How to report on municipal finances
The Reporting on Municipal Finances training will focus on local government finances with a journalistic lens.
A short introduction to the topic will include the importance of investigating how the municipality brings in and spends money, the state of local government finance, some misconceptions, and ways to approach the topic. Importantly, it will identify points in the municipal budget planning process where journalists can find important and interesting stories.
At the centre of the training will be the SANEF elections data dashboard and the Municipal Money website, along with other online resources. Journalists will be shown how to use the online resources to find and to produce evidence-based stories.
Economics journalist Reg Rumney and seasoned investigative journalist Ray Joseph will guide the participants through the material, with an emphasis on interactivity and fine-tuning the training for the participants’ interests and locales; and Mail & Guardian deputy editor and data desk head Athandiwe Saba will present examples of stories where municipal finance data played a pivotal part of the reporting.
show how to follow the money in municipalities.
The heart of the training is about the needs of participants, who may require help sifting abundant financial data and demystifying it to find and produce valuable journalism.
Read more about covering municipal finances here.
