The Climate Data Journalism Workshop- Guwahati edition
In partnership with the Azim Premji University, IndiaSpend curated a series of 2- day Climate Data Journalism workshops across 5 different cities. The main aim is to bridge the wide gaps in understanding climate change and its impact on the socio-economic fabric of the country combined with an evident apathy on the part of editors and owners of mainstream media.
The workshops focused on providing guidance, imparting data and solution journalism to journalists, journalism students, and civil society organizations on how they can contribute in a more meaningful way to reporting on climate change, the odds of sparking public interest and steering attention to understanding one’s role in the fight for the planet.
Through Climate Data Journalism Workshops we have built a cohort of climate change journalism networks. The workshops have contributed to the formation of this collective body, indicating collaboration and shared interests in reporting on climate change-related issues.
The main components of the workshop included sessions on data, visualizations, policy, misinformation and media literacy, writing a climate change story, and a few case studies.
Faculty
Sushanta Talukdar
Editor, nezine.com
Shreya Khaitan
Writer and editor, IndiaSpend
Santonu Goswami
Associate Professor, Azim Premji University
Sanjoy Hazarika
Columnist & Author
Karma Paljor
Co-founder: Atvi Infotainment
Govindraj Ethiraj
Founder: IndiaSpend & BOOMLive
Dr. Rahul Mahanta
Department of Physics, Cotton University, Guwahati
Divya Chandra
Workshops and Training, BOOM FactCheck
Bhupendra Nath Goswami
Meteorologist & Climatologist
Amit Kumar
East Mojo
Agenda
Registration
Registration, Wi-Fi connection and tech check.
Inaugural session
Welcome address
Defining impact
This session focuses on the core purpose of the EarthCheck initiative and identifies gaps that this initiative aims to address. Why building a frontline of climate change journalists is crucial for the subcontinent, and more importantly, what does success look like.
Lecture
India and the climate abyss – A concise overview of rising temperatures and its impact in the near future.
Masterclass: Building blocks of a data-backed and evidence-based climate change report
In this session you will understand how to structure a climate change article – the rigor in planning, analyzing data and policy, identifying sources, fact checking and nuances in field reporting so as to gain perspective on the best practices in reporting climate change stories. You will be equipped with a checklist on what constitutes a robust report. Using published work, essentially the author’s articles and reports, various aspects of reporting will be deconstructed and analyzed from different points of view. This is a working session and participants will be involved in the analysis of articles.
Meeting the editor's expectations
The success of a high quality article or report is almost always a good and robust pitch. This session will piece the pitch puzzle and participants will get an understanding on what an ideal pitch should cover from an editor's perspective.
The reporter’s dilemma
An open discussion on access to resources, current and quality datasets and sources, sector experts and spokespersons, academic and research papers, visualizations and factchecking.
Mapping the field, listening to people
A preview into an upcoming series of articles documenting the impact of climate change in the north-east.
Quick recap
Address any pending questions
Updates and announcements
Goal setting for the day
Guest speaker
Prof Goswami's efforts in installing state of the art Climate Prediction system and short and medium range weather prediction system at India Meteorological Department (IMD) has led to perceptible improvement in the skill of weather and climate forecasts in the country. This has improved confidence of the common man as well as the policy makers on the forecasts by IMD. The economic benefit to the farmers from the improved climate and weather forecasts is estimated to be about Rs. 50,000 Crores per year.
Masterclass
The art of data storytelling highlights the role of visualizations in unpacking complex and layered data-driven narratives into a simple and structured story. By weaving visualizations into storytelling, reports stand a better chance in terms of gaining traction and are bound to resonate with a wider audience.
Practical session
A step-by-step classroom session on how to use basic creative tools to tell stories – Create GIFS, memes and use of comics to tell a story.
Masterclass: Disinformation, misinformation, and verification
This session will train you to detect the difference between disinformation and misinformation, verify images, text, and videos you receive on WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. You will learn how to access online factchecking tools and gain hands-on experience of applying them in your daily routine.
Vote of Thanks
Handover of certificates
