Source: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
The challenges faced by journalists covering the climate emergency will be at the heart of a public symposium at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) next month.
The symposium, titled Framing the Emergency: Climate Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, will explore how journalists report on the climate crisis, what more they can do, and how more climate stories might be told.
Speakers will include leading journalists Eloise Gibson (RNZ), Marc Daalder (Newsroom), and Miriama Kamo (TVNZ).
Experts and activists in the line-up include Russel Norman (Greenpeace), Jessica Palairet (Lawyers for Climate Action), and Joe Nagera (Pacific Climate Warriors).
The symposium convenor, Professor Geoffrey Craig, said New Zealand climate journalists had a challenging job relating how the planetary crisis was impacting the nation.
They needed to “traverse the complexities of governmental policies and emission trading schemes, the power of corporations and the technicality of scientific research”, he said.
“They must cover the politics of land and water management, the advocacy of activists, and the struggles of citizens responding to disasters and building greater sustainability in their communities and everyday lives.”
Journalists also face the challenge of reporting independently on the “actions and discourses of stakeholders” who frame climate issues in different ways, based on their interests.
The climate emergency could be said to transforming our understanding of the relationships between economy, environment and society.
“Yet some might argue there is little sense of an ’emergency’ in our public responses to the climate crisis,” he said.
“Do we need other climate stories in our media where the mahi and hope of communities point the way forward?”
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is one of the world’s best modern universities. Home to 28,000 students across three campuses, AUT has more than 60 research centres and institutes delivering leading research – from artificial intelligence to robotics,
and ecology to public health. As a contemporary university, AUT is connected to an extraordinary range of organisations sharing expertise and resources, collaborating on ground-breaking research, and connecting students with industry leaders and employers.
and ecology to public health. As a contemporary university, AUT is connected to an extraordinary range of organisations sharing expertise and resources, collaborating on ground-breaking research, and connecting students with industry leaders and employers.
