TASHA tips journalists on environment, oil reporting
‘’We are in a very dangerous situation, and if not managed, we shall face climate change due to oil activities.’’
Kagadi: The Executive Director of TASHA Research Institute Africa, Mr. Maxwell Atuhuura, has asked journalists in the Albertine Region to take keen interest in reporting on the environment and oil and gas projects.
According to Atuhuura, there are many issues citing delayed and inadequate compensation for oil and gas project-affected people and environmental degradation, among others that have gone unreported.
He believes that journalists have more to report on such issues since they are always in the field and have the capacity to do it. Atuhuura stresses that journalists can bring such issues to the light that the public is green about.
‘’The best way journalists can stand with the community is by reporting issues that affect them, and at the end of the day, you get solutions.’’
He was speaking on Monday, August 19, 2024, during the launch of a communication project held at Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR) in Kagadi town.
Atuhuura noted that due this, a one-year project funded by the European Coalition for Corporate Justice is being implemented with the aim of establishing a platform for dialogue through creating and operating digital forums, creating sensitization trainings for journalists and communities to enhance their awareness, and also developing resources and disbursing tool kits.
Mr Michael Mucunguzi, the Programme Officer for the Communication Project said that they will work closely with selected journalists from different electronic and digital communication channels in implementing the project.
‘’The logic behind the project is that the mainstream media has not picked much interest in covering such issues, and we are optimistic that equipping journalists with the right information will help them make the right decisions,’’ he added.
Mr. John Kibego, a journalist working with Kazi-Njema News, an online news channel, emphasized the need for collaboration in everything we do, noting that the oil sector is a very big aspect that affects all people in the region but in different ways and levels.
‘’We are in a very dangerous situation, and if not managed, we shall face climate change due to oil activities.’’
Mr. Pascal Onega, a journalist working with Biiso FM in the oil-rich Buliisa district, stressed that most journalists have not been introduced to reporting on the oil and gas sector or environmental-related matters.
He also decried the denial of access to the oil fields by journalists which has hampered their ability to report about the oil and gas industry.
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