THERE WILL BE INK - Initiative for Policy Dialogue

out there for stories. “You will write a story when the trainings begin,” he said, “and one you writeafter the trainings, and put them side by side, you will see the difference. The difference will be inhow the story is presented. You will be saying the same thing, you probably have the same facts, butthe way your story is presented, you will give your reader more satisfaction reading that story.” 81One former journalist with Business Day, who majored in finance in university, said that his trainingwith IIJ played an important role in his improvement as a journalist. It made his reporting simpler,more mass communication-oriented and accessible for the average reader, because it focused onreporting these issues and employed very practical trainers who had covered these fields. Theirlecturers helped him to connect global issues locally, and to better understand policy issues. Thisenabled him to go to the World Trade Organization conference in Hong Kong, which he coveredfor Business Day. Without this training, such an opportunity would have been out of his reach. 82A current journalist with Business Day also praised the impact his IIJ training had on his reporting. 83In particular, he found the trainings he had on financial reporting, environmental issues and the IMFand World Bank to be especially beneficial. He published a story on recycling in Germany, whichwas very well received by Business Day. The trainings helped him to better understand howcompanies operate and how government policies affect their operations. He also gained a betterunderstanding of the politics underlying the policies of the IMF and World Bank, enabling him toreport more effectively on development issues. The training resulted, as well, in a promotion forhim.A journalist from The Guardian who had trained at the School of Media and Communications said ithelped him better understand statistics and how to use them to reach broad audience. Before histraining, he said he never related economic statistics to the lives of average people. After thetraining, however, he began to think of how his reporting would impact shareholders, potentialinvestors and average Nigerians. “The wealth of a journalist should be measured in the lifestyles ofthe people for whom you are reporting,” he said. After his training he read over his articles morethoroughly before submitting them to his editor. He said his reporting also became much moresubstantive after training, and that he felt more passionate about serving as “the voice of thepeople.” 84There do not appear to be any prior quantitative studies on how trainings have impacted the rate ofreporting on business and economic stories in Nigeria. However, one of our interviewees suppliedus with figures on the impact of other trainings. Akin Jimoh at Devcoms noted a 15 percent increasein maternal mortality stories among journalists who attended their health reporting training (Nigeria,incidentally, has the 2 nd highest maternal mortality rate in the world according to Jimoh). 85 Thispositive result suggests that trainings can increase not only the quality but also the quantity ofcoverage of particular topics.Unfortunately, many journalists we spoke with explained that they were not always able to utilize theskills learned in trainings to their full extent. Some journalists lacked the financial resources to81 Nigerian Interviewee #20. 2009. Interview by Ben Colmery. Lagos, Nigeria, January 15.82 Nigerian Interviewee #5. 2009. Interview by Ben Colmery and Adriana Diaz. Lagos, Nigeria, January 12.83 Nigerian Interviewee #23. 2009. Interview by Ben Colmery and Adriana Diaz. Lagos, Nigeria, January 9.84 Nigerian Interviewee #1. 2009. Interview by Ben Colmery and Adriana Diaz. Lagos, Nigeria, January 13.85 Nigerian Akin Jimoh. 2009. Interview by Adriana Diaz. Lagos, Nigeria, January 12.– 28 –