|
 |
| Home | About Us | News | Resources | Services | Forum | Search | |
Services for Environmental Journalists from South Eastern Europe |
|
 | |
| |
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
|
Regional Environmental Press Center Dimitrije Cuposki bb, Skopje 1000, Macedonia. |
|
|
||
|
|
|
The mass media is a crucial link between goverment, citizens, non-governmental organizations, businesses and other stakeholders in the environment. the public must be informed about environmental matters and environmental questions if there is to be true public paricipation in environmental decision making. Members of the public who are aware of environmental concerns need more information if they are going to participate in decision making in environmental matters. What's more a large segment of the public may not be sufficiently aware of environmental concerns. While the avarage citizens of SEE is probably very concerned about the need to rebuild and further develo the infrastructure of the region, many may not know enough about the complex environmental problems that must be dealt with as development takes place. Surveys have shown that one of the best ways to inform a broad section of the public quickly about development or government activities that may impact them is with the mass media: newspapers, magazines, television, radio, billboards and with the internet. But the mass media will not carry out the information about the environment unless the journalists and news reporters who fill the mass media are aware of this information. In order to prepare thoughtful, balanced news stories, journalists need access to reliable and timely information. The Regional Environmental Press Center is based on the understanding that better informed journalists will help increase the knowledge of the general public and also make them more aware of environmental issues, related governmental problems and more international issuses, such as European Union accession and climate change. The objective of this project is to raise public awareness of environmental issuses by encouraging journalists to increase their reporting on the environment and improve the quality of their coverage in the countries of SEE. We are trying to achive our mission by: 1. Making the information more available to journalists The REPC is serving the whole region. The center is supported by a network of branch offices, one in each of the SEE countries. The mission of these offices is to serve the journalists os SEE countries by helping them to get good information so that they can write better stories about he environment of the region. We are fullfilling our mission everyday by offering general information about the environment, answering specific questions to assist journalists in researching environmental stories and producing specific resources in print and on the web, that provide the kind of information that journalists need when covering the environment of the region. 2. Offering tips and trainings for the journalists Training for journalists will take place during an English language workshop for the SEE media, to educate journalists on environmental issues and also provide expert trainings on the unique challenges of environmental reporting. Experienced environmental journalists are invited to share their know-how and experience. The tips for the journalists are in the form of a newslatter that suggest story ideas and help journalists keep abreast of current and developing issues pertaining to the environment of the SEE region. 3. Building NGO's capacity to inform the media Branch offices or so called Resource Points are hosted and staffed by members of SEE NGO's. Their constant work is based on improving the lines of communication between journalists and the grass root activists involved in environmental work in the region. They have the ability and eagerness to assist the journalists in getting all the information they seek - not just information that the NGOs consider important. The overall goal: Increasing and improving of the news coverage of the environment of SEE. - Answering the specific questions, giving the best facts to the journalists and in that way making their approach much easier for writing the most informed stories possible about the environment. - Helping the journalists to get in touch with experts who can offer the most accurate and insightful information on the environment Our achievements:
The media plays a vital role in raising environmental awareness, encouraging public participation and monitoring the work of the government, businesses and NGOs. But in order to prepare thoughtful, balanced news stories , journalists need access to reliable and timely information. This project is based on the understanding that better informed journalists will help increase the knowledge of the general public and also make them more aware of environmental issues and related governmental programs. Reaching the mass media with important messages about the environment of the SEE region is the best way to reach the general public about these issues. By keeping the public truly informed and aware of environmental issues, and government activity that impacts on the environment, the project is facilitating the kind of public participation prescribed by the "Aarhus" Convention on Access to information in Environmental Decision making. And by encouraging debate and discussion among the public, the project will help encourage a much broader discussion and consensus on the means for reaching sustainable development in a region where both the environment and environmental civil society have been weakened by recent events. This project can make it easier for the "Western" media to obtain information about the true environmental situation in the SEE region and to increase the international awareness of the difficult environmental issues facing the whole region. | Home | About Us | News | Resources | Services |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
