* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
No matter how long you are in journalism, if you do not keep revising and upgrading your professional skills, you will start to make mistakes
With Mongolia’s traditional nomadic ways being rapidly transformed by a boom in mining, it was a good time for the Thomson Reuters Foundation to hold a business reporting course in the capital Ulaanbaatar (which means ‘Red Hero’).
One journalist from Kazakhstan and one from Tajikistan joined nine locals for the week-long course hosted by the national state news agency, Montsame, a stone’s throw from the city’s heart, Chinggis Khan Square.
Ten of the 11 participants were women – a sign perhaps of the fact that many more Mongolian women than men complete higher education, particularly in journalism.
Here are some impressions of the course from Kazakhstan journalist Marina Khegay:
No matter how long you are in journalism, if you do not keep revising and upgrading your professional skills, you will start to make mistakes.
The trainers, Alan Wheatley and Richard Meares, created a friendly environment and provided us with an easy, speedy way into the world of business news. I spent five excellent days on this well planned and intensive course.
We became much stronger at writing leads, using golden quotes and avoiding jargon. Alongside gaining a deep understanding of economic processes and working with numbers, we learned how to work fast and accurately – using varied methods such as quizzes, practical exercises, charts, discussions and learning games.
We had two incredible guests in the room - the head of the Ulaanbaatar office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Matthieu Le Blan, and the Reuters Mongolia correspondent, Terrence Edwards – both perfect examples of high professionalism and motivation.
We worked in teams, competed with each other, won and sometimes lost, but nobody felt uncomfortable in the class.
I’m now more confident about writing to international standards and I know how to speak about money. I’ll share my most valuable tips with my colleagues back in Almaty.
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