Brazil: RSF meets with COP30 CEO about the importance of journalism in fighting climate change
In the last decade, at least 24 journalists have been killed for investigating deforestation, illegal mining, land grabbing, pollution and other environmental catastrophes resulting from industrial activities and major construction projects. Dozens more have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and subjected to all kinds of pressure from authorities and companies responsible for environmental crimes.
Despite the profound importance of stories about the exploitation of natural resources and the violence environmental crimes inflict on communities, they are no longer being told due to fear of what may happen to the messenger. Latin American journalists covering climate change are at particular risk, as RSF documented in the report “Scorched lands of journalism in the Amazon.”
Ensuring safe and sustainable conditions for consistant, reliable coverage of the environment — which directly counteracts the growing misinformation about climate change — is not just the right thing to do. It is a vital strategic decision for countries concerned about the future of our planet.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem