SESSION
Covering vulnerable communities affected by climate change
This roundtable session will discuss best practices and ethical dilemmas in reporting on vulnerable communities affected by climate change globally.
Reporting on the climate crisis is increasing, and many reporters are approaching affected communities in order to centre their stories and experiences. However, covering each of these communities throws up unique challenges. Our panel will discuss a range of those challenges and share the lessons learnt.
The journalists on the panel have each focussed on a different vulnerable community: women, both in the Global South and in the Mediterranean, where the latter is one of the world’s fastest-warming regions.
This facilitated discussion will consider how to best cover people’s stories sensitively without causing further harm, and how to navigate the challenges that crop up. The aim of this conversation is to offer reporters who are listening a space to reflect and share their learnings.
Disha ShettySession proposer and speaker | Independent | India
Disha Shetty is an award-winning science journalist who writes on public health, climate change, environment, development, and women. She is also a journalism trainer and mentor. Shetty currently works as an independent journalist based in Pune, India.
Guia BaggiProducer and speaker | Magma | Italy
Guia Baggi is an independent journalist focusing on the impacts of climate change and other environmental crises in the Mediterranean region. In 2021, she co-founded Magma, a journalism non-profit covering the climate crisis in the Mediterranean.
Leonie JoubertSpeaker | Story Ark | South Africa
Leonie Joubert is a seasoned author and science journalist who uses long-form reporting to explore pollution in Africa: carbon pollution of the atmosphere; food-like products polluting our bodies with diabetes and obesity; plastics pollution, and more. She has written more than 12 books and her journalism has appeared in National Geographic magazine, Mongabay, the Daily Maverick, and countless other publications. She is currently living on the road, reporting on the climate crisis from a van as part of a mobile journalism project Story Ark. She has received multiple journalism awards, fellowships, and grants over the years.
Meghie RodriquesSpeaker | Freelance | Brazil
Meghie Rodrigues is a journalist specialising in the coverage of Earth sciences, science policy, and climate change for the international science press. She is a member of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network and a co-founder of the Brazilian Network of Science Journalists and Communicators (RedeComCiência). She holds a Master’s degree in science communication from the State University of Campinas, where she is currently pursuing a doctorate in climate misinformation.
Noma BolaniModerator | South Africa
Noma Bolani is a former senior journalist in South Africa who now works as a government communication strategist. She led climate and environment reporting at the SABC and now serves as SA’s national focal point for CEPA at UNCBD and CMS AEWA.