By Sikhulile Dlamini
MBABANE – United Nations (UN) Deputy Resident Coordinator Nessi Gouldu says journalists have a role to play in reporting factual information about climate change to the public.
Gouldu was speaking at the World Press Freedom Day commemoration at the UN House in Mbabane today (3 May 2024). The event was under the theme, ‘A Press for the Planet.’ She highlighted that the media shifted public discourse and could shift the discourse about climate change and how to respond to it.
“Climate change stories are not about the climate but its long term impacts on people. There are also stories that need to be shared about what people are doing to combat climate change in their communities,” Gouldu said.
She continued to add that journalists were the ones to influenced policy change through replicating stories that could influence policy makers in environmental affairs. By analysing the local context and social factors, journalists could create stories about climate justice within communities, according to Gouldu.
“It is about the ability of journalists to go to communities to engage and to build trust and to counter the disinformation and making them understand the consequences of their actions,” Gouldu added.
Contributions from the audience highlighted that as journalists, they had challenges in reporting about climate change because of lack of resources and were constrained by time in newsrooms. However they were willing to take it upon themselves to change the way they reported on climate issues.
Gouldu concluded by tasking journalists to collaborate with other journalists across the border in the Southern region to begin to write regional stories that could have global reach.
