In this edition of the “Maqsad” project, carried out jointly by the National News Agency of Uzbekistan and the Sustainable Development Center, we turned to the topic of how environmental problems are covered by the media. Our guest in the conversation, organized as part of the “Sustainable Development Goals” month, was Nargis Qosimova, Doctor of Philological Sciences, professor, head of the “Ekolog” public association, founder of the “ekologuz” Telegram channel and platform, and an environmental journalist.
— Today, when the scale of environmental problems keeps expanding, what role should environmental journalism play in society, and what is its main task?
— Environmental journalism is very important for society. It plays a key role in finding answers to such questions as which environmental problems exist, why they are dangerous, and what solutions need to be found. Our country has more than 20 journalism departments. Unfortunately, not all higher education institutions and departments offering journalism have a track in environmental journalism. It has been introduced only at the University of Journalism and Mass Communications and at the Faculty of International Journalism of the Uzbekistan State World Languages University.
What consequences does this lead to? If tomorrow a journalist has to prepare a story about trees being cut down somewhere, water being polluted, or an animal being subjected to cruelty, that journalist will produce the story without understanding the environmental problem. And what the quality of that story will be becomes a secondary matter. Unfortunately, such superficial materials, lacking in-depth analysis, are becoming ever more numerous.
— What is the state of environmental coverage in the media in our country?
— If the coverage of environmental topics were rated on a ten-point scale, I would give it three points. As an environmental journalist, I believe that any environmental story should change the awareness of the public, of the reader.
— Which environmental problems are not covered enough by the media in our country? In covering environmental problems, should the media show the problem itself more, or the solutions?
— Recently, the problem of global climate change has been raised very often. Yet many people do not understand what global climate change is or what its consequences are, and they do not grasp its essence deeply. The concept of climate migration has also emerged. There is not enough analysis on these subjects.
A journalist raises the problem and serves as a bridge between the people and the government. Along with raising problems, the journalist must certainly offer solutions as well. But I believe the solution should be provided not by journalists themselves, but by specialists in the field, by ecologists. In that case, most of today’s environmental problems would be resolved.
In the course of our conversation with the environmental journalist, many pressing issues were discussed: the difficulties journalists face in covering environmental problems, identifying environmental fakes and carrying out fact-checking, which media formats are most effective in shaping the public’s environmental awareness, and what needs to be done to develop environmental journalism.
Oybek Davronov, Anvar Ahmedov (video), UzA
Muhtarama Komilova Sustainable Development Center