Fundamentals of economic journalism

Over the last two decades, economic journalism has flourished in the developing countries, including Bangladesh, rapidly. Compared to the developed world, where economic journalism has reached quite a high level, it lags behind in these countries. A few nations like India, however, seem to have got closer to the developed world in this type of journalism due to their stronger knowledge base.   In fact, globalisation has compelled journalists in the developing countries to put in their efforts into the task of tracking economic, financial and business developments along with those occurring globally.
Against this backdrop, Columbia University in New York, USA, published a book titled Covering Globalization: A Handbook for Reporters 11 years ago. Jointly edited by Anya Schiffrin and Amer Bisat, the book is "the first journalism textbook for reporters who cover finance and economics in developing and transitional countries." The back cover write-up of the book says, "Written by economists from the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund as well as journalists who have worked for Dow Jones, the Financial Times, the New York Times, Fortune, and Reuters -- and with an introduction by Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz -- this invaluable resource helps reporters write about subjects such as banking and banking crises, pension reform, privatisation, trade agreements, central banks, the World Bank, sovereign debt restructuring, commodity markets, corporate governance, poverty-eradication programs, and the 'resource curse'." Going through the book, one can easily discover how true this claim is. And maybe, that's why the book is still very relevant and will continue to be so.
In the introductory article titled The Importance of Critical Thinking, writers Joseph Stiglitz and Anya Schiffrin illustrate the rationale and importance of the book. They say: "In economics as well as in politics, there is an intertwining of the global and the local. For journalists this means that reporters everywhere cover global issues and that local economic stories have become global ones. This has placed a huge burden on reporters all over the world. It is not enough to know about your local company anymore. You also need to know about global trends in the sector in which your local company operates. You cannot write about labor in Jakarta or Hanoi without knowing about Nike boycotts in the United States and Europe. Writing effectively about a local privatization or banking crisis means having to know about what has happened in other countries. The experiences in other countries inform much of the debate."
The Rana Plaza tragedy that took the lives of more than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh and the subsequent outcry across the world is a classic example of an intertwining of the global and the local. The disaster jolted the country's largest export-oriented industry producing ready-made garment (RMG), as international buyers came under huge pressure to ensure labour standards and the factories' working conditions. Journalists from the developed world flew into Bangladesh to see the real state of the RMG industry here, while local reporters struggled to find out what the international rights groups and buyers were mulling.  Without knowing about these facts, it would have become impossible for Bangladeshi journalists to depict the far-reaching impacts of the tragedy.
An important feature of the book is its effort to disseminate knowledge about critical areas like financial market, international trade, accounting, foreign direct investment, privatisation, commodities market, labour and poverty.   Joseph Stiglitz and Anya Schiffrin have rightly pointed out, "Lack of knowledge hurts coverage. Business and economic reporters are especially vulnerable because the subjects they write about are so technical and require so much knowledge.   Naturally, reporters will turn to the nearest available sources and, regrettably, they sometimes report what they learn uncritically, not realizing the biased perspectives. The problem is that those who devote resources to public relations usually have a motive for doing so. They typically want to convince others to support their positions that they advocate. But too often reporters take press release as "facts" rather than as "advocacy.""(P-6)
There are lots of instances in Bangladesh which support the problem of lack of knowledge while doing economic journalism. During the bubble and burst of the country's stock market in 2010 and 2011, nearly illiterate reporting on the capital market dominated the scenario. Most of the reporters and the news media didn't know about even the basic characteristics of the capital market and they didn't have any in-depth knowledge about the other components of the financial market. They were veritably ignorant about the basic truth that capital market is a pillar of the financial market, and equity (shares) market is a part of the capital market; while debt (bonds) market is the other one.  Thus, market players successfully misguided journalists in many cases.
The book explains the capital market in an easy language with relevant examples. Similarly, it also illustrates the complexity of the derivatives and hedge funds.  As there was a lack of knowledge about these two things, the Bangladesh media had to struggle in order to understand the reasons behind the global financial crisis that broke out in 2008.
There are 26 chapters in the book under five broader subjects, namely, Capital Markets, Banking and Macroeconomics, Corporate Reporting, Trade and Commodities and Reporting and Writing. It provides practical reporting tips and tips on internet reporting which is now occupying a wider media space. To give the book the structure of a virtual textbook, its every chapter has a glossary and tips for reporters in the form of questions.  Through the exercise of finding answers to the questions, economic journalists will be able to hone their skill. For instance, if a Bangladeshi reporter wants to work on sovereign debt in the context of Bangladesh, he/she has to find answers to questions like: "How much external debt does the sovereign debtor have? How much interest is coming due? What about principal? What are the major classes of sovereign debtors?" (P-116)  
Moreover, readers will find in the book a lot of web-links for further information, and these will of considerable help to the reporters.  There are several case-studies taken from real life. Anyone can relate the topics to his/her local contexts.  
Another major strength of the book is anyone interested to learn about the fundamental and critical aspects of the financial market, international trade or global development process will find the work useful as well as interesting.  
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Covering Globalization: A Handbook for Reporters
Edited by Anya Schiffrin and Amer Bisat Published by Colombia University Press,
New York; 2004