RBM drills journalists on monetary policy reporting
The Reserve Bank of the Malawi (RBM) held a workshop on monetary policy reporting with a call for journalists in the country to be professional when reporting about financial matters.
Making a presentation during this workshop, one of the facilitators, Thomasi Chafunya said journalists are important in monetary issues because they shape how people perceive the economic situation.
Chafunya who is also a Policy Advisor for the Association of Business Journalists in the country said when reporters receive information about monetary matters, they should avoid rushing into breaking the news before they understand the content.
“There are times when authorities from the central bank release some statements which for us as communicators is news. But let me warn you against hurrying into breaking the news before you understand the contents of the statement because at the end you may be reporting wrong information,” he advised.
On news sources, Chafunya said journalists should always seek views from sources who have expertise in a topic at hand unlike quoting anybody else. He observed that using anybody to comment on some (monetary) issues creates room for confusing information a thing he said should be avoided.
In an interview, one the participants of the workshop, Vincent Khonje, described it as an eye-opener to journalists as they have learnt a lot. Khonje who is also District Information Officer (DIO) for Mchinji said most of the times journalists, especially those in districts do not have opportunity to learn about monetary issues including the role of the central bank on monetary policy.
“Most of the times journalists especially those of us from districts miss opportunities to have trainings like this one. Therefore, this session has been an eye-opener such that when we go back we will be able to report effectively on such issues,” he observed.
The workshop brought together reporters from various media houses in the central region including District Information Officers. It comes after another which took place in Mzuzu recently with a similar aim of equipping journalists with appropriate skills in monetary policy reporting.
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