A professor of Mass Communication at the University of Ilorin, Saudat Abdulbaqi, has urged journalists to aggressively report climate change and climate actions to mitigate its effects on the people.
Abdulbaqi, who spoke at a One Day Climate Change Journalism Workshop on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Ilorin, said journalists should drive the issue of climate change in their daily reporting from different beats.
She said journalists were the last hope of the common man regarding creating awareness on how human activities caused climate change, especially at the rural areas where they had little or no knowledge about it.
“Climate change is not new, but we are shying away from taking decisive steps to mitigate it.
“It is an established fact that climate change is rarely reported and where it is done, it is under reported.
“To an extent, people in urban areas are aware that their activities contribute to climate change, but people in rural areas are unaware.
“So, it is obligatory on the media to help get the information to them in the language they understand,” she said.
The media guru said it was high time journalists learnt more about climate change; conduct research for the purpose of replication and dig deeper to know if the consequences of climate change could be prevented.
She added that journalists should pay more attention to stories and reports about climate change as it affects our way of life and existence.
Sharing her sentiments, another facilitator, Mr Rasheed Yusuf, who spoke on “Understanding Climate Reporting and Journalism Techniques for Climate Reporting”, said journalists had a significant to play.
He advised journalists not to work in isolation when writing climate stories and emphasised on the need for self-education.
On his part, Mr Dare Akogun, News Editor, Sobi FM, who spoke on “Fact Checking and Debunking Myths on Climate Change’’, tasked the government on engaging experts while coming up with policies on climate change.
He added that journalists should be able to hold leaders and government accountable through their climate reports.
Akogun said journalists should, through their reports, open the eyes of the policy makers to what could be done to mitigate the effects of climate change in the society.
The programme was organised by Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative in collaboration with Sobi FM Chapel and Dare Akogun News.
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
