Transcript MEDIA COVERAGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN SAf: Lessons from

MEDIA COVERAGE OF CLIMATE
CHANGE IN SAf: Lessons from
Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia
FRANK M KAYULA
REGIONAL MANAGER ENRM
PANOS INSTITUTE SOUTHERN AFRICA
THEME
TRUE CONTRIBUTION OF AGRICULTURE TO
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND POVERTY
REDUCTION IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN
COUNTRIES
Media Background in SAf
• Media landscapes vary across SA- openness/liberal
policies to media restrictions (ownership, control)
• Insignificant investment in media – technology,
infrastructure, capital, credit, grants
• Most media resource-poor - funding, materials
• Limited training in communication for development –
few institutions offer specialized training
• Proliferation of community media – radio,
newspapers, private, church, agency owned
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• To establish extent of reporting (quality and quantity)
of climate change issues by print and electronic
media, and the constraints faced by journalists
• To determine the knowledge and attitudes of
journalists and editors in reporting climate change
and climate change adaptation
• To establish levels of awareness of adaptation to
climate changes among farmers and communities
• To establish policy responses to steer national,
community and sectoral responses - for both
mitigation and adaptation to climatic change
Summary of media coverage for
selected print media
Percentage coverage of CC by copy
KEY FINDINGS ON MEDIA HOUSES
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Climate change reporting is low and of poor quality in all
major media across the three countries
Media owners/editors have little appreciation of climate
change, and don’t view CC as worth (prime) space/airtime
Most detailed climate change reports from foreign news
media/agencies or specialised agencies/experts
Climate change reports event-based not issue-based
Journalism training curricula inadequate to offer quality
training to increase/improve knowledge base of journalists
on climate change
Findings Cont…
• Published articles/programmes contain inadequate
information, detailed analyses, testimonies from affected
communities to influence change and sometimes incorrect
details
• Lack of resource centres or sources of information for
journalists
• Lack of publications/programs specifically on CC
• No newsroom policies on CC and environment reporting
generally
• There is lack of systematic, planned, purposive, targeted and
coordinated communication strategies and support for
awareness creation among different stakeholders
2. JOURNALISTS’ KNOWLEDGE &
ATTITUDES TOWARDS CC REPORTING
i.
There is inadequate knowledge of CC and CCA among
journalists
ii. Rapport between journalists and CC specialists is low and
negative - mistrust
iii. Journalists have almost Zero incentives and resources to
write on climate change issues
iv. Some journalists, like editors, don’t regard CC stories as
saleable ; CC not priority issue
v. Journalists lack credible central sources of information for
their stories
3. Community awareness and access to CC
information & technology
1.
Communities were generally aware about changes in climate/weather over
the years or within season and impact on their lives
2.
Communities didn’t fully understand the ‘scientific’ causes of changes in
climate; ‘some attributed changes to God’. Few linked CC to human activity,
including their own.
3.
Knowledge of ‘modern’ adaptation methods low. Have own ways of managing
but these ways increasingly inadequate
4.
Low information about and access to technology for adapting to climate change
– germplasm, implements, etc; Farmers complained of unreliable /inaccurate
Early Warning information; Most only short-term forecasts
5.
Mass media – Radio – most accessible and major source; Local Radio/TV most
preferred
6.
Low reading culture among communities
4. POLICY & INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES
i.
Two of the countries - Mozambique, Zambia - had draft
policies to deal with climate change
ii. Among developing countries in SADC only Madagascar,
Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia had NAPAs by early
2008.
iii. The policies were said to be inadequate to fully address
climate change issues ; ‘not multi-sectoral, multidimensional’, lack resources, e.g. funding
iv. Complaints about lack of consultation at design stage
v. Poor coordination & synergies on climate change–
national and regional levels; SADC has no policy/strategy
at present.
vi. Lack of policy-practice interface
• In Zambia and Mozambique most of the
information in papers was quotations of
Political leaders
• In Zambia less than only 2% content was
derived directly from CC Experts
• In Swaziland most of the information was on
disasters like drought, floods, death
Triangle of relationship
Communty
C
B
Policy & Experts
C
B
Media
Approaches/Purposes
Eg Development Cartoon works
Effective response & impact
•Knowledge/skills/
Attitudes
•Resources
•Infrastructure/Tech
•Equipment
•Inform
•Educate (innovations)
•Persuade
•Action
•Planned- goals, outcomes
•Systematic
•Interactive/Local
Participatory
•Environment
•Research
•Strategies
•Sustainable media support
• Participatory monitoring
•Multi-dimension media/networks
•Reliable funding
THANK YOU
MERCI
OBRIGADA