On 24-26 April 2018, NEFEJ organized a Summer School at Hotel Orchid, Tripureshwor to train journalists on in depth reporting on environment and climate change sector. The training was organized so that there would be an increase in environmental news in the media. At the end of the summer school, the journalists would be able to make a basic framework of their stories and hence they could work on these stories more properly on the field. A total of 13 journalists were provided fellowships and mentorship by NEFEJ for carrying out an in depth reporting on the same issue. This training was provided so as to increase the number of environmental reporting in the media.
The training was facilitated by Mr. Rajendra Dahal, Mr, Subodh Gautam, Mr. Batu Krishna Upreti, Mr. Mohan Mainali, Ms. Durga Karki and Mr. Rajesh Ghimire. The participants were informed about the various environmental issues that could be reported in the media along with examples. The training also facilitated them to carry out in depth reporting. Mr. Subodh Gautam, Executive Director, NEFEJ briefly summarized the media monitoring report carried out by NEFEJ for the month January to March 2018 and hence highlighting the importance of environmental reporting. Furthermore, he gave an overview of the ongoing environmental issues in the country while also giving examples of reports of news stories that had been published earlier. Mr. Batu Krishna Upreti, Expert, shared some of the important treaties, protocols and declarations that were made after realizing the importance of environment conservation. Mr. Rajendra Dahal, Senior Journalist shared some aspects of the in depth reporting by informing that this type of reporting would include all the information that one can get regarding the topic and it does not have breaking information in them. He encouraged all the participating journalists to choose a area of their interest and report more on the issue. Mr. Mohan Mainali, Senior Journalist gave information regarding the matters that they should consider while writing environmental news. He informed them about the environmental institutions where they can receive data to backup their story. Mr. Rajesh Ghimire shared with the participants that they should give a different angle to their story so that the news stories will become interesting.
The participants pitched their story at the end of the workshop and made commitments to work on these issues. The training ended with further interactions and discussion on the same.