Press Releases

Mexican Journalists Discuss Environmental Issues

Photo: Peter Laufer Mexican journalists participate in a role-playing exercise at a workshop on environmental issues.

(April 11, 2005) Xalapa, Mexico - Deforestation and Illegal logging. Dams and water privatization. The loss of medicinal plants and bio-piracy. These were a few of the key issues identified by some 20 radio journalists who discussed the environmental problems plaguing their local regions in the first training session carried out by the Earth Journalism Network in Mexico.

The journalists, who belong to a women's radio collective known as the Colectivo de Investigación y Desarollo y Educación entre Mujeres (CIDEM), were in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz state, for a week-long training session that took place in late February and was organized by the group's director, Mayela Garcia Ramirez. The workshop was done in partnership with Internews Europe and funded by the European Commission. As part of the workshop, James Fahn, the executive director of the Earth Journalism Network, was invited to brief the reporters on environmental issues in the developing world, and discuss how they could improve their coverage of these issues.

Fahn, who spent a decade working as a journalist in Asia, talked to the journalists about how to frame environmental stories in a developing country context, and why addressing them is crucial to helping alleviate poverty. He also gave tips on using sources, investigative reporting and how to explain complicated issues to a lay audience. The training session included a role play exercise in how to conduct interviews that provoked a lot of laughter from the participants, but also taught them to pay attention to details.

In return, the journalists described the major environmental issues they came across working in various regions around the country. Deforestation, often caused by illegal logging or the privatization of communal lands, and leading to the loss of medicinal plants, was a common theme. So was pollution, both of air and water. The coast of Veracruz itself, some noted, had recently been contaminated by a major oil spill. Several participants also expressed concern about development projects, such as dams and highways, that were being undertaken without much public consultation.

The journalists expressed interest in reporting more frequently on environmental issues, but also complained about major obstacles to such coverage, including a lack of interest among station managers, and pressure from governmental or corporate interests who are reluctant to see these issues covered more widely. Fahn suggested ways in which they could seek to overcome these obstacles.

Most of the journalists tend to focus their coverage on women's issues, including not just the environment, but also health and maternity, education and human rights. Under CIDEM's tutelage, they worked on perfecting their craft by recording actual stories at the studios built in Xalapa by CIDEM, which receives financial support from the European Commission and is a partner of Internews Europe.

The Earth Journalism Network, meanwhile, is a new venture established by Internews Network. The project seeks to help journalists in the developing world cover the environment more effectively, often through building local journalism networks, and increase awareness in the US about the importance of international issues. Besides Mexico, it has also begun carrying out programs in Indonesia, and is exploring opportunities in other countries, as well. EJN is funded by Rockefeller Financial Services.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

James Fahn, Executive Director of Earth Journalism Network