DataPro Trains Journalists on Credit Rating Outcomes

Journalists covering business and economic beats have been charged to be diligent in data handling in the course of their assignments in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy.

Mr. Oladele Adeoye, the Executive Director (Operations) and Chief Rating Officer (CRO) of DataPro Limited, who gave the advice at a free training course for financial journalists on media coverage of credit rating outcomes at the weekend, stressed the need for accuracy in reporting by media practitioners.

The training which attracted journalists from 15 leading media houses, according to the organisers, was geared at empowering and training the media on the knowledge and tools needed to accurately and correctly report credit rating outcomes.

Participants were drawn from Thisday, The Punch, Vanguard, BusinessDay, Arise News, Channels, TVC, Proshare, The Nation, and Daily Trust.

In his presentation, Adeoye encouraged journalists to use the information and keywords as accurately as possible to form the basis of their reporting as press releases on rating contain complex information that can easily be misunderstood.

The CRO stated further that what is required of journalists is an accurate use of Key words such as “Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair, Marginal, Weak, or Poor” as he explained the meaning of each item used in the Rating Grade.

According to him, “Portions of the press release may be freely reproduced, provided that the selected portion does not change the context of the copy and that full and clear credit is given to the Rating House” he said.

He further appealed to the journalists to ensure all references to a rating house include a proper attribution regardless of the medium in which the rating is published or delivered. These references, according to him, should include an effective date of the rating release and a link referring readers back to the rater’s website for the full press release.

Answering a question on Rating Expiry Date, Prince Adeoye noted that a Rating Outcome carries a maximum shelf life of one year after which the Rating Agency can go ahead to renew.