Developing Asia Journalism Training and Awards 2009
Agenda

Registration

Welcome Remarks: Worapot Manupipatpong, Director of Capacity Building and Training (CBT), ADBI

Introduction of the Program: John West, Senior Consultant for CBT, ADBI

Photo Session

Coffee Break

Keynote Speech: Toshihiko Kinoshita, Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Waseda University

• Presentation: What a Japanese Economist expects to Asian Journalists writing Socio-political and Economic News [ PDF 150KB | 10 pages ]

Q&A

Lunch

Session I: Poverty Impact of the Global Financial Crisis

The crisis has led to a sharp slowdown in the economic growth rates of all Asian and Pacific countries. How has this affected the lives of poor people in terms of unemployment or falls in income? Many of those who have migrated overseas from developing countries or within their own countries (as in China, for example) are having to return home or are unable to send so much money back to their families. How is this affecting the income of the poor?

How effective are social “safety nets” - for example, the provision of unemployment pay or other cash benefits, health care, education allowances etc - in counteracting the new poverty? Do many people “slip through” the safety nets because they do not qualify for benefits for one reason or another (migrants especially)?

The prices of food and energy have declined from their peaks reached in 2008, which should have benefited the poor but what is the reality “on the ground”? Government subsidies for food and fuel have been reduced in some cases, so are people better or worse off now that prices have declined. How has the fall in prices of food and other commodities impacted farmers - small farmers especially?

Moderator: John West, Senior Consultant for CBT, ADBI

Speaker: Niny Khor, Economist, Economics and Research Department, Asian Development Bank

• Presentation: Do SMEs generate sufficient productive employment for Asia's poor? [ PDF 913.8KB | 21 pages ]

Open Discussion

Coffee Break

Session II: Government Responses to the Global Financial Crisis

Have governments in the region responded quickly and rapidly enough to soften the blow of the global economic crisis? Have they done enough by way of providing fiscal stimulus (through national or local government budgets), and have central banks used monetary policy tools effectively, especially to help smaller businesses? How well or otherwise governments have reacted to the crisis - and what could have been done differently?

The dramatic fall in world trade as a result of the global economic crisis means that developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region are almost certainly not going to be able to rely on export markets to produce economic growth so much in the future as they did in the past. Instead, they will need to increase domestic consumption. What are the obstacles that stand in the way of doing this? Do people save (rather than spend) their money because they are afraid of sickness or unemployment, or because of the need to save for their old age? Are wages generally too low to permit greater consumption of goods after basic necessities such as food, fuel and shelter have been paid for?

Moderator: Worapot Manupipatpong, Director of CBT, ADBI

Speaker: Mario Lamberte, Director of Research, ADBI

• Presentation: Government Responses to the Global Financial Crisis [ PDF 354.8KB | 36 pages ]

Open Discussion

Cocktail Dinner

Keynote Speech: Seiichi Kanise, Journalist and Dean, School of International Japanese Studies, Meiji University

Q&A

Coffee Break

Session III: Infrastructure Development

The Developing Asia and the Pacific region has enormous needs for basic infrastructure development in transport, energy, communications, water and sanitation etc. Many governments are planning for provision of new infrastructure facilities, or upgrading of existing ones, as part of their fiscal stimulus packages. Would infrastructure spending be able to achieve the objective of promoting domestic demand to sustain economic growth? In addition to infrastructure, or as an alternative to it, where should the money best be spent in order to achieve a proper balance between economic growth and its sustainability?

What would be the benefits of linking countries in the Asia-Pacific region closer together through cross-border infrastructure provision - for example, road, rail, air or sea links, energy pipelines or telecommunications links?

What has the government done to encourage private sector involvement in building new infrastructure? What are the views of the private sector regarding public-private partnership scheme in your country? What more can governments do to make infrastructure investment more attractive to private investors?

Moderator: Anthony Rowley, Business Times, Singapore

Speaker: Biswa Bhattacharyay, Special Advisor to the Dean, ADBI

• Presentation: Infrastructure for a Seamless Asia: Regional Cooperation [ PDF 431.6KB | 28 pages ]

Open Discussion

Lunch

Session IV: Journalism for Economic and Financial Literacy (In cooperation with the International Institute for Journalism, InWEnt)

This session will discuss specific craft skills that can be used to do this. The first part will look at reporting tools that can be used to improve the quality of economic news stories, news analyses and news features. These include a strong emphasis on the so-called “so-what?” element of the story as well as the diversification of sources, widening of the subject and provision of context that adds to readers' understanding of events and trends. It will point at examples of stories that bring economics and finance to life and make the connections between economic institutions and the lives of ordinary people. These examples will be drawn from the subject areas of the DAJA competition: Poverty impact of the global financial crisis; government responses to the global financial crisis; infrastructure development; climate change adaptation. The second part will focus on specific tools that journalists can use to decode and translate the jargon-riddled world of finance and economics within their stories. During the final part of the session, articles by this year's finalists will be deconstructed as examples of good journalism promoting economic literacy.

Facilitated by: Graham Watts, International Institute for Journalism

• Presentation: How to progress from being in the business of delivering information to the business of delivering understanding? [ PDF 159.3KB | 25 pages ]
• Presentation: Economic Literacy through Journalism [ PDF 124.3KB | 10 pages ]

Training Session

Coffee Break

Training Session Continued

Session V: Journalism for Environmental Literacy (In cooperation with the International Institute for Journalism, InWEnt)

This session will discuss the role and focus of environmental journalism which should be based on a thorough knowledge of the science, politics and economy around environmental issues without being partisan. If we describe the advantages of eco-technology such as solar power, we should at the same time ask for its rebound effects and life-cycle-analysis. If a river becomes polluted, we should not only point out the culprit but raise the question why relevant environmental laws had not been enforced. Investigative research should not shy away from eco-companies and organisations.

The first part of the session will look at the history of environmental journalism and then focus on the current hot topic climate change with its two aspects: mitigation and adaptation. What is the science behind it, what are the political strategies six weeks before the Copenhagen conference? During the second part, specific tools and new angles for climate change reporting will be discussed. How do we deal with the uncertainties in the scientific understanding of the greenhouse effect? How do the media fulfil the watchdog role without becoming exploited by interest groups? How can we translate the abstract global issue into something close to our readers? How can info graphics and multimedia help?

Facilitated by: Dirk Asendorf, International Institute for Journalism

Training Session

Coffee Break

Training Session Continued

Lunch

Session VI: Adaptation to Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific

Adapting to climate change is an urgent necessity for all countries and especially for those that are least developed economically, including small-island states that are most vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods and droughts.

How is climate change impacting agriculture, tourism, water and food supplies? Do governments have in place policies to deal with the negative impacts of climate change? Do they have sufficient human and other resources to deal with the problem? How can donors and international organizations help?

Moderator: Monzurul Huq, Daily Prothom Alo, Bangladesh

Speaker: Anbumozhi Venkatachalam, Capacity Building Specialist, ADBI

• Presentation: Adapting to Climate Change, Why and How? [ PDF 1.3MB | 38 pages ]

Open Discussion

Coffee Break

Participants Roundtable Discussion

Field Trip: Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)

Lunch

Field Trip: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Awards Ceremony & Dinner at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)