Investigating Environmental Issues for African Media Workers

In response to requests from members, the Forum for African Investigative reporters (FAIR) produced a toolkit to support existing environmental investigations, and encourage new ones, particularly related to climate change. The publication offers tips, hints, and links to other resources to help IJs:

• approach the basic science of climate change and environmental issues confidently;
• identify and describe the key environmental issues affecting Africa, and localise world and continental problems;
• distinguish trustworthy from misleading sources of environmental information and effectively interrogate the latter;
• know how to develop sufficient working knowledge of the field, its role-players, terminology, and debates to identify and plan stories;
• build up and use relevant contacts to support journalistic work;
• interview scientists and other specialists confidently and competently;
• contextualise, and where relevant link, the multiplicity of environment-related problems communities may have; and
• make the scientific aspects of environment stories accessible, relevant, and interesting to readers.

This publication is part of the FAIR Investigative Journalism Handbook, and is split into practical, work-related sections, and contains exercises and talking points that can be used to engage others in the newsroom.

The sections cover the following.

• The role of environmental journalists.
• Stories about science or stories about people?
• The key environmental issues worldwide and for Africa.
• What science is, and how to avoid being intimidated by it.
• Contacts and sources for environmental IJ.
• Developing story ideas, pitching them, and making time to write them.
• Getting scientists to talk your language.
• Key international and African treaties and frameworks.