Media for Green Programme

TThis programme seeks to support journalists and independent Media Houses who take greater risk to investigate sensitive and report on, environment-related subjects in Uganda. The programme will also support efforts of Journalists and independent media houses to produce and disseminate Environmental related news. In this way, Independent Media in Uganda will play a key role in shaping the information that opinion leaders and the public will use to judge the urgency of climate change, what needs to be done about it, when and at what costs. Thus the programme will contribute to a better world for people and the planet.

The programme seeks to address three major challenges. These include;

1. Changes in the global climate system.
2. Safety and Security of environmental reporters, who are increasingly exposed to many kinds of pressure, threats, attacks and violence.
3. Media houses in Uganda rarely report about climate and sustainability issues, particularly the energy, food, and water demand on a planet that may house nine billion people by mid-century.

Programme Goal

This programme will build the nucleus of message creation and distribution whereby climate change has a national media exposure and beyond. In addition, the programme will involve developing an educational program that will live beyond the life of this programme in order to produce a new team of environmentally focused Human Rights Defenders. The programme will build capacities of environmental journalists and HRDs so that they carefully work to protect the environment and make impact on climate change.

This programme aims at achieving the following Objectives;

1) To support efforts for improving the safety and security of journalists and HRDs who take greater risk to investigate sensitive, environment-related subjects.
2) To support efforts to increase Media coverage of climate change in Uganda and beyond.
3) To support efforts of Journalists and HRDs to produce and disseminate Environmental related news.
4) To create Innovative Opportunities for Environmental Communication in Uganda.
5) To improve the institutional Capacity of Voice of Mitooma to implement the Media for Green Programme.

Programme Activities

Supporting efforts for improving the safety and security of journalists

1) Conduct Training workshops on safety and security for Journalists and HRDs.
2) Organize Safety and Security Courses for Media practitioners
3) Supply safety and security equipment to journalists and HRDs.

Supporting efforts to increase Media coverage of climate change in Uganda and beyond

4) Organize Environmental Journalism Courses for Journalists and HRDs.
5) Implement media campaigns on titled “Go Green” Components in their news broadcasts and publications.
6) Arrange and support “Go Green Awards” for media houses that give extensive coverage of environmental news.
7) Identify partners that will support the Go Green Awards for long-term sustainability.
8) Support media houses to implement Climate Change Communication Campaign. The Campaign will include producing Radio/TV Programmes and spot messages on climate.

Supporting efforts of Journalists and independent media houses to produce and disseminate Environmental related news

9) Develop an online and offline platform where environmental journalists, media houses and environmental experts and other interested parties can openly share their knowledge and discuss questions regarding climate change and the environment.
10) Develop a website with an online news channel dedicated to environmental news.
11) Organize media workshops on global warming for top editors as well as reporters.
12) Developing Internship Programme focused on creating web-based climate change communication products—including images, video, and stories—that will inform diverse internal and external audiences about climate change issues in Uganda and beyond.