The lack of diverse voices often hinders balanced reporting. During the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) leading environmental journalists from the Global South emphasised the importance of inclusive stories in the call for climate action.
InfoNile Ugandan journalist Fred Mugira argued that one of the main challenges in climate reporting is the lack of evidence-based reporting which is inclusive.
“The main challenges journalists face around climate reporting is lack of evidence-based stories. If you have no evidence of how people have been affected and evidence from scientists you're bound to write a half-baked story,” he said.
According to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index for 2015, seven of the ten countries most at risk from climate change are in Africa.
African-led climate movement 350Africa.org has documented some of Africa's climate challenges. The worst issues are weather-related and have resulted in droughts, heat stress and flooding which has led to a reduction in crop yields and livestock productivity.
“Over the past 25 years, the number of weather-related disasters, such as floods and droughts, has doubled, resulting in Africa having a higher mortality rate from droughts than any other region,” reads the report.
While expert opinion is important and is often sought after source, there is an equally important voice – that of communities affected. At least that is the view of climate change journalist and policy expert Hongqiao Lui.
She emphasised that when covering climate stories, journalists should not just focus on numbers or pledges but also produce stories that are reflective of those affected.
“We should encourage journalists to go out to not just look at science, sorry look at climate as a science issue, as a political issue, as a comic issue but also as a human issue,” she said.
Mugira added that it is very important to have local voices featured in reports and to put a human face on stories about those affected and consequently how they are living under these changing conditions.
“Because they (faces) don't just live in newspapers or TV, they live where the stories are made, in the communities of those affected. So, I strongly believe that's the way we can bring those faces there,” he added.
Brazilian environmental journalist Daniela Chiaretti said that in the call for climate action, journalists should strive to connect with different sectors of society to open up discussion, especially the youth that bears the burden of the climate crisis heaviest on their shoulders.
“We should have some kind of discussion with psychologists that are working teenagers as teenagers now have this burden of climate change over them. This is only one example of how I see that our work can be broader, more amplified for different sectors of society,” she said.
Reporting policy
Lui said she returned to journalism with a desire to satiate a gap between policy and journalism where information sharing is critical in making tackling climate change possible.
“There is a gap in not only journalism but also in the policy arena where information is the key for us to cooperate and create understanding to build trust and the confidence about tackling climate change and act together,”
Earth Journalism Network Asia-Pacific project manager Amy Sim says in the quest to deliver journalism that better tells the climate crisis story, investment in quality journalism is paramount.
“As the impact of climate change becomes increasingly felt, increasing polarization of the … and contestation of the climate discourse, it's extremely important for journalism to have the resources they need to bring out the voices of those who don't have the funds to put up press releases or stage press conferences, those voices are the ones who are most impacted,” she said.
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