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Thomson Reuters Foundation sponsored its first ever journalism training class in Paraguay.
Unsure of what to expect, but eager to experience the stresses of what it is like to work as a wire agency reporter, 10 Paraguayan journalists gathered at the headquarters of the nation’s national radio station in Asuncion, ready to build writing, interviewing and sourcing skills in a classroom setting.
Thomson Reuters Foundation sponsored its first ever journalism training class, partnering with the radio station which provided the classroom and helped choose the participants, nearly all of whom operate in three languages: Spanish, English and Guarani, the indigenous language of Paraguay.
Led by veteran Thomson Reuters Global Investment Correspondent, Daniel Bases, an experienced lecturer and teacher for Trust Media, the weeklong Writing and Reporting News course exposed the participants not only to the rigors and stresses of agency journalism, but also the myriad of ethical questions and situations faced by a still young democracy.
Participants were taught and for some had reinforcement of basics in story structure, sourcing guidelines, ethics as well as an introduction to economic and financial market reporting. The later proving very timely for the Paraguayan journalists as just in the last five months the government issued $500 million worth of sovereign debt to extremely high demand. Paraguay’s economy, growing rapidly, and having a democratic transition of power, will be garnering more attention from the world’s emerging market investors. Knowing how bonds work and the political implications on its price will be a useful skill set for the participants to have and develop. The transparency in the economy is limited, providing fertile ground for them to explore and educate the majority of the 5.5 million people who are being swept up with the greater economic activity.
Participants embraced the mantra “Don’t Show Your Bias.” This is critical in a nation where journalism is driven by opinion and commentary and facts can be colored by political party policies, the participants said.
Understanding of how social media works the class delved into unfamiliar subject areas to create a profile of a story unfolding on Twitter, Facebook and media in general over the Internet. They made presentations of what they found to the class, all done in English.
The mixture of state and private media journalists created a forum for lively debate, much of it centered on ethical behavior. The caliber of the participants was high and bodes well for future programs.
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