Climate Change Coverage In the Media: A New Mindset Will Arise

It is no doubt that the mainstream media, being one of the most powerful voices we have in the world, does not give climate change and other conservation issues of actual concern the coverage they deserve. 

For this reason early this month, from June 01^st to the 11^th, I was fortunate to benefit from a bloggers’ and web journalists’ training organized by UNESCO and the French Agency for Media Cooperation (CFI) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Media 21 Journalism and Climate Change project aims to impart better communication skills and approach among journalists and influential bloggers in select developing countries to aid their governments tip the balance in the upcoming UN climate talks and in the long run inspire a conscious public to act.

 

There is growing recognition that effective climate change communication can be the first step to garner public support. Selected journalists and bloggers will be expected in the post-training period to boil down the hard technical parts of the climate change debate and make it easy for the public to understand.

This will among others help ensure that the negotiation at the UN talks are more balanced and help developing countries get what they need: finance and technology support for their climate change governance interventions.

The beneficiaries of the initiative are also expected to build a conduit between their governments, NGOs, the public and other stakeholders, so that desirable climate policies are better understood, carried out and monitored.  

In one of the training sessions, I met Mr. Wanjohi Kabukuru, founder of the Indian Ocean Observatory (IOO), an online news and analysis platform covering the Western Indian Ocean region.

Telling stories that matter on how issues such as politics, energy, environment, diplomacy, economy, security just to mention a few, affect people living around the Indian Ocean, IOO is a vindication of why media coverage matters.

Leveraging entertainment to bring about quantifiable global change

The past two weeks also saw me do a restricted review of the Revolution, an exhilarating and hard-hitting full length feature film from award-winning Sharkwater filmmaker Rob Stewart.

The film not only sheds light on crucial environmental topics and how we can save the planet, but also shows how past world events have taught us what we need to do to save the future. 

Revolution is not just about the environment—it’s really a landmark film about hope and inspiration. It’s a call-to-action with an uplifting message that tells us it’s possible to alleviate the damage already done to our critical ecosystems. 

Revolution tells stories that Ocean Acidification, Deforestation, Climate Change and Overfishing are happening right now, affecting our existence at present, not in the future.  

By raising the profile of such issues, it will hopefully be a center piece for jump starting an international conversation on the same and reinvigorating the engagement. 

It is not clear whether we will win the fight against issues of climate change and conservation of the earth’s biodiversity or we will lose it either. The film gives us the charge needed to put the energy mobilized into work with the amazing images and stories in the film. 

The more people who watch this film, the more it will send a message. You can watch the film from here and Revolution will donate $1 of every film purchased online to the World Wildlife Fund!

The remainder of each purchase is being put towards supporting Sharkwater Production’s continued mission of raising awareness and funds for conservation through its current and future environmental movies and through Rob’s other work with ecological organizations.