The participants and trainers
BARCLAYS
BANK Ghana, part of the Absa Group, organised two-day masterclass training on
data journalism for Ghanaian journalists in Accra recently to enhance their
capacity in reporting financial and business news.
The Absa
Data Journalism Masterclass is focused on aiding journalists with skills and
tools they can use to analyse data to better explain and provide context to news
stories.
The training
which was in partnership with South Africa’s Rhodes University Department of
Journalism and Media Studies was aimed at building the capacity of journalists
to report on financial matters more proficiently.
Led by Dr.
Peter Verweij, a world-renowned journalism trainer and academic, the masterclass
training targeted 20 journalists including editors and senior business and financial
reporters from various media outlets across the country.
Ebo
Richardson, Change Enablement Lead in charge of Transformation and Technology
at Barclays Bank Ghana, noted that the Absa Data Journalism Masterclass was
designed to empower journalists to report better on financial information that
is used by individuals and corporate organisations to make critical decisions
on a daily basis.
Nana Essilfuah
Boison, Marketing and Corporate Relations Director of Barclays Bank Ghana,
commended the media for supporting the bank over the years and pledged the
bank’s renewed commitment to build stronger partnerships with the media as the
bank rebrands to Absa.
Speaking on
behalf of his colleagues, Samuel Appau Aheng of Kumasi-based Angel FM thanked Barclays for giving
them the opportunity to improve their skills in data journalism.
“We are grateful
for this opportunity and we are very hopeful this data journalism masterclass will
have a positive impact on our work as journalists towards managing and
reporting on data,” he said.
Since the programme’s inception, nine Ghanaian journalists have had the opportunity to attend the masterclass at Rhodes University in South Africa. Participants received certificates after the training programme.
