The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, CJID, has trained 20 journalists on climate change reporting in Abuja, Nigeria.
The two-day workshop organised by the foundation, on Wednesday and Thursday drew participants from different newsrooms across the country.
Dr Tobi Oluwatola, the Executive Director of the CJID, lectured the journalists on understanding climate change concepts, causes, evidence, and impacts in Africa.
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Oluwatola started the session with an interactive online activity for participants to share their emotional responses to climate change. They were, however, encouraged to turn these feelings into actionable solutions.
Furthermore, he explored climate change concepts and their scientific aspects, delving into significant impacts on sectors like agriculture, water, ecosystems, human health, urban areas, and energy.
Felicia Dairo, a Project Manager at the CJID, facilitated a practical session themed ‘Problem Tree Analysis.’
She led the participants in a practical activity to assess the effects of climate change using the ‘Problem Tree Analysis’.
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This technique used tree parts to represent consequences (branches), the main problem (trunk), and underlying causes (roots).
The following day, Akintunde Babatunde who is also a Programme Director at CJID coached the participants on how to use data to tell climate stories.
He emphasised the need for a data-driven journalism approach when reporting on climate-related issues. Akintunde stated that the media must ensure that their stories are informed by data.
Additionally, he discussed key aspects of data-influencing points: interpreting data, research, visualisation, and strategic online engagement.
Also, Silas Jonathan, a researcher at Dubawa, a fact-checking platform, took participants through a session titled ‘Greenwashing (gaslighting) and Psychology of Climate Denial: Best practices to fact-checking climate misinformation’.
He introduced the participants to the concept of ‘Climate Change Denial’, which involves the rejection or disbelief of the existence of climate change.
He also examined the notion of “Greenwashing and Gaslighting”, detailing their elements and how to identify them.
Jonathan also provided the best practices for effective fact-checking of greenwashing and climate denial.
One of the participants, Hussaine Garba Mohammed, a Daily Trust journalist told WikkiTimes that he was equipped with new skills during the workshop.
“Using tools to get data to investigate more about climate, I learned different ways to improve in green hydrogen and how it can be used to build a healthier planet,” he said.
The Daily Trust journalist said his best session during the workshop was on global climate diplomacy.
“Global climate diplomacy and the GSCC network were best on the first day while on the second day, digital tools and methodologies for climate investigation,” he said. “I learned more about the impacts and implications of climate change from all the facilitators.”
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Another participant, Okede, a journalist from Whistler said the workshop was as an eye-opener to her, adding she knew the difference between climate change and the environment.
“The workshop was an eye-opener for me,” she told WikkiTimes. “I now know the difference between climate change and environmental issues.”
She noted that climate change might be a contributor to such but not everything is climate change.
The Whistler journalist noted that she had been equipped with new knowledge of checking data first before starting a story.
“But right now, I have that knowledge. If I have any story ideas, I need to check the data first”, she said.
