Bloomberg Executive Editor at AUD to demystify Business Journalism
Did you know that Snapchat lost $1.3 billion just because of a tweet from Kylie Jenner?
That was part of the presentation Riad Hamade, the Executive Editor of Bloomberg in the Middle East and Africa, gave last week at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School For Communication to demystify business journalism.
You don’t necessarily need to have a background in business to cover that field. Curiosity and a passion to learn are key elements for a good reporter, Hamade said. Ethics also very important.
“We treat information as on the record, unless otherwise stated if it’s off the record. In this region, I tell my journalists to be specific, if you are going to use the information, you must tell them,” said Hamade.
Bloomberg is considered to be the biggest financial information and news provider in the world.
“We distribute TV, online services, magazines, and as economists, journalists, and analysts at Bloomberg,” said Hamade.
Everybody has an opinion, however the reporters must put their opinion aside and cover all sides — and this makes them gain viewership.
“Being biased can destroy the credibility of any company, therefore you should be aware of your personal biases, and accept that you have them but try not to make them appear in your work,” said Hamade.
Before joining Bloomberg, Hamade worked at Bridge News in Frankfurt and the BBC’s Monitoring Service in the U.K.
Bloomberg headquarters are in New York, with 176 branches and 19,000 employees around the world. In the Middle East, the regional headquarters is in Dubai with offices in Cairo, Riyadh, Doha and Beirut
