Contributing editor, Hans Ngala schools CNA reporters on key journalism techniques

By Laura Ndeh

CNA’s contributing editor, Hans Ngala has just completed a masterclass on key journalism techniques with some eight reporters who work for the outlet. The training which took place on the eve of CNA’s ninth anniversary was aimed at improving the quality of journalism by the organization’s reporters.
During discussions that took place at the CNA newsroom on October 26, 2023, Ngala emphasized the need for reporters to improve the quality of their writing and use the Associated Press style for news stories.
“Your reader should be able to tell what the news is about from the very first two to three sentences,” he stated.
He also noted the qualities of a good journalist and compared the concept to two sides of a coin: “You have to be a good reader in order to be a good journalist, you should be able to read other national and international news outlets” he advised.
While highlighting what makes news, Ngala Hans reiterated the need for reporters to focus on news stories that would be relevant to an anglophone Cameroonian audience.
“News should be unusual, interesting, fresh and peculiar. News should be significant to a particular group of people” he said.
At the end of the discussions, a self-test was administered for each reporter to test his or her journalistic abilities.

Cameroon News Agency was created on October 27, 2014.