Climate Science 101 : A primer on the actual climate science that will be a foundation for the Programme

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Understand the overall objectives and approach of the course including the Personal Project requirement.

• Define the scope and scale of climate crisis reporting.

• Better describe the core climate science that underpins climate reporting.

Decoding the Science: How to read, understand and interpret the science, journals and abstracts.  Focus on key reporting tools.

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Recognise the range of sources of climate science information and identify their merits and drawbacks.

• Understand how science data can be used as a tool to support good journalism.

• Know how to approach a variety of science sources to extract meaningful data.

3 Challenges of Climate Reporting: From misinformation and conspiracy theories to navigating spin and competing interests

 By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Identify key misinformation challenges and threats to climate reporting.

• Categorise the most pervasive strains of climate crisis misinformation.

• Compare and analyse strategies journalists have employed to combat that misinformation and consider how to adapt these strategies to their own work.

Climate Reporting & Audiences: How to define and serve audiences of our climate reporting

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the central challenges news organisations face in communicating news and information to their audiences during the climate crisis.

• Define a solutions based approach to the reporting of the climate crisis.

• Discuss the storytelling and impact measurement opportunities available to news organisations when reporting climate stories.

Personal Project: Participants will present their story pitches to the group for coaching and discussion

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Pitch climate crisis story ideas and design reporting treatments.

• Revise and improve their personal story idea using constructive facilitator and peer feedback.

• Create a timeline for delivering their story idea.

Storytelling Techniques : Packaging climate reporting, formats, engagement, data visualisations and case studies.

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the attributes and values of different climate science storytelling formats, tools and techniques.

• Evaluate storytelling techniques journalists have employed when reporting the climate crisis.

• Adopt a set of innovative storytelling principles and apply them to a personal reporting project.