By Patricia Kapulula

Lilongwe, Mana: Ministry of Information and Digitalisation, says Malawi can only achieve its goals on the benefit of credible data and facts as the country moves towards implementing the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) blueprint.

Director of Information, Chikumbutso Mtumodzi made the remarks in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a media orientation on Data Access and Utilisation which was organised by the National Statistical Office (NSO) with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

He said it for that reason that data journalism is important as it has a growing value hence the need for journalists to gather, filter and visualise what is happening beyond what the eye can see.

“We can better understand the world around us by using numbers and facts. It allows us to discover new trends, issues and patterns. We also have the power to change things for the better.

“Using data transforms something abstract into something that everyone can understand and relate to,” he said.

NSO Principal Statistician, Richard Phiri said the media engagement was meant for capacity building so that journalists are able to effectively analyse and interpret research results.

“We would like to emphasise on how some of these indicators that we produce are computed and also how best they can be interpreted,” he said.

Association of Business Journalists in Malawi Executive Member, Taonga Sabola said business journalists have a very critical role to play in any economy as they provide a bridge between the policy makers and the ordinary citizens hence the need for them to be equipped with skills for effective data interpretation.

“The policy makers are there to make policies for the people but for them (people) to appreciate what the policy makers are doing, business journalists need to break down whatever is made at the policy level to a level that the people can easily understand so that they appreciate what their government or industry is doing,” he said.

NSO has been working with UNPFA to develop an application called Malawi Data Platform which is hosting a number of indicators produced from surveys and census.

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