THE STORIES THAT WE MISS OUT HOW DO WE SUSTAIN A STORY ONCE ITS BROKEN? Enhancing Vernacular & Community Media capacity and Participation in Climate Change & Environmental Conservation. Presented by Hellen Mutio Peace Pen Communications.

How do we report climate change stories The media is an important channel for information that can empower people to effect positive change. It can inform vulnerable communities on climate change through Radio programs, radio drama, story telling, involving experts on climate change, visiting communities and getting their stories. Radio is the most effective way of communicating and facilitating dialogue because it is instant and reaches a wide variety of people within a short time. Kenya has 42 tribes which makes Vernacular and community radios a powerful tool for communicating change in a language that cuts across age and education barriers. Kenya is a developing country which makes our presenters part of the majority journalists in the world who struggle to report effectively on climate change due to lack of proper training on the subject. Unsupportive editors and weak outreach from domestic policy makers. Radio reporting on climate change still occupies a small proportion of our daily reporting relative to the scale of the problem which threatens billions of lives and livelihoods.

We believe that the media is an active partner in all changes and for climate change to take place in this part of the world media has to get involved. Radio presenters need to push the climate change challenges into their broadcasting agenda.

BREAKING THE STORY Do we localize climate stories or do we make them seem like foreign or international stories? Mombasa is slowly sinking and maybe in 50 0r less years we wont have that island, are we following on that story? Is anybody paying attention? How are we relating that story to us and creating awareness from it?

LANGUAGE “The issue of climate change has often been seen as an abstract concept or a scientific subject understood only in universities – but not by the ordinary people. It is very important that we communicate in a language that our people understand.“ The late Professor Wangari Maathai of the Greenbelt Movement while highlighting the importance of accessibility and language.

SUSTAINING THE STORY Once the story is broken, how do we sustain it? Do we do follow ups, talk to the surrounding community to find out whether the local authorities are aware of any abnormalities or interference with the natural set up of the environment? A good example is the mlolongo bus crash, who would have connected a road accident to the fact that a river’s course had been diverted hence the Floods?

Site visit reporting Ten years ago, two journalist went to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to report on the receding ice caps, it was never followed up by the local media and certainly not by any vernacular or community radio. NTV s concentration was more on the participants and deliberations than on victims faces, the local impact on climate change in Durban.

Role of Community and Vernacular Radio For radio journalists to be effective, we need to understand climate change. Do a lot of research and talk to relevant authorities, make ourselves understand what it is all about and then bring it out to our communities in an educative and interactive manner. Media is in a position to raise the red flag and decry the abuse that is being meted on the environment.

This being an election year, it can sadly be observed in a panicky way that the media is not taking time to look at the policies on climate change. Kenya is a signatory of the Kyoto policies/ protocol but it seems that we don’t know what that means. There is a lot of concern on greenhouse emissions yet no one is raising concern about its effect on the atmosphere.

Thank you