Our Impact

The journalists in our network strive to make sure those in power are held accountable, that communities — especially those which have been historically marginalized — are well-informed and have their voices heard. 

Around the world, the journalism that EJN supports has mobilized communities, changed government policies and held climate and environmental polluters to account. The training, mentoring and connections that EJN provides to journalists has led to career advancements, awards and recognition and groundbreaking new initiatives.

This page catalogues some of the many impacts members of our community have achieved through their reporting.

If you've worked with us and know your story helped catalyze change on the ground, please get in touch.  

In an era when the media must fight for its very existence, when journalists come under verbal and physical attack and local news deserts are multiplying, it is important that we understand and demonstrate the impact that good reporting can have.

We know that accurate, engaging information that resonates with people can help effect positive change. And we want to show that it does so people will understand why good journalism matters and why we need to support it.

It can be difficult to make a direct connection between journalism and shifts in government policies, community practices or public behavior. Over the last two decades, we’ve developed a tried-and-tested methodology that allows us to investigate whether the stories we support spark change and how they do so. 

We research the impact of our support in a systematic way.

We are in regular contact with the journalists and media organizations we support to see if they can identify changes in their community that might plausibly be connected to the story they produced. 

Using our time-tested outcome harvesting methodology, we then seek evidence aimed at answering the following questions: 

• Can we confirm the change happened as described? 
• Is there a credible link between the change noted and coverage supported by EJN? Can we gather robust evidence of this link? 
• What contribution, if any, did the support of EJN play in this outcome? 

We talk to independent stakeholders involved in the outcomes to help shine a light on these areas. We collect information from different sources to cross-check and verify the information we obtain. 

For example, we reached out to a government official to find out whether a story published by one of our grantees on the dangers of living in a Karachi slum had informed their decision to legalize the informal settlement. The informant confirmed the story had indeed contributed to the government taking action and brought attention to an issue that had long been ignored. 

Sometimes we are able to verify a connection between real-world change and media coverage, but not always. Either way, our approach allows us to better understand how change occurs. And this information is valuable for our network, the media sector at large, and our donors and supporters.

How is this different from advocacy?

As a media development organization and professional community of journalists, our goal in supporting improved coverage of the environmental and climate crises and its impacts is not to advocate for any specific cause or solution, but to ensure that the public and policymakers everywhere are informed about the urgent challenges that society faces and take action to mitigate and adapt to them. We seek to understand when and how this information influences debate, behavior and policy to help us determine what kind of support journalists need to produce reporting that makes an impact.