Student journalists urged to write about climate change

Iloilo City (30 July) — Canadian graduate students on internship with the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) Philippines in Iloilo urged campus journalists to write stories on climate change for the public to understand this reality.

Jed Kilbourn and Amaraine Laven said Ilonggo readers get low exposure to media stories because local papers, including school publications, have not dealt much on stories which explain climate change or illustrate its occurrences.

Kilbourn and Laven were resource persons on climate change during the PIA-sponsored Basic Journalism workshop, July 27, attended by more than 250 campus paper writers in Western Visayas.

Kilbourn said, although the Philippines is not a big contributor to global climate change, it will be profoundly affected by it, hence, the people should prepare for the risks and uncertainties they have to face.

Kilbourn and Laven said that their interviews with people in the region revealed a lack of full understanding of the total effects of climate change Western Visayas can face, like increased flooding, typhoons, crop failures and others, that could intensify.

They also said that local evidence of climate change vary from place to place so localized stories can focus mitigation and disaster risk management.

Kilbourn said campus writers can do much to increase awareness of the public so that they can advocate for poverty reduction and a cleaner environment.

He said further that no country has so far been doing much about global climate change, but a country can always begin on its local scenario.

“Public information and education is the first step. Journalists can do much in this,” Kilbourn and Laven said. (PIA6/ESS)