LONDON: Arab News Business Editor, Sean Cronin, talks to Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Matthew Winkler about the news organization’s local training program. Q: What is the next step for the students who go through the course? A: The course exposes students to the various elements of financial journalism, and introduces them to Bloomberg’s brand of data-driven reporting, based on the “Bloomberg Way,” the students will hear directly from more than 20 Bloomberg journalists and analysts from London and the Middle East, on everything from using social media as a reporting tool and multimedia journalism, to journalistic ethics and principles and covering Middle East economies. We hope to strengthen their existing interest in pursuing a career in financial journalism, and to inspire them to explore these specific areas further following the completion of the course. Q:Will any go on to work for Bloomberg? A: Through this course, and indeed all our global financial training programs, we want to inspire students to pursue a career in financial business and news organizations, whether that is at Bloomberg or elsewhere. We encouraged a number of participants from last January’s course to apply for our global internship programs. Two participants were particularly interested in how we use data across Bloomberg, and recently completed our summer data internship program in London. A third participant will begin a news internship in Dubai later this month. Q: How many students do you expect to train every year? A: We expect to train 40 to 50 students in total every year. Thirty students participated in the first edition of the program; this number dropped slightly in the second edition as we have implemented a rigorous application process to ensure we have the strongest candidates. Q: Do you see core journalistic skills being threatened by financial pressures facing the industry and the churn demanded of reporters? A: Yes, I believe this is especially the case in broadcast news where context, perspective and facts are casualties of this. This is where accuracy, which is at the heart of the “Bloomberg Way,” becomes particularly important. Q: Is it becoming more challenging for local and national media to hold organizations accountble, and what can be done to change that? A: Financial pressures have eroded local news reporting, so there is a lack of accountability when there is no vibrant local press, which in turn leads to limited public discourse.