Newspaper journalists have been taught new and more professional ways of reporting business and economic news events. This is to enable business people make better decisions after reading through news articles.

Speaking during a seminar organised by the US Embassy in Douala from August 9th to 10th, the author of 10 Practical Tips for Business and Economic Reporting in Developing Economies and former reporter for the US best-selling Wall Street Journal, Paul Hemp urged reporters to make their articles understandable and interesting, focus less on statistics and more on people. He said Business and economic reporters have an obligation not only to report what happened or what someone said, but to explain its significance.

For him, the story should pass "the so-what test" to what is important for the work force, for the industry, for the nation and particularly why it is important for the reader. For example, a reader is directly affected by business developments when they have an impact on prices or on taxes or on the availability of goods or on people's buying power, he explained.

For better news stories, Paul Hemp, advised objectivity, fairness and a more complete picture of events for readers.