Twelve journalists and advocates across Asia produced important stories about the contributions of plastic pollution to the climate crisis, and the steps taken by communities to fight these two crises through a program developed by Climate Tracker Asia in partnership with Break Free From Plastic.
Titled “Uncovering the Plastic Crisis: Stories of Pollution and Solutions,” the initiative provided story grants to storytellers to produce journalism that shines light on the links between the plastic problem and the climate crisis, and highlights genuine and sustainable solutions.
The project provided the fellows with hands-on mentoring, editorial reviews, and resources on the topics.
This resulted in the publication of high-quality stories that were published in reputable media outlets such as EcoBusiness, ABS-CBN News and Palawan Daily News in the Philippines, Bangkok Post, India’s Scroll.in, The Wire, News Sense and Down to Earth, Mongolia’s TenGer TV, Indonesia’s Ekuatorial, and LiCAS.news.
Program’s impacts
Fellows who have little or no journalistic experience such as Dirwan Kalam and Ariel Adimahavira of Indonesia shared they learned a great deal about solutions to the plastic problem and climate reporting.
Photojournalist Mayank Makhija described the program as an amazing opportunity for budding storytellers like him.
“Not only it provides you with a platform to take your stories out, but also elevates them in terms of researching, building and nurturing them,” he said.
Pratch Rujivanarom, an environment reporter for Bangkok Post, said the program encouraged him to use a different approach in reporting by focusing on solutions rather than just exposing problems.
Although their reports have yet to yield tangible results, their articles are expected to drive conversations about their governments’ strategies to address the plastic crisis and the solutions being implemented. Joydeep Dasgupta, a veteran journalist in India, said he had received feedback that such stories need to be mainstreamed and presented more responsibly.
