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Journalists urged to specialise in environmental reporting

14 April 2008

Director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication emphasises the importance of analysing the environmental debate from the perspective of a developing country

A media workshop for Asian and African journalists focusing on environmental issues and the media ended on 11 April 2008 at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi, India, with a call for journalists to specialise in environmental journalism and improve the reporting of environmental issues in the media.

Speaking at the closing of the five-day training session convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the IIMC, Professor K M Shrivastava,  a Specialist in News Agency Journalism at the Institute, said environmental journalism is still lagging behind other specialisms, and urged participants to fill this gap.

“There are few people currently specialising in the environmental reporting, and yet these issues are very critical and impact greatly on all other aspects of society,” he noted.

Commenting on the quality and depth of media coverage of environmental issues, Professor Shrivastava emphasised the importance of analysing the debate from the perspective of a developing country instead of taking a one-sided, western oriented approach.

Professor Shrivastava added that developed countries at present account for the biggest percentage of greenhouse gas emissions in the world today, and yet it is the poor countries who are suffering the most in coping with the changes.

“When an environmental issue is raised, be critical so you that you are not taken for a ride,” he stressed.

He said the IIMC was pleased with its partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat in delivering the training programme, funded by the Commonwealth Media Development Fund (CMDF).

Dr Sunetra Sen Narayan, the Associate Professor of New Media at the IIMC and one of the media trainers at the workshop, explained that the course aimed to broaden participants’ knowledge on the environment to help them write better stories.

Adolf Mbaine, an environmental journalism specialist from Makerere University in Uganda and co-facilitator for the workshop, emphasised the importance of forming a network of environmental journalists so that participants can continue to share experiences and learn from each other after the workshop.

Participants who took part in the training said the interactive nature of the workshop, which featured presentations from key experts and long discussions and debates, had greatly improved their knowledge on the environment and made them better equipped to report incisively and accurately.

“I found the workshop very useful because it provided me with deeper insight into climate change which is leading to sea rise in the Pacific region. For me, this issue is very critical because it is not just an environmental issue, but also political, social and economic,” observed Pita Ligaiula, a journalist from Fiji Islands.

Sylvia Jere, a Zambian journalist, and Sub-Editor for Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS) in Lusaka said: “The experts gave me a global perspective to the environment, and I hope to share this through my work when I return home”.

Combating climate change and encouraging Commonwealth citizens to take better care of the environment is gaining prominence in the Commonwealth. The theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day, held on 10 March 2008, was 'The Environment - Our Future'. In November 2007, Commonwealth Heads of Government endorsed a Commonwealth Action Plan on Climate Change at their biennial summit in Uganda. The plan highlights practical actions to tackle the impact of climate change.