* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
'Go out for just one day, and you will find a lot of wisdoms.'
By Minh Tri Le
There is no better way to sum up the great experience I just had with Thomson Reuters Foundation’s course on Writing Financial and Business News than by quoting an old saying in Vietnam: “Go out for just one day, and you will find a lot of wisdoms.”
After quite a long flight from Ho Chi Minh City (and half a day sleeping like a baby in a really nice hotel), I arrived at the training room in London on Monday morning. Suddenly, all the fatigue disappeared and the excitement started kicking in.
Though I come from the biggest city in Vietnam where offices are quite modern and well-equipped, I was still completely amazed by the level of professionalism and the size of the newsroom here. The tour around the office was literally an eye-opening experience. We were shown how a story is written, how videos are made at Reuters and why speed is now a key factor in the journalism world.
As a financial and business reporter, I found the course really useful and practical. Writing business news is what I do every day at Thanh Nien, one of the largest newspapers in Vietnam, but I have always wished to learn more about how journalists at major newspapers and agencies deal with business topics. People often say, “You need to learn from the pros.” And that’s exactly the reason why I applied for the course. Thanks to our two instructors, Roger Jeal and Richard Waddington, I now know many great tips to make my stories more interesting and reader-friendly. Numbers are no longer challenging and now they can be sources for great stories too.
The course was also an opportunity for me to make new friends. I had such a blast talking with 11 colleagues from other countries every day and learning so much from them. Thank you Ahmad, Alfredo, Anton, Bishnu, Cathy, Chidinma, Gabriela, Moinuddin, Tajudeen, Tecee, and Yihan for making my week in London unforgettable and for letting me know that journalists around the world are all the same: we are doing a tough job, but we love it anyway. I wish we had had more time together because, at least for me, the week came and went too fast.
I would also like to send a big thank-you to Belen, Tracy, and other members of the Thomson Reuters Foundation for your kindness and all the preparations you made. I could not ask for anything more since you arranged everything for me and always made me feel at home.
I would not call this THE trip of my life, just because I am still young and I believe there is so much more waiting for me ahead. But this is definitely one of the trips that I will never forget. It is definitely one of THE trips.
It felt so great to be a journalist and be offered a chance to visit one of the biggest newsrooms in the world.
Just like it felt so great to see Big Ben for the first time.
'The one who taught me a letter, I would be a slave for him'
By Ahmed AlKabarit
I am glad to say that I have had one of my best experiences here in London by participating in a Thomson Reuters Foundation course on Writing Business and Financial News.
Once again I am very proud to say such course taught me how to open my eyes widely on my 'fatal errors' I could made in my financial report, especially the accuracy, which could weaken my news story.
I hope the course will improve my news covering as a whole.
There’s a famous saying in Arabic that goes “The one who taught me a letter, I would be a slave for him.” The saying tells us how the teacher has a great position. And this saying has to be said about Mr. Roger Jeal and Richard Waddington.
It has been my pleasure to meet all the 11 attendees: Pak Sheung Tang, Alfredo Jaramillo, Atitebi Oyelola Tajudeen, Yihan Hu, Minh Tri Le, Bishnu Prasad Pokharel, AK Mohammed Moinuddin, Anton Liagusha, Jesadeh Tecee Christy Boley, Agbogho Chidinma Agu and Gabriela Kajtarova.
Special thanks and appreciations for the 'unknown soldiers': Tracy Hart and Belen Becerra.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank Thomson Reuters Foundation for this wonderful course.
