THERE WILL BE INK - Initiative for Policy Dialogue

Training programs available to business and economic journalists in GhanaFor no discernable reason, a large number of Ghanaian interviewees had attended the IIJ training inBerlin; thus, much of the interview data is focused on this program. Also, many interviewees hadattended multiple training programs. Indeed, it seems that participation in one program often led tomore training opportunities, such that a core of some of the best-trained journalists in Ghana werefamiliar with many of the programs, and each other from these programs.Impact of training on journalistsAll the journalists interviewed in Ghana that had participated in substantial journalism trainingprograms, such as those listed above, were extremely enthusiastic about their experiences. The twoeditors-in-chief interviewed for this project were also very positive about the training programs fortheir journalists (and had participated in several of the programs themselves).For many of the journalists, their participation in one of the training programs marked their firstexperience with an in-depth, specialized journalism-training program. Most of the journalistsinterviewed were graduates of the Ghana Institute for Journalism (GIJ). Ghana’s diploma programsare two-years in length, and roughly the equivalent of a junior college degree in the United States.Most of the journalists described their GIJ diploma as insufficient for any sort of specialization.Notably, the GIJ curriculum does not put any emphasis on business and economic journalism. 134One journalist with the Ghana News Agency said that the GIJ’s curriculum was “lacking” and“mostly theory, which was not useful.” Walter Kudzodzi, a former journalist who now works for theAustralian Embassy, said that Ghana’s journalism schools “barely scratch the surface” of journalism,and that much of the training takes place after rookie journalists get out into the field. Many veteranjournalists interviewed said that the lack of specialization among Ghana’s journalists is a majordetriment to the media’s coverage of business and economic matters.Some of the journalists interviewed had completed a university degree, or were in the middle of sucha program, usually in journalism or communications. A few of the former and veteran journalistshad studied in journalism or communications programs abroad, notably at Cardiff University inWales.Training programs, while imparting real business and economic specialization, also serve tounderscore fundamental journalistic practices for many of the participants. Many of the journalistsdescribed their training programs as transformational experiences for them as journalists. Severalsaid that the training exposed them to important journalistic principles that they hadn’t beforestudied in any depth. Samuel Ablordeppey of the Daily Graphic said that the training taught himabout the importance of the “so what” in a story, which “changes everything and makes you go forthe essence of the story.” Another Daily Graphic reporter recounted being taught about theimportance of being balanced in one’s reporting. After the World Bank Institute training, thisreporter said that he endeavored to show both sides of any story, which he realized he hadn’t beendoing prior to the training.All interviewees said that the programs allowed them to cover new topics and beats when theyreturned to their newspaper. Journalists told of different new topics that they had received training134 On a related note, some journalists said that restructuring GIJ’s curriculum is an important task and should be apriority for any organization wanting to impact media coverage in Ghana.– 51 –