Who's Running the Company? - International Center for Journalists

FOREWORD
To report professionally, business journalists today
need a solid understanding of how modern companies
are run, the conditions necessary for their success and
the challenges and issues that confront them. Specifically,
journalists who value good corporate governance
practices will earn their peers’ respect and build trusted
working relationships with the companies they cover.
Since the launch of the Media Training Program in 2007,
the Global Corporate Governance Forum has conducted
various training workshops for journalists in the Middle
East, Africa, South Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, and
East Asia, most of them in partnership with Thomson
Reuters Foundation and Agence France-Presse.
During these training events, we found many examples
of business journalists reporting on corporate governance
practices without necessarily being aware of it.
The Forum’s work with the media constitutes an important
part of the efforts to raise awareness of the issues and
advance good corporate governance practices in emerging
markets and developing countries. This effort is being
made in cooperation with IFC, a member of the World
Bank Group.
Our program’s objective is to draw on journalists’ unique
ability to disseminate information on corporate governance
to the business community and the wider public,
and for journalists to make readers aware of company
activities in ways that can have a significant impact not
only on their shareholders but on society. Through their
investigations and insight, journalists can show what
happens when companies are poorly governed. Journalists
can also illustrate how companies that abide by best
practice not only perform better but are more resilient in a
difficult economy.
In addition, more probing, more insightful business
reporting differentiates one news outlet from another and
draws in the more sophisticated and informed business
audience seeking information and news that is well presented,
thoughtful and constructive.
independent information beyond what companies provide
to be effective in rectifying wrongdoing. That information
must be written so that it’s easy to understand and
relevant to your audience’s interests.”
Partnering with the International Center for Journalists
(ICFJ) in the production of this Guide draws on its extensive
experience with journalists around the world, particularly
in difficult markets. While the Forum has offered
its expertise in corporate governance, ICFJ has ensured
that the Guide is suitably tailored to the requirements of
a business reporter wanting to learn about key elements
of corporate governance and what makes an interesting
story. They not only understand what a journalist needs
but also how this should be conveyed through our training
programs. ICFJ offers extensive resources and expertise
far beyond what is provided in this Guide.
This Guide builds on the Forum’s and IFC’s experience in
providing training for business reporters, and its work in
producing internationally acknowledged corporate governance
capacity-building tools and knowledge materials.
It covers important topics on corporate governance and
provides examples and case studies on investigative journalism
based on contributions from experienced journalists
and drawing on our own observations.
While the Guide is not intended to be a definitive resource
on corporate governance, it does set out some very useful
principles for business reporters in emerging markets
and developing countries. The section “About the Guide”
explains its use, purpose and function.
As is the case with all of the Forum’s work, the Guide’s
production involved extensive collaboration with many
people and organizations. Their commitment to this effort
is gratefully appreciated in the “Acknowledgements” section.
Philip Armstrong
Head, Global Corporate Governance Forum
“If you’re ignoring corporate governance in your coverage
of companies, you are only giving your readers part of
the story,” advises Cristina Sevillano del Aguila of Stakeholders
Magazine (Peru). “For investors, too, they need