T&T Journalists receive Business Reporting training

Twenty‐three journalists have benefited from a Business Journalism Workshop held on Thursday April 25, 2019 hosted by the Unit Trust Corporation and facilitated by the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), in partnership with the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC).

Participants, from media houses across T&T, were introduced to perspectives on media coverage of business and finance by business leaders who participated in an Industry Panel moderated by regional journalist, Wesley Gibbings.

The panel featured UTC Executive Director Nigel Edwards, President of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Reyaz Ahamad, and Chief Executive Officer of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago, Nirad Tewarie.

The common thread running through the workshop, under the theme “The Story Behind the Numbers,” was to encourage reporters to go beyond the surface of the numbers and sift out the untold stories. UTC’s Assistant Vice President, Finance, Kerry‐Ann Erskine then joined with Economist correspondent, Mark Wilson, for a working session on reporting on and reviewing basic Financial Statements and Annual Reports.

David Ho, US‐based senior digital news leader, content strategist and media product pioneer presented on journalism’s best practice regarding the use of Press Releases. He explored the development of content presented by corporate dispatches and discussed appropriate journalistic treatments.

Former BBC trainer/senior journalist, Orin Gordon, who has also served as Editor‐in‐Chief at Guardian Media Limited defined the key ingredients for “A Good Business Story”. He was followed by UK‐based, former Executive Director of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), Calvin Wilson, who explored the role of the Financial Services Sector in the national economy.
Wilson invited journalists to explore possible storylines related to Trinidad and Tobago’s performance related to eleven international benchmarks that assess readiness to address concerns related to transnational financial crime.

Mark Wilson, assisted by Gibbings, returned to propose methods for interpreting National Economic Reviews and challenged journalists to unearth stories about the economy hidden under official language and statistics.

The day closed with the presentation of Certificates of Participation to journalists, following remarks by UTC Corporate Communications Manager, Rory Rostant.
2 May 2019.

UTC Executive Director Nigel Edwards, third from left, engages in a panel discussion during UTC’s Business Journalism Workshop. Other panelists, from left, President of the Trinidad & Tobago

Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Reyaz Ahamad, and Chief Executive Officer of the American
Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago, Nirad Tewarie.

From left, Moderator Wesley Gibbings shares the moment with President of the Trinidad &

Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Reyaz Ahamad, UTC Executive Director Nigel Edwards and
Chief Executive Officer of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago, Nirad Tewarie,
with journalists and UTC Team Members at UTC’s Business Journalism Workshop.