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GFMD Seeks
Governments, others’ Support for Media
The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) an
umbrella group of 500 NGOs working to develop the skills and capacity of
local media in 97 countries around the world has called on
governments, intergovernmental institutions and donors to pay more
attention to the role of media in informing the public and stimulating
discussion about climate change.
The GFMD also called on governments and donors to go beyond seeing the
media as a communications tool but make media development an integral
part of their strategies to combat climate change.
Member organisations of the GFMD focussed on the key
role of the media in informing and engaging the public on this urgent
global issue to commemorate the United Nations launch of a major new
report on climate change on November 27.
From bringing developing country journalists to Bali
to cover the UN forum on climate change in December 2007 to training
Southeast Asian journalists in reporting on climate change, GFMD members
are enabling local reporters to stimulate public dialogue in in
developing countries around the world.
GFMD director, Bettina Peters said: “In order for developing countries
to openly debate the options available to them in addressing climate
change, we need free, independent and pluralistic media systems that can
monitor government decisions and that provide a platform for citizens to
be heard on the issue”.
“While communication campaigns on climate change funded by foreign
donors can provide important information on a short-term basis, they are
no substitute for an indigenous media environment in which journalists
and media professionals can promote open debate and hold the government
to account.”
Many members of the GFMD are engaged in projects and initiatives to
improve the knowledge of journalists and to enhance quality of coverage
being well aware of the short-comings within media to report on climate
change.
In 2006 Panos conducted a survey in several
developing countries and found that there was little knowledge among
journalists and that climate change was low on editors’ story sheets.
They launched a programme to redress these short-comings. Another
example is the South-East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), which conducts
journalism training courses on the issue and provides local journalists
covering climate change with a wider audience by publishing their
stories on SEAPA’s web-site.
While the threat of global warming has only become
more urgent, developing country journalists are still drastically
under-represented at the international summit meetings that are pivotal
in determining the world’s response to this issue. The Earth Journalism
Network (EJN) is bringing developing country journalists to Bali in
December 2007, when crucial talks will commence on what agreement should
follow the Kyoto Protocol.
There are many more examples of GFMD members working to improve coverage
and knowledge of climate change, but the GFMD stated that there still
is not enough support for media assistance NGOs to run programmes that
will improve media performance and that will create the conditions in
which local media can produce relevant, accurate and challenging
reporting on climate change.
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