Eco-Milestones

As Internews Network celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, here is a look back at some major environmental media projects in its history.

• Moscow Link. In 1983 Internews produced a ground-breaking spacebridge on the threat of nuclear winter, joining top Soviet scientists to a conference hosted by Carl Sagan and Paul Ehrlich in Washington, DC.

• Global Warming Teleconference. As early as 1985, Internews produced a teleconference on global warming and the greenhouse effect that linked 60 universities in the US, Mexico, and Canada, titled, “The Effects of Increases in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.”

• Capital to Capital. This series joining Members of the US Congress with Deputies in the Supreme Soviet culminated in 1990 with a program on the global environment. Produced by ABC in association with Internews and Soviet State Television, the series had up to 200 million viewers.

• Environment Bridge. In this innovative educational exchange directed by Internews, high school students from California attended the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio. Together with Brazilian high school students, they studied ecosystems in Brazil and Northern California.

• Sahabat Alam (Friend of Nature). In 2001 Internews' Indonesia office trained 41 journalists in environmental reporting, then launched a popular weekly environmental radio program, distributed by CD to stations around the country.

• Earth Journalism Network. In 2004 Internews launched EJN to improve environmental coverage in the developing world (see story page 1).

• Project INFORM. In Indonesia in 2004, under a consortium led by Conservation International, Internews worked with local journalists to produce 45 weekly environmental radio programs on topics such as mining, drought, and the tiger trade.

• Environmental Reporting. Internews offices around the world continue to foster environmental journalism, from promoting an eco-reporting competition in Kyrgyzstan to producing a segment on climate change for MTV Europe.