Written by via cveringclimatenow.org
Leading journalists from around the world gathered on September 21 and 22 in New York City for an unprecedented conversation about how to cover a world on fire. The event was hosted by Covering Climate Now, Columbia Journalism Review, The Nation, the Guardian, and Solutions Journalism Network.
Through panels, workshops, and more, journalists discussed how to tackle the climate story with more urgency, depth, and creativity than ever before. Speakers included reporters, editors, and news executives from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, CBS News, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, France Télévisions, the Guardian, South Florida’s NBC 6, NowThis, Telemundo, TIME, The Times of India, and The Weather Channel.
The goal was to chart a course for covering climate change in ways that drive attention and impact, while also highlighting solutions and justice. At the conference we:
- Heard from newsrooms innovating to meet the moment: How can news outlets everywhere treat climate change as a story for every beat, not just silo it on the weather or science desk?
- Discussed whether news outlets should still take fossil fuel advertising.
- Looked ahead to 2024 elections that will have profound implications for global climate action. How can journalists make those implications clear to voters, refute misinformation, and hold candidates accountable?
- Learned from journalists in frontline communities how to highlight climate justice in our reporting.
- Recognized that telling the entire climate story means not just including solutions — but interrogating those solutions, so the public and policymakers know which ones actually work.
- Plus, we hosted interviews with special guests Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Ali Zaidi, the White House National Climate Advisor.