Mongolia’s Press Institute in conjunction with Thompson Foundation based in UK ran 3 courses on coverage of environmental issues from 27 March to 25 April 2006 in Ulaanbaatar. Russell Line, a fellow teacher, lectured journalists from print, radio and TV as to how to make stories both relevant and understandable to readers, viewers and listeners.
About 90 journalists attended the training. According to Press Institute’s survey, the participants evaluated the training content as “excellent” as well as both practical and theoretical, and said that they put training-added knowledge such as BBC’s interview and report methods, news structure principles to use in their further work.
The Thompson Foundation is one of the biggest media training organizations in Europe. The foundation has been conducting seminars, lectures, workshops in more than 100 countries while also consulting newspapers, television and radio stations.
Here is the interview with Russell Line.
How are, in your view, environmental issues covered in Mongolian media?
RL: I’m familiar with the results of Press Institute’s survey conducted with the aim to examine how Mongolian print media has been covering environmental issues. There is a quite large amount of coverage of the environmental issues in outrage daily newspapers in Mongolia, it featured 8 times a week, which is pretty good.
In what topics were the participants interested?
RL: In my opinion, most journalists attempted to compare the effects of the environmental protection coverage by media in developed countries like UK with those in developing countries like in Mongolia. I think they were eager to learn how problems like pollution had been solved in metropolitan like London is for example.
What would you like to advice to our journalists?
RL: One of the crucial problems in the developing countries is that the humans who might be the main topic of concern always have been forgotten. Of course, there are many such global problems which should be always in the center of attention of society including political and economical issues. However if we should cover an environmental issue, for example air pollution of the metropolitan like London, we must consider firstly, it’s bad effect to the population of London, how they suffered because of this. Therefore, I would like to advise that alongside with covering global issues never forget human related issues or it would be more effective to cover global issues through the human or more exactly through the eyes of ordinary people who are involved and affected by those issues.
Do Mongolia and your country have common problems?
RL: The problems which Ulaanbaatar has been facing today were most crucial issues in London possibly 30 years ago. Population of London had suffered of air pollution in 1960-es. That problem was solved by reduction in the usage of coal as a heating fuel and from time to time population of London had adapted to use natural gas indeed of stone coal. While solving an air pollution problem, we had faced the other social issues. When usage of coal declined many, coal mining companies bankrupted and unemployment has become a most concerned issue of our society. So you may could solve one problem successfully, however further will face other crucial problems if you consider it only from one point of view.
More information: http://www.pressinst.org.mn