Climate change for news

Strengthening the capacity of regional journalists to communicate the issues of climate change to their communities is the key focus of a two-day media training programme ending today.

Journalists from across the region gathering on Rarotonga for the Pacific Leaders Forum are also taking the opportunity to better understand the issues of climate change in order to raise more awareness among their community and readers.

The two-day workshop has been organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Porgramme (SPREP) in partnership with Australian Aid, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Pitt Media Group and the Australian government’s department of climate change and energy efficiency.

SPREP climate change adaptation advisor Diane McFadzien says the workshop is geared towards getting journalists to understand what climate change is, its impact on Pacific island communities and how to effectively communicate these to their readers.

”Our role is not to teach media how to report – they already know how to do this but we have found that some journalists are reluctant to report on climate change mainly because they don’t understand climate change,“ says McFadzien.

”So bridging that gap is the key of the workshop and as a result we hope to see more climate change awareness stories coming out.“

McFadzien adds that journalists through the course learn to take scientific and technical terms associated with climate change and breaking these down to everyday language so that the messages reach the wider community.

Accessing climate change information was another key focus of yesterday’s discussions which will continue today at the Parekura Confrence Centre.

Today the workshop wraps up with discussions to focus on the international approach to climate change and what that means for Pacific island nations being affected by changes caused by climate change along with funding opportunities available for climate change awareness projects and projects to minimise the effects of climate change.

The media climate change workshop will lead into the two day forum regional media workshop on Friday and Saturday.