Thirty two young Chinese reporters spent a week in September at an environmental journalism training workshop that was opened by Vice Director of the State Environment Protection Agency, Pan Yue (潘岳), and that features former Chief Environment Correspondent for CNN International, Gary Strieker, as a lead trainer.
“Environmental and investigative reporting in China is not yet satisfactory either in terms of quality or quantity,” Xu Weidong (徐卫东), Secretary-General of the Capital Youth Journalists Association (首都青年编辑记者协会), which hosted the event, told China Development Brief. “Through the training, especially interactive activities and discussion, participants exchange their ideas and expertise in reporting environmental issues, and so improve their skills in investigation and writing,” he added.
Guest speakers included Chan Yuenying (陈婉莹), Director of the University of Hong Kong Journalism and Media Studies Centre, and Gao Gang (高钢), head of the Journalism School at the People’s University in Beijing.
Much of the workshop was devoted to discussing case studies of environmental reporting, including coverage of a massive toxic spill into the Song Hua River last November.
Internews, an international non-profit organisation devoted to communications media training and development, gave the Association some assistance with curriculum design, and in identifying international trainers.
Two years ago, Internews began a project to strengthen reporting on legal issues in China, but the organisation also has a keen interest in environmental reporting. It is planning, within the next year, to hold a training workshop in China dealing with environmental law and two more devoted to specific pollution issues.
An important objective for Internews is “to bring environmental news into mainstream news, not just to have special environmental programs that no-one else wants to watch,” according to James Fahn, Executive Director the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) , an Internews initiative that has been active in Asia for several years.
EJN helped to establish Environmental Journalists Associations in Indonesia and Burma, and working with existing associations in other countries. Fahn believes that “There is huge potential” for similar work in China “Because Chinese people are themselves so concerned about the issues.”
He adds that “If there’s ever going to be real change it’s going to come from domestic coverage and pressure, it’s not going to come from overseas. We saw the same thing in South East Asia: when the domestic media began to take an interest, then the coverage went from the features pages to the front pages.”
Report by Nick Young and Chang Tianle, September 12, 2006