Southeast Asian journalists learn how to tell compelling, constructive stories about climate change

For the past couple of decades, Aireen Jaymalin made a living exploring volcanoes soon after they erupted, and traversing villages days after typhoons had blown through. As a breaking news TV reporter from the Philippines, she can recall a time when there were no standard safety procedures or off-limits danger zones. 

“The motto was ‘shoot, shoot, shoot, send, send, send,’” said Jaymalin, who studied journalism in the late 1990s and focused on covering catastrophes around her country. She still suffers from a hand injury caused by strong typhoon winds that ripped off the door as she was holding onto its knob. 

Now 51, she said she has gained a certain wisdom and that her efforts now go toward explaining environmental catastrophes to residents, and solutions that can help them after disasters. 

A region at risk 

Last month, she was one of dozens of journalists in the Philippines, Indonesia and Timor-Leste who, in the new DW Akademie training project “Let’s Talk Climate! Information & Communication on Climate Topics,” learned about covering climate change. In this part of the world, rising seas, greenhouse gas emissions, sensitive coastal ecosystems and more intense Pacific storms can not only worsen poverty but also threaten lives. The project is supported by Germany’s Foreign Office (AA).

Participants in the Let's Talk Climate! workshop in the Philippines visited Obando, where mussel farming helps the local economy but also impacts the environment.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Climate experts also say that Indonesia is particularly susceptible to climate change impacts. The Asian Development Bank states that Timor-Leste is vulnerable to food insecurity and inequality unless systemic action is taken to mitigate climate change in the region. 

During the Let's Talk Climate! workshop in the Philippines, journalists learned how to report on climate change in the region, and the sensitive balance between it and economic livelihood.

“There’s increased interest because we see that climate change is not just one story but many,” said Ayu Purwaningsih, a DW Akademie trainer. She trained journalists on environmental reporting in Timor-Leste. “There are the human stories after a disaster strikes, but there are also the economic stories.” 

Localizing, humanizing, fact-checking 

Indonesia, she pointed out, sits on the world’s largest nickel reserves but the ore concentration is very low. Refining it to battery quality, or even just to make stainless steel, is an energy-intense process, which is powered by numerous coal power plants in the country, producing hundreds of jobs.  

“This is just one of many unsolved problems,” she said. “Another is disposing of used batteries.” 

DW Akademie trainer Betty Herlina (second from left) participates in a training workshop held in Bengkulu, Indonesia, July 3-4, 2024.

Purwaningsih believes that reporting on advances in related technology – and helping reporters learn to understand and then explain this to audiences – is a constructive approach. The three-day workshop emphasizes professional standards for climate reporting, non-biased reporting and storytelling to draw in readers and viewers. It also looks at interviewing techniques and staying safe while reporting. Participants discuss the importance of localizing and humanizing stories, and including different perspectives, checking, rechecking, fact-checking and persistent research, as well as cooperating with citizen journalists. 

In addition to hands-on training during the workshop, participants also share the common challenges in their trade, not the least of which is supporting themselves financially.

Wages versus workload

“It’s about wages versus the workload and journalist safety,” said Febrina Galuh, Executive Director of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AIJ) in Indonesia. “In our country, journalists are vulnerable, they are often expected to produce up to 10 articles per day, for less than $1.00 per story.” She added that this is common at even mainstream media companies, and that smaller, independent media outlets have even smaller budgets. 

“It’s very difficult now, such that investigative journalism, and journalism on complex subjects like climate change...there’s too few resources for this,” she said, noting, too, that the AIJ has allocated funds for journalists harassed while investigating stories, or who have sustained injuries while on the job. 

Not unlike Aireen Jaymalin’s experience with her hand injury. While training participants at the Let’s Talk Climate workshops in the Philippines, she reflected on the country’s official “Zero Casualty Target” when mudslides hit and volcanoes erupt, and how journalists working on site try to get accurate information and from the government when there are power outages. 

“Permanent danger zones really should be permanent,” she said. “But this is difficult when people who live there also have their livelihoods there. That’s something we talk about because in fact, climate change makes no distinction between rich and poor.” 

In "Let's Talk Climate!", DW Akademie partnered with AJI (Indonesia), Haburas Foundation (Timor-Leste), and PNEJ (Philippines) to promote public dialogue through community labs in Bengkulu, Ambon, Dili and Quezon. The project trained local media professionals on the causes, consequences, and solutions of climate change, enhancing their reporting skills. Participating journalists competed by creating multimedia content on climate change, with winners gaining the opportunity to attend COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and receive additional mentoring from DW Akademie. This project is supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office.