Environmental reporting on campus journalism

Melvin C. Gascon

Environmental Reporting in the Campus Press

OSSEI National Training-Workshop on Campus Journalism

15-17 September 2011, Baguio City

Environmental Reporting

In theCampus Press

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

What is an ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION?

What is an environmental communication?

Pragmatic and constitutive vehicle for our understanding of the environment as well as relationship to the natural world.

The instrumental function of educating, alerting, persuading, mobilizing, solving etc. By constitutive he means the creative function of helping to shape our perception of nature, environmental issues and ourselves.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

In writing about environment risks that people take, you can:

•Describe what individuals can do to reduce their exposure.

•Describe what industry and government are/are not doing to reduce the risk.

•Describe the benefits as well as the risks to the specific audience.

•Describe the alternatives and their risks.

•Describe what people can do to get involved in the decision-making process.

•Provide information that will help the audience to evaluate the risk.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

Top 10 TIPS

Reporting the Environment

Reporting the Environment1. Keep your eyes open.2. Go beyond the environmental groups.3. Think about different perspectives.4. Just as business affects millions of lives, so

does the environment.5. Keep it simple.6. Check out good people to interview.7. Think about your job as the reporter in the

story-telling.8. Try to get unusual angles.9. Never use the jargons and waffle loved by

officials.10.Don’t be put off.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

TOP

10

TIPS

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

How to avoid some

reporting pitfalls?

Avoiding reporting pitfalls

Don’t give in sensationalism.

Make a distinction between individual

weather events and climate change.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

Selling the Story

Use different angles.

Report on solutions.

Tie stories to interesting people,

places and topics

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

Journalists should report solutions, not just doom and gloom.

Use reporting aides.

Use different sources.

If officials and scientist mistrust you,

be persistent.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

From a global issue to a local story

Local voices

Compare global and local causes

Check for local environmental change

Explain adaptation

Follow the money

Be a watchdog

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

Above all, take heart

If covering climate change

seems challenging,

remember that the media

has come a long way in its

coverage.

Environmental

Reporting in the Campus

Press

One learns to write

by writing