In Australia, there is a disconnect between those who experience climate change in rural areas and how it is reported in national newsrooms. In this episode Rebecca talks to award winning Australian journalist Sue Stephenson about why firsthand rural perspectives and solutions are so important for changing the climate conversation.
As a young, ambitious journalist Sue got her start at a country newspaper in Northern New South Wales. But it wasn’t long before Sue’s talent for storytelling was noticed and she was eventually offered a job in Sydney as a television journalist with the Seven Network. From there she went on to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where she was the founding executive producer of the national broadcaster’s first 24-hour news channel. Today, in her latest role as a lecturer at University of Technology Sydney’s Journalism school, Sue is working hard to equip the next generation of multimedia reporters as they prepare to enter the workforce in an era of toxic climate politics and uncertainty.
At the height of Australia’s so called recent ‘Black Summer’ in late 2019 and early 2020, Sue sent a group of young city-based student reporters into the regional communities hardest hit by the fires. Their findings were surprising and powerful. Their reporting brought to life the human face of climate change, so rarely seen in the Australian media. They returned with a practical understanding of the many ways that climate change is already affecting so many people in regional Australia, and how country people are already adapting. We need more reporting like this says Sue.
Useful links and resources we reference in the episode
Climate Council (2016), “On the Frontline: Climate Change and Rural Communities”: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/ruralreport/
UTS Journalism launches regional reporting project: https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-arts-and-social-sciences/news/uts-journalism-launches-regional-reporting-project
Central News UTS: https://centralnews.com.au
The Solutions Journalism Network, “Reporting on Climate Change from a Solutions Lens”: https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/reporting-on-climate-change-from-a-solutions-lens-765e57e28724
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