Reporting the financial world
With the world's stock markets in turmoil and concerns about the global economy escalating, this week on Over to You we have been looking at the challenges that face those who report on the financial world.
How do reporters cover these developments without influencing the state of the markets and exacerbating the situation?
Martin Webber, editor of World Business Report, joined me in the studio to discuss the dilemmas that face reporters at a time of economic turbulence.
Martin explained that language is very important when describing the state of the markets and provided an insight into the guidance he has given about covering the story.
He explained that for a fall of two percent, moderate words like 'falling back' should be used, whereas describing markets as 'plunging' should only be used for falls of five or six percent - and 'crash' only for falls of 18-20 percent, which happen only once in a generation.
Social media in Egypt
Elsewhere in the world, Egypt's former president Mubarak appears on trial in Cairo, bringing the country's revolution back into the headlines.
Earlier in the year social media was credited with bringing down his regime, and we wanted to know if it is still playing such an important role today, so I discussed the subject with blogger and activist Wael Abbas and Sam Farrah, presenter of Talking Point on 91Èȱ¬ Arabic.
We explored whether the balance has changed in the relationship between new social media, like Twitter, and the more conventional traditional media.
Wael explained that social media has been having a harder time recently as people have been listening more to the state media.
Sam thought that mainstream media has a role in cooperationg with social media, and while it may be facing a tough time, it is a temporary phase.
If you have anything you want to comment about that you hear on the World Service, we are always pleased to hear from you, so do contact us.
Rajan Datar is the presenter of Over To You.
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