By Audry Awino
As climate change continues to shape lives and livelihoods, the demand for credible information has grown substantially. Yet as audiences seek answers, they are increasingly bombarded with misinformation and disinformation that distort scientific facts, undermining public understanding.
According to a senior journalist, Jack Otieno, the media have a crucial role to play in ensuring that climate stories are accurate, evidence-based and relevant to people’s daily lives.
‘People are looking for credible information amid the rise of fake news about climate change,’’ he said.
Otieno observed that while climate journalism has improved significantly over the years, reporting still faces several challenges. He cited sensationalism, disaster-focused reporting, lack of evidence and failure to highlight innovations and solutions as common shortcomings bedeviling climate journalism in Kenya and beyond.
“There was a case of a sub-editor using a picture of a greenhouse, the agricultural structure, to illustrate a story because greenhouse gas emissions had been mentioned,” said Otieno, noting that such mistakes stemmed from a poor understanding of scientific concepts.
Addressing young journalists during an online media science café, organised by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA), Otieno emphasised the need for journalists to understand the subject of climate and climate change before telling the story.
“Journalists must first thoroughly understand the subject. They should not be shy to ask expert to explain issues in the simplest terms possible. Technical jargon are the sure way to create misunderstanding and lose the public,” said Otieno, a chief sub-editor at the Nation Media Group’s Business Daily.
Otieno encouraged journalists to sharpen their writing by studying quality reporting. He described fact-checking as an indispensable part of climate journalism, saying it protects the public from misinformation while safeguarding the credibility of the media.
Otieno also challenged journalists to make climate reporting more relatable by connecting stories to people’s everyday experiences and foregrounding the voices of communities directly affected by climate change.
“Climate stories often extend beyond rising temperatures or changing weather patterns. They touch on health, agriculture, food security, water resources and the economy. Journalists have a responsibility to connect these issues in ways that help audiences understand how climate change affects their everyday lives,” said Otieno.
While accuracy remains the foundation of climate reporting, experts argue that journalism should go beyond simply documenting disasters.
Speaking at the same forum, which brought together Maseno University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology journalism students, climate and health advocacy lead at Amref Health Africa, Friday Phiri, challenged journalists to rethink their approach to telling climate stories.
He asked the media to move beyond event-based reporting to sustained coverage that follows issues from policy to implementation.
Phiri said journalists should humanise climate stories by focusing on health and community experiences rather than treating climate change as an abstract environmental issue.
He further challenged them to investigate whether climate finance reaches vulnerable communities and to track government commitments beyond policy announcements.
“Track government commitments through implementation,” he urged, noting that accountability reporting is essential in ensuring climate promises translate into meaningful action.
Phiri, a longstanding media practitioner, encouraged journalists to explain scientific evidence in clear, accessible language while actively challenging misinformation that can mislead the public.
He emphasized the need to amplify African expertise, innovation and frontline voices, arguing that communities experiencing the impacts of climate change should take the center stage in climate narratives.
“Move beyond event-based reporting, from conference rooms to clinics, farms, markets and homes,” he said.
To strengthen climate journalism, Phiri proposed closer collaboration between journalists, scientists and institutions through fellowships, specialized training, field visits, access to experts and editorial briefings. Such partnerships, he noted, can equip journalists with the knowledge, sources and story ideas needed to improve public understanding of climate and health issues.
For Laura Otieno, a multi-media journalist, one of the greatest challenges in climate reporting is translating complex scientific information into stories that ordinary audiences can understand.
She described climate reporting is rooted in science, making it one of the most demanding beats for journalists.
“The main challenge has been demystifying the science and getting experts to talk about it. And even when they do, there is often no simple explanation or translation of the scientific data and reports,” said Otieno.
This story first appeared in Sayansi Magazine ©MESHA Features