Paving the way for evidence-based media stories
20-02-24
Media outlets worldwide struggle to cover the climate crisis and its solutions effectively. In Africa, the media often rely on international sources for climate stories thereby disconnecting local audiences and underutilising indigenous knowledge, African research and expertise. Consequently, African audiences miss out on receiving relevant climate news tailored to their needs, despite the fact that Africa is bearing the brunt of the global climate crisis. Moreover, the rest of the world never gets to know about the climate knowledge and solutions Africa has to offer.
For the second year in a row, Danida Fellowship Centre brought together Danida-supported climate researchers and journalists from nine countries across Africa with the clear purpose of bridging the gap between the media and academia and paving the way for more evidence-based climate stories for African audiences. The two professions collaborated for a week at MS TCDC, gaining insight into one another’s skills and subject matter and discovering the benefit of collaborating. The researchers amplified their knowledge while the journalists acquired evidence-based climate stories. Tools like climate campaigning, science journalism, constructive journalism and engagement tactics were also part of the programme, as well as insights into international climate negotiations under the UNFCCC (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
The journalists took part in the first ever Africa Climate Summit led by the African Union and the Kenyan government. It took place in Nairobi as a prelude to COP27 and they reported directly from the sessions. The more than 150 pieces of journalism produced by the participating journalists on different aspects of the climate crisis were taken up and amplified by various prominent media outlets across the continent, thereby reaching hundreds of thousands of people. The initiative gave rise to lasting connections among and between the researchers and the journalists.
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