated that the BMIA programme has proven to be successful in the development of talents and skills, and is worth continuing for more players in the media landscape to benefit.
He related the practice of journalism to that of a pilot, and explained that: “The skill of journalism is crucial just as that of a pilot to navigate the turbulence in steering the social conversation and driving society to the desired economic growth status.”
Two representatives of the graduating cohorts, Odelia Ntiamoah and Norvan Acquah Hayford, took turns to express how the training has impacted and improved their understanding of journalism, the economy, and data analysis.
Odelia Ntiamoah mentioned how access to the Bloomberg Terminal enlightened her data gathering and usage. This, she said, helped her to establish the ‘ON Media’ organisation to collect data on how companies are using digital media.
Norman Acquah Hayford, a former journalist with the B&FT, stressed how the hard work has paid off for the graduands, describing the BMIA experience as unprecedented. He recounted how participants have moved on in life, with some gaining promotions and others securing new jobs or starting their businesses due to the training received.
About the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA)
Launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) is a pan-Africa programme designed to accelerate the development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry as well as promote transparency, accountability, and good governance in Africa and beyond.
The initiative has four components: It provides cross-disciplinary educational programmes to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists, as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations, convenes international leaders to promote interactive dialogue, and builds strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent.
