CDKN sponsored three journalists to take part in the 2010/11 Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) Programme, managed by Panos London, in collaboration with IIED and Internews.  This involved bringing 35 developing country journalists to CoP16 in Cancun, running a range of briefing and training activities (including field trips and ‘Media Clinics’ with leading climate experts), and supporting them afterwards to produce stories in their home countries on climate themes.  The objectives were The CCMP journalists at COP16 in Cancun filed 299 stories in total over the course of the conference (an average of 9.5 per journalist), with stories published in 26 home countries and reaching a combined audience of millions of readers.  Stories were also published on the CCMP website.

The three journalists selected for CDKN sponsorship were from Colombia, Pakistan and Kenya.  Their work was published by leading media outlets in their home countries, including Dawn (in Pakistan), The Standard, NTV and Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, (in Kenya), and El Expectador (in Colombia).

An independent evaluation of the CCMP programme was undertaken in May 2011. This concluded that:

“There is also no doubt that this project has left its mark. Not least on the journalists who became CCMP Fellows and often went home acting as “multipliers” by conducting their own in-house briefings for colleagues, speaking at conferences or even organising their own workshops on climate change issues. The level of dedication that some of the Fellows have demonstrated is inspiring.

The work of one of CDKN-supported journalists received special mention in the report:

“Enrique Patino, Editor of the Colombian magazine Revista Diners and one of the editors for whom CCMP Fellow and freelance journalist Maria Clara Valencia writes, was very positive about the contribution the Fellowship had made in regard to her writing: “She surely improved her journalistic skills, no doubt about it. She actually published an article about the Summit in our Magazine, and she is now one of the respected voices in my country about environmental issues.” María Clara, he stressed, had impressed him by showing a good grasp of the issues and a good overview of the information which enabled her in his eyes to file relevant information from the summit.”

Following the success of the CoP16 CCMP programme, CDKN has also sponsored three journalists to take part in the CoP17 in Durban.

This time, the CDKN-supported Fellows covered a range of print and broadcast media in Colombia, Pakistan and Nigeria. The Fellows not only produced a range of pieces about the international negotiations, but the Fellowship awards also enabled them to enhance their coverage with field trips in their home countries and extended coverage. As a result, the team estimates that climate change stories reached an additional audience of 35 million people.

As with the previous year’s CCMP programme, the 2011-12 Fellows reported that the journalistic exchange in their group was important in extending their horizons and knowledge base. This story on the CDKN website explores the impact of the 2011-12 programme.

Project dates:

Phase 1:  Nov 2010 – May 2011

Phase 2:  Oct 2011 – June 2012

CDKN funding:

Phase 1: £25,000

Phase 2: £23,000

Photo courtesy of Internews Network.