Gambian blogger attends Reuters’ training in Nigeria

Mr Jahateh at the Banjul International Airport

 The proprietor and publisher of Gambia News Online blog (www.gambianewsonline.blogspot.com), Lamin Jahateh, on Sunday morning left to Lagos, Nigeria, to attend an intensive weeklong training on Financial and Economic Reporting from 9-13 May 2011.

Mr Jahateh will join fourteen (14) other journalists from English speaking West African countries to undergo the training that is organized by Thomson Reuters Foundation in partnership with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).

The course is designed to help business journalists in West Africa to strengthen their reporting on financial and economic topics by developing their understanding and skills.  ‘Learning by doing’ is a core part of the programme, which includes practical exercises and live reporting.

The course also focuses on improving coverage of national and international financial issues through detailed briefings, presentations by guest speakers and, where appropriate, a reporting visit to a financial institution. In-depth discussions will explore ways of tackling subjects such as resource exploitation, economic governance and capital flight from developing countries.

“The course will further enhance my knowledge in reporting financial and business issues and be of greater credit to the Magazine and the nation a whole,” said Mr Jahateh, who is also the deputy news editor of The Marketplace Magazine and also the correspondent of The Gambia Banker (www.thegambianbanker.com).

He added: “Coming together with media practitioners from different countries with different life and cultural backgrounds is something I always cherish because I feel it can help me increase my knowledge of how things are being done in other countries.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation provides Reuters Training Programmes for journalists around the globe, sharing the skills and values that have made Reuters (www.reuters.com) world-renowned as a highly reliable and trusted source of news and information.  The foundation also offers customised training programmes for media organisations and courses for NGOs and others needing insights into improving their media relations.