Bahrain on an amazing trajectory: CNN journalist Eleni Giokos

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com 

Staff Reporter

Bahrain is on an amazing trajectory as its ambitious economic plans are taking off, said Eleni Giokos, CNN Anchor, Correspondent and a leading global journalist. Eleni, who was on a visit to the Kingdom as part of CNN projects, said the Kingdom is one of the most vibrant nations she has been to.

“This country is magnificent and its success in many areas could be attributed to appropriate domestic policies adopted by the leadership, completely focusing on the local population,” Eleni said the biggest asset the Kingdom possesses is its great people, who are warm and welcoming.

“I spoke to many industry leaders as well as policy-makers. And they are all confident about implementing great plans that will take the nation to new levels, economically and socially. Most importantly, from a journalist’s perspective, I appreciate their openness and willingness to talk.”

During an exclusive interaction with The Daily Tribune, the top journo said journalists have an important role in ensuring transparency both in the public and private sector.

“When we speak of transparency, we mainly consider the public sector encompassing government officials and other related players.

But the journalists must also focus on ensuring transparency in the private sector; they have a big role in making companies accountable.” Eleni said obtaining the right information from credible news sources has always been a tough task for journalists.

“When I began my career as a financial journalist in South Africa, obtaining information almost seemed like an impossible task. And we began meticulously collecting information and the process would create a new body of work.

The pan-African content, which our team created, would later help investors understand the economic landscape of the continent.” Eleni said CNN always believes in the concept of developing local capacity and capability in quality journalism.

“Wherever we went, we trained locals, worked with freelancers, took interns as the focus remained mainly on building core local capacity.” When asked about the prerequisites to be a world-class journalist, she said: “A journalist must be passionate about information, history and social issues.

Endurance and resilience are definitely essential qualities as one can easily get swayed by criticism or a tough boss. The third thing is the ability to learn continuously and be frequently observant while remaining curious and steadfast.”

Eleni said, of late, there have been many attacks on journalists’ capabilities and intentions and this rhetoric emanates from the part of those who don’t want to be criticized.

“It’s easy to shift the blame on the media. So journalists should double-check facts and rely only on credible sources to ward off fake news allegations.

Our jobs are more important than ever as we are fighting people with fake identities.” Eleni said the relegation of print media will adversely affect quality journalism. “The significance of print media is beyond any reckoning.

Nothing matches a well-written story. I would advise every journalism aspirant to begin their journey with print media, for they are the best training wheels to learn skills.”