Our Fellowship programs recently brought 41 journalists to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. Reporters from 26 countries in the developing world and the U.S. worked together to make sense of the issues for audiences at home.

Reports from Cancun by many of the participants were featured on the front pages of their home newspapers. And for the first time, journalists from the US and developing countries had opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other. As an example of the impacts they’ve had, one of the Fellows previously wrote an investigative series that helped prompt new government policies to address climate change and environmental issues.

Information plays a vital role in preparing global communities for climate change and spurring policymakers to act.

Coverage Prompts National Climate Change Strategy in Costa Rica

An investigative series by Costa Rican journalist Pablo Fonseca, one of this year’s Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) Fellows in Cancun, helped prompt the government to enact new policies to address climate change and environmental issues.

With colleagues Alejandra Vargas and Marcela Cantero, Fonseca wrote a series of investigative reports on the affects of climate change on Costa Rica for Diario La Nación newspaper, the largest national paper in Costa Rica.

The 2007 five-part series covered sea level rise and coastal erosion, floods, endangered species, biodiversity, health and carbon emissions. (More)

Fellows' Coverage Hits the Front Pages at Home

"This is my first front-page story on climate in a year," said Margot Roosevelt, one of this year's Earth Journalism Fellows –10 journalists from the United States who joined 31 CCMP Fellows from the developing world in Cancun. Roosevelt produced two front-page stories for the LA Times from Cancun, along with a story on the front page of the business section.

For the Fellows, the opportunity to report from the climate talks provided much more than first-person coverage of negotiations. "I have a year's worth of material," said Roosevelt, noting that her attendance at the summit – which would not have been possible without support from EJN – provided her an opportunity to develop invaluable contacts in climate science and policy.

Reporter Eyram Acolatse said she returned to Ghana "bubbling with ideas" of how to cover Ghana's first commercial production of oil from new angles. (More)

Journalists Collaborate in Workshops and Reporting from Cancun

The Fellowships offered by Internews and its partners provide journalists with more than access to climate negotiations. Through a series of workshops and trainings, the Fellows had opportunities to collaborate with each other, while developing sources and story ideas.

Journalists from the US and developing countries found each others' perspectives valuable. "It is very important to allow media from undeveloped countries to cover these kinds of events from their own interests and perspectives. I also found it wonderful to show journalists of developed countries our point of view of the negotiations and projects like REDD," said Costa Rican journalist Pablo Fonesca. (More)

About the Fellowships:

In its fourth year, the The Climate Change Media Partnership Fellowship has provided a total of 144 Fellowships to journalists from 49 developing countries to report on negotiations in Bali, Poznan, Copenhagen and Cancun. Their work has yielded nearly 2,000 stories, reaching an audience of many millions via TV, radio and print. CCMP is a joint project of Internews, Panos, and IIED.

In its first year, the Earth Journalism Network Fellowship brought 10 US journalists to Cancun to cover the summit for their home media organizations, work with experienced and knowledgeable journalists from around the world, and gain a multifaceted understanding of climate change's global impact and reach. The Fellowship is a project of Internews carried out with the support of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ).

Funding for Climate Fellowships was provided by the European Commission, the Swedish International Development Agency, the Germeshausen Foundation, CIFOR, the Ashden Trust, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Waterloo Foundation.

More on climate news coverage:

• Columbia Journalism Review followed Joydeep Gupta as he reported from Cancun. Gupta is a former CCMP Fellow and current director of EJN's Third Pole Project.
• EJN Director James Fahn's recent Op-Ed on the Huffington Post.
• Free Resources: The Earth Journalism Toolkit and Covering Climate Change Online Course

Photos: Windmills in Cancun. (Mark Malijan) | Costa Rican journalist Pablo Fonseco on a reporting trip in the Yucatan (Jeri Curry/Internews) | Journalist shows children photos on a field trip to a Mayan village (Jeri Curry/Internews)
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