THE SUNRISE industry of economic journalism and business reporting was the focus of a forum organized by the UST Journalism Society (JournSoc) and the Artlets Economics Society (AES) last Sept. 6 at the audio-visual room of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
In “Show Me The Money: A Seminar on Business Journalism,” Raul Dancel, Philippine Daily Inquirer business section senior writer, and Rodwin Oloresisimo, UST Social Research Center publishing consultant and editor, tackled the best practices of business reporting.
Dancel and Oloresisimo advised the audience to “follow money and greed closely” if they aspire to become successful writers.
“The basic requirements in writing as a business reporter are the skill to write in the simplest manner and the ability to interpret the economic data,” Oloresisimo said.
Dancel warned the students to be careful with the use of words as words create a great impact on the readers. He cited the closure of Urban Bank as an example.
A certain writer used the wrong word to describe the bank’s situation at that time, Dancel said. As a result, depositors panicked and the bank run halted the bank’s operations.
According to JournSoc president Bhenjar Toor, the seminar was designed to be an eye-opener for the students. He explained many Journalism and Economics students could build successful careers in economic reporting.
UST Economics alumni who have made it good in business journalism include Gil Cabacungan of the Inquirer and former Varsitarian editor in chief Felipe Salvosa II of the Business World. Journalism alumni who have carved a niche in economic reporting include Ruben Alabastro and Dolly Aglay of Reuter’s Business News and Mel Elona, business editor of the Manila Times.
AES president Paul Jeong said the society is planning to propose to Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Armando de Jesus that Economic Journalism be included in the A.B. Economics curriculum. Elka Krystle R. Requinta
