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.