Maseru-Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) held a two day capacity building workshop for journalists on effective business, economic, financial and development reporting in Maseru on Thursday and Friday.
While officially opening this workshop on behalf of the Commissioner General of RSL, Pheello Mphana said this workshop is intended to improve reporting knowledge and skills to reporters on issues related to finances, economics as well as taxation.
He stated that it is also to empower journalists with the right skills to help them ask the right question in relation to the aforementioned beat which will also enable them to hold related institutions accountable.
Mphana stated that media practitioners are a bridge between complex financial information and the public. He said, ” your ability to distill intricate financial reports into clear, accessible narrative is crucial. ” In Addition he said the training is not onlyabout understanding numbers and regulations but it is also about empowering media practitioners to communicate effectively, ask relevant and be able to hold institutions accountable.
Moreover, Mphana said it is media professionals’ responsibility to ensure that citizens are well informed and educated and that the key institutions and businesses are held according and that policy makers are guided by the truth.
Moving on, Mphana said in recent years, they have witnessed significant changes in policies, some of which are yet to be finalised and operationalized. He stated that media practitioners should remember the importance of ethical reporting.
“In a world where misinformation can spread like wild fire, our commitment to truth and accuracy is paramount. We must strive not to be just reporters of facts but also educators who help otr audiences understand the implications of those factors that we are reporting on,” said Mphana.
In conclusion Mphana said he acknowledges and appreciate dedication of media and to their work. He said their presence and participation in the workshop shows hie eager they are to learn and to give accurate information to their audiences. Hestated that as RSL they did not expect such a large number of media professionals to attend the workshop especially because business and economic issues are regarded to be boring. Mphanasaid he hopes that thus workshop will help media practitioners to give their audience more clarity on economical issues and also create a platform for audiences to raise the view and opinions in business and economic related issues.
