Together with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, we put the spotlight on five countries in Southeast Asia to investigate the media landscape for reporting on coal and clean energy.
31 young journalists from Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines were selected and participated in two weeks of cutting-edge training and mentorship. They came together to learn the fundamentals of media research and analysis. Out of this cohort, we carefully selected the 5 most impressive students to move onto the next stage: a 3-month paid research opportunity to collectively analyse the media coverage of coal and clean energy in the region.
Their research analysis will be published as a co-authored regional report and shared among leading organisations across Southeast Asia in September of this year.
Join us in congratulating all our students and these 5 awesome fellows!
NGUYEN THI HOANG NGUYEN, VIETNAM
Nguyen joined the Thomson Reuters Reporting Trip to IFAD in Rome in 2018 and was a fellow of the Hong Kong Baptist University Journalism Fellowship Scheme in 2018.
She is currently a fellow for the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) where she works to enhance her knowledge of climate science and looks at climate-related issues in the Mekong Region from different angles.
“As a journalist my job is to report but I think if I just simply inform people about what they should know, it is no longer enough, especially for a pressing issue like climate change. Journalists should make people care about what they should know and make them engaged. That is a real challenge. Can we engage people by just simply telling better stories? Should climate journalists just turn activists? Then how are we going to deal with the principle of impartiality? I think it is hard for climate journalists to give a clear yes or no answers to these questions (or is it just me?). But by asking them to ourselves, I think we are at least getting somewhere.”
SIPPACHAI “ZOOM” KUNNUWONG, THAILAND
We’re not sure why he’s nicknamed Zoom, but this 30 year old Thai journalist believes in the power of journalism to shape the way people think of themselves and the world around them. As a journalist and storyteller, he thinks his job is to help ignite debates about climate change and its root causes.
Zoom worked for Agence France-Press (AFP), an international news agency, for 3 years covering news in Thailand and the Mekong region and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Sungkonghoe University in Seoul, South Korea.
“Southeast Asia has constantly been hit by environmental crises, from hazardous levels of air pollution, ocean waste, droughts and floods, making life increasingly more unbearable. However the conversation around these topics has not been on the public’s main agenda. That’s why climate journalism is needed to engage people across the region to be part of the quest seeking for a less destructive future.”
ANGELICA YANG, THE PHILIPPINES
Angelica is a 23-year old journalist based in Manila, Philippines. She has written for several publications such as The Philippine Daily Inquirer, GMA News Online, ABS-CBN.com, and Rappler.
For as long as she could remember, Angelica has always been passionate about the Science and Technology (SciTech) beat, and keeping up to date with the latest health, environment and climate news.
According to her, climate reporting is important for journalists, like her, living in the Philippines- a tropical country that always bears the brunt of typhoons, earthquakes and floods every year. This is why Angelica strongly believes that there are an abundance of climate stories waiting to be told in her country. Some have been told, but reporters should not stop looking for gripping and powerful narratives.
At a young age, Angelica has already won several awards for her works.
She was recognized as the recipient of the 2019 UP Gawad Tsanselor Para sa Natatanging Mag-Aaral (her school’s highest student award); the winner of the 2019 Chit Estella Student Journalism Award for “Best in Journalism Research”; the third-placer of the 2018 Department of Science and Technology’s Bantog: Science for the People Media Award for “Outstanding S & T Media Practitioner for Cyber Press- Professional category” ; and as the winner of the 2018 UP Science Journalism Award for “Best Science News Story.”
She graduated with a degree in Journalism (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines Diliman
ARI ULANDARI, INDONESIA
Ari Ulandari is a 30 year old freelance writer who really wants to use her skills to provide more information about environmental movements, especially about climate change.
“Media and journalism are powerful measures to shape the people’s opinions and perspectives about critical issues in the world today. So, if media and journalism in the South East Asia region can fully support the climate movement, people’s awareness on climate issues will be relatively easier to evolve,” Ari believes.
Adding that, when awareness is already in the people’s mind, all policies and actions regarding environment protection will be easily undertaken by the region.
Ari is passionate about giving back more to the climate and environment movement. “Back in 2008, I started to convert a bushy space in the middle of my campus dormitory to be a flowery garden. In the end, I could see so many birds and butterflies. It teached me that a healthy environment means a new home for so many animals. It also inspired other students to join me. That’s why my campus awarded me as ‘the woman of the year,” she fondly shared with us.
NADIAH DZULFAKAR, MALAYSIA
Nadiah is the co-founder and coordinator of a youth-led climate justice group in Malaysia. She advocates for civil society empowerment to steer the political will towards green and just policies in nation-building.
She shared Amnesty Malaysia’s Ambassador Conscience Award 2019 together with Mustafa Along, an indigenous leader and forest defender in Malaysia.
Nadiah believes “climate journalism shapes people’s narrative through local climate stories and reinterpretations of complex climate science, and to that effect, building the climate literacy of the people in the SEA region.”