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topic: Environmental Journalism
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Experts highlight importance of ‘prebunking’ to combat climate disinformation
- For journalists covering climate change and other complex issues, battling disinformation is a major challenge.
- Disinformation experts use a method called “prebunking” to reveal deceptive techniques and guard against manipulation; it’s a proactive approach, rooted in inoculation theory in psychology, which encourages critical thinking in the face of false information.
- However, the method faces cultural obstacles in some countries such as Bhutan; communication professionals say journalists and local communities should receive training so they are informed about climate science and other relevant subjects in order to fight disinformation.
The Narwhal makes waves in Canada for environmental journalism
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, co-founder of the award-winning Canadian nonprofit news outlet The Narwhal, Emma Gilchrist, speaks with co-host Rachel Donald about their successes covering the most vital environmental news in the nature-rich nation.
- Gilchrist discusses what’s special about Canada’s natural legacy, the state of environmental reporting there, how she sees The Narwhal filling the gaps in historically neglected stories and viewpoints, and why something as universally appreciated as nature can still be a polarizing topic.
- She also details a legal battle her organization is involved in that could have significant implications for press freedom in Canada.
How effective are giant funding pledges by major conservation donors?
- Big-name conservation philanthropy is having a moment, but does the news cycle adequately capture the nuances required when huge new pledges of funding by billionaires or foundations are announced?
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, two experts weigh in on what conservationists and environmental journalists should consider when evaluating climate change or biodiversity conservation pledges.
- Holly Jonas, global coordinator at the ICCA Consortium, and Michael Kavate, staff writer at the news outlet Inside Philanthropy, offer expert advice for conservationists, curious readers and journalists who want to know more about the topic.
- “I think what the public really needs is more critical and more in-depth coverage of the ideologies and the approaches behind their kinds of philanthropy, the billionaire pledges and so on, how they’re being rolled out in practice, where the funding’s actually going,” Jonas says.
Mongabay Data Studio: Revealing nature’s hidden stories through data (commentary)
- High-quality data journalism serves as a powerful tool in revealing complex environmental issues, transforming raw data into compelling narratives that illuminate the hidden stories behind the numbers.
- Ultimately, high-quality data journalism empowers citizens, policymakers and activists with the information needed to make informed decisions, driving meaningful action towards environmental sustainability and conservation. Through meticulous data analysis and creative storytelling, environmental journalism can thus significantly amplify its reach and impact, guiding society towards a more informed and conscientious stewardship of the natural world.
- To this end, last month we announced Mongabay Data Studio which aims to strengthen our data journalism capabilities.
- The initiative supports data journalism across all of Mongabay’s languages, bureaus, and formats, including investigations, news reporting, videos, and social media visualizations. It is structured to operate across various topics and geographies, enabling comprehensive data journalism integration in all our work. It aims to elevate our storytelling by incorporating and utilizing more data as a foundational element for new stories.
Impunity for Cambodia’s exotic pet owners as trade outpaces legislation
- High-profile interventions by Cambodia’s former leader and weak legislation have allowed the illegal wildlife trade to persist largely in the open.
- The case of a gas station menagerie in western Cambodia is emblematic of the ease with which even endangered species can be bought and sold.
- The collection, owned by a police officer, includes cockatoos from Indonesia, marmosets and parakeets from South America, and a native gibbon.
- Authorities said they were aware of the collection, but were “following the format” set in the wake of their 2023 seizure of peacocks from a breeder, which culminated in them having to return the birds after then-prime minister Hun Sen criticized their actions.
HEATED: Challenging objectivity in climate journalism
- Objectivity has been a main tenet of journalism since early in the 20th century, but its application is loosely defined and humanly impossible to achieve, some media experts argue.
- Presenting an issue like climate change as a debate with two sides, as is still somewhat common, is often justified under the banner of objectivity, but it’s only one of many dissonant standards that environmental reporters are held to, argues podcast guest Emily Atkin.
- A journalist with a range of reporting experiences at top media outlets, she quit her day job to launch the acclaimed newsletter “HEATED,” which was spurred by a desire to report on the human causes of climate change and ecological destruction more directly, and she joins the show to explain her reasoning and why she thinks ideas like objectivity are outmoded.
- “You wouldn’t trust a reporter covering the opioid crisis who looked at all these kids dying and didn’t say ‘this is a problem,’ right?” she says.
Critics push for more transparency at RFMOs that govern high seas fishing
- Around 17 regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) manage fishing in international waters, or the “high seas.”
- Scientists and civil society members have long criticized these international bodies for failing the high seas; many of the stocks they manage are overfished, research shows.
- Critics cite opaque decision-making as a key reason for conservation failures, and they’re making an increasingly vociferous case for RFMOs to become more transparent, citing their oversight of shared public resources.
- RFMO representatives, while citing internal rules as well as a need for privacy to maintain open negotiations among parties, point to recent steps toward transparency.
