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Air pollution is one of the biggest challenges across the world, posing serious threats to human health, the economy and the environment. In India, even the country’s “cleanest city”, Indore, lauded for its successful solid waste management campaign, falls short of national ambient air quality standards.
As part of Clean Air Catalyst, a global consortium that aims to combat air pollution, Internews’ Earth Journalism Network has trained journalists to report on air pollution in select pilot cities, and to further strengthen the quality and quantity of air pollution coverage in Indore, we recently awarded story grants to 10 journalists:
- Amitabh Pandey, Dainik Naidunia
- Sonal Chourey, Naidunia
- Neeta Sisodiya, Dainik Bhaskar
- Anup Dutta, eNewsroom India
- Shahroz Khan Afridi, 101 Reporters
- Ravleen Kaur, Down to Earth
- Rahul Sharma, The Sootr
- Aditya Singh Parihar, Deshgaon Media Foundation
- Shuriah Niazi, BBC Hindi
- Manish Kumar, BoltaHindustan.com
With the help of EJN mentors, these journalists will produce in-depth and solutions-focused stories on air pollution. Their work, published in Hindi and English in local media outlets, will highlight the disproportionate impacts of air pollution on women and daily wage workers, the various sources of air pollution from indoor cooking stoves to vehicles to landfills to the cement industry, and the strategies being implemented to curb the crisis.
“Robust reporting on the consequences of air pollution can shape public perception and more inclusive policymaking. In the coming months, these stories will better inform local communities and give them the information they need to demand access to clean air from governments and polluting corporations,” said Amrita Gupta, EJN’s editor and content officer.
Learn more about the Clean Air Catalyst project here and look out for grantees’ stories on the EJN website.
The Clean Air Catalyst (Catalyst) is a flagship program launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by a global partnership of organizations including World Resources Institute and Environmental Defense Fund and Internews.
Banner image: Cook stoves are a source of indoor air pollution which disproportionately affects women / Credit: Loganathan R via Wikimedia Commons.
