Kenyan journalists covering climate change and their counterparts in East Africa region have got a shot in the arm with the release of a training manual on the subject.
Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry and GIZ Kenya has produced a guidebook on the phenomenon that is ravaging economies and giving scientists sleepless nights.
Divided into six modules, the booklet is targeted at giving reporters and editors a “comprehensive knowledge” to have a 360-degree assessment of the subject that is increasingly challenging newsrooms and media owners to have an indepth and independent assessment if individuals, corporates and economies were to survive its onslaught.
Climate change basics; adaptation and mitigation; sustainability; innovation; legal and policy responses; and reporting challenges are some of the units it covers.
Containing a glossary of terms to help in navigating the rapidly evolving subject, the guidebook outlines the straight and narrow of reporting climate change.
A good climate change journalist should avoid sensationalist reporting and alarmist language that “can evoke fear and anxiety”, leading to climate fatigue and apathy.
“Journalists should strive to use measured, factual language when reporting climate change, conveying urgency without inducing panic,” the manual advises.
Citing one of the canons of good journalism, the publication says verification of facts through multiple “respectable” sources will make the reports stand out and drive the intended message.
However, while explaining the science, the book cautions against oversimplifying complex issues, an attempt that may lead to misrepresentation and misunderstanding.
For a compelling climate change story, it behoves reporters and editors to use analogies and real-world examples.
To do that, the manual explains, it is important to include diverse voices to capture various perspectives, including those of frontline communities, indigenous peoples, women, youth, and other marginalised constituencies.
During the tours of the provinces to gauge the understanding of journalists on the subject, provincial reporters, correspondents, and contributors painted a picture of how climate change reporting had been fashioned as a “Nairobi beat” since voices from the bureaus were incessantly muted.
In Kisumu, journalists listed cases of their pitches that editors ignored, only for the story ideas to resurrect through senior reporters sent from Nairobi to do special reports.
Similar to alarmist reporting, too much negative portrayal makes the list of don’ts, according to the manual that advocates for balanced reporting carrying possible solutions and success stories.
What about following up climate stories? Newsrooms, the publication says, need a continuous monitoring of reported scenes, cases, and search for new surveys, researches and announcements.
“Following up on stories allows reporters to assess the effectiveness of climate change interventions, evaluate policy outcomes, and keep audiences informed.”
Across the world, partnerships are emerging to confront the effects of climate change. It is against this backdrop that media owners are partnering with a cross section of actors to prepare journalists for climate science reportage.
During the launch of the booklet this week, Kenya’s climate and environment principal secretary, Festus Ng’eno, said research and a survey of journalists show media people “can and should do more to tell the story of climate change” and, therefore, the publication was expected to “open new professional opportunities for Kenyan journalists to excel in their field”.
Global warming, frequent flooding, prolonged droughts, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, altered precipitation cycles, and melting ice and glaciers are some of the key manifestations of climate change.
John Recha, a climate scientist at ILRI, led the team that produced the booklet. He also trained journalists across major bureaus in the country ahead of the production of the publication.
Other authors were Adams Namayi, a director at the Public Works department; Janeth Chepkemoi, a post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Nairobi; Angela Gitau, a programme officer at Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Africa; and Kennedy Ouma of GIZ Kenya.
KEG president Zebeidah Kananu said she was banking on the manual to prepare upcoming scribes to engage better with the subject and “produce compelling articles on climate change”.
Partly with the many training opportunities, award calls, and newsrooms investing in climate desks, more Kenyan journalists are choosing the beat, a development that has seen them bag major trophies and win lucrative exchange programmes.
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