{"id":156,"date":"2020-05-13T20:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T20:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/?p=156"},"modified":"2026-03-17T20:23:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T20:23:53","slug":"we-asked-50-journalists-in-asia-how-theyd-improve-environmental-journalism-heres-what-they-had-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/?p=156","title":{"rendered":"We asked 50 journalists in Asia how they\u2019d improve environmental journalism. Here\u2019s what they had to say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ryan Ho Kilpatrick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental journalists foreshadowed the dangers of zoonotic diseases and alerted us to the perils of climate change that are now part of our lives. But writers of environmental news see vital areas for improvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a survey of environmentalist journalists mostly based in Asia by the Environmental Reporting Collective, the future of the green beat rests on coverage that stands apart from advocacy and makes science more accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respondents indicated that they want reporting that is fact-based and data-driven, and that takes into account all viewpoints rather than promoting just one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPersonally, I would like to see journalism separated from advocacy, not only in environmental reporting but also on other topics,\u201d said Karoline Kan, a Chinese journalist who covers the environment from Beijing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the most important things is that journalism is objective, rational, and neutral\u2013especially environmental journalism, which is always linked to science,\u201d Kan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treating environmental reporting as advocacy risks \u201cpreaching to the choir\u201d instead of reaching new readers and educating the widest audience possible, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

80% of respondents said quality mattered more than cost or brand.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Nearly all said they want the news to highlight new research, data sources, and on-the-ground reporting from the field. The two most prominent themes of interest across all of those surveyed were the stalwarts of climate change and wildlife and biodiversity. Several respondents expressed a desire to see more reporting on crime and corruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About fifty people participated in the survey, 70 per cent identified primarily as creators of environmental news, while roughly 27 per cent said they were primarily consumers, and three per cent were supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 40 percent said they felt training for journalists was deficient. They said they and colleagues lacked the skills needed to be able to use and analyse environmental data and know how to communicate it effectively to audiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Environmental journalism needed to do a better job in connecting the raw data to the lives of ordinary people, to understand how it impacts the everyday lives and society at large, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across various regions, many said that they felt isolated from their colleagues who work at different publications, in different countries and perhaps in different languages. This, they said, limited the scope and depth of their work despite a recent uptick in collaborations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking together, cross-boundaries, cross-publication is the way to go\u201d says Jakarta-based environmental journalist Basten Gokkon, who cautions that journalists\u2019 egos sometimes lead to a sense of ownership over stories that would benefit from wider cooperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScoops aren\u2019t that big of a deal,\u201d Gokkon says. \u201cThe goal must be reporting mismanagement of natural resources instead of trying to be the first to break the news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest proportion of respondents \u2013 close to 80 per cent \u2013 said it was the quality of reporting which most directly influenced their decision to consume it, above the cost of access or the prestige of the publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan is a freelance journalist from Hong Kong covering politics, culture, and the environment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Environmental journalists foreshadowed the dangers of zoonotic diseases and alerted us to the perils of climate change that are now part of our lives. But writers of environmental news see vital areas for improvement.  According to a survey of environmentalist journalists mostly based in Asia by the Environmental Reporting Collective, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigative.earth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}