Shrinking civil space and persistent logging: 2023 in review in Southeast Asia
- Home to the third-largest expanse of tropical rainforest and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Southeast Asia has seen conservation wins and losses over the course of 2023.
- The year was characterized by a rising trend of repression against environmental and Indigenous defenders that cast a shadow of fear over the work of activists in many parts of the region.
- Logging pressure in remaining tracts of forest remained intense, and an El Niño climate pattern brought regional haze crises generated by forest fires and agricultural burning returned.
- But some progress was made on several fronts: Most notably, increasing understanding of the benefits and methods of ecosystem restoration underpinned local, national and regional efforts to bring back forests, mangroves and other crucial sanctuaries of biodiversity.
World Economic Forum features Mongabay’s work
- Earlier this month the World Economic Forum released a short video that highlights Mongabay’s work.
- The video features an interview with Mongabay’s Founder and CEO, Rhett Ayers Butler.
- The video was published on the World Economic Forum’s website, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
‘The police are watching’: In Mekong countries, eco defenders face rising risks
- Activists, journalists, environmental lawyers and others who raise attention for environmental issues in the Mekong region say they feel threatened by authoritarian governments.
- Environment defenders say they feel under surveillance and at risk both in their home countries and abroad.
- The risks they face include violence and arrests, as well as state-backed harassment such as asset freezes and smear campaigns.
Mongabay CEO discusses slowdown in Amazon loss and other positive news
- It’s been an eventful couple of months for the Amazon Rainforest and for the Mongabay newsroom.
- Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) recently shared data showing a 22% decline in deforestation for the year ending July 31, 2023.
- In other exciting news, Mongabay was awarded the prestigious 2023 Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication recently. Past winners have included Pulitzer-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert and The Guardian.
- Mongabay has also just launched an entirely new bilingual bureau in Africa. Here to discuss all these developments on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast is CEO and editor-in-chief Rhett Butler.
Mongabay discusses the launch of Africa news bureau with director David Akana
- Mongabay has launched Mongabay Africa, a new bureau led by program director David Akana, a veteran Cameroonian journalist.
- Akana’s interest in environmental journalism was sparked when he joined a radio project in 2002 highlighting environmental challenges in the Congo Basin, leading to specialized training and a career centered on the environment.
- Akana’s vision for Mongabay Africa is to position it as a leading source of African conservation news, prioritizing high-quality journalism, visual storytelling and multilingual content distribution.
- Akana emphasizes the global significance of African environmental issues, stating that Africa’s response to climate change, biodiversity loss and governance issues directly impacts the world, making Mongabay Africa’s news relevant to a global audience.
Mongabay launches Africa news bureau
- Mongabay is launching a bilingual news bureau, Mongabay Africa, to cover environmental and conservation news across the continent in French and English.
- The bureau will support original reporting on wildlife conservation, development pressures, natural resource industries, and climate change impacts in Africa.
- This expansion aligns with Mongabay’s efforts to provide credible independent journalism, make science accessible, elevate voices impacted by environmental change, and serve a diverse audience with free news in various languages and formats.
Mongabay wins prestigious 2023 Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication
- The Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication is a prestigious award granted to professionals and organizations working to improve public understanding of ecological issues.
- The fifth annual Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication has been awarded to Mongabay for its commitment to reporting on issues related to nature and biodiversity, particularly in countries in the Global South.
- Past recipients have included The Guardian, as well as journalists Elizabeth Kolbert, Marlowe Hood, and Matt McGrath.
- Renowned conservation scientist Jane Goodall, who serves on Mongabay’s advisory board, said Mongabay “not only highlights the problems in the world, but also discusses solutions from the ground up” and that it “tells inspiring stories of people fighting and risking their lives as they strive to save wildlife and the environment.”
Communities track a path of destruction through a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary
- Illegal logging persists deep in the heart of Cambodia’s Chhaeb-Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary amid government inaction and even complicity with the loggers.
- Routine patrols by local activists and community members have painstakingly documented the site of each logged tree in the supposedly protected area, even as these community patrols have been banned by the authorities.
- Mongabay reporters joined one of these patrols in April, where a run-in with rangers underscored complaints that the authorities crack down harder on those seeking to protect the forest than on those destroying it.
- A government official denied that the logging was driven by commercial interests, despite evidence to the contrary, instead blaming local communities for cutting down trees to build homes.
Logging route cut into Cambodia’s Prey Lang from Think Biotech’s concession
- A road carved from a reforestation concession into the heart of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia appears to be facilitating the illegal logging and trafficking of valuable timber, a Mongabay investigation has revealed.
- The road originates in the concession of Think Biotech, a company previously implicated in forestry crimes, but its director denies being involved in the new road.
- The road had advanced 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into the ostensibly protected Prey Lang before authorities ordered a crackdown — one that activists say was just for show and targeted only small-time loggers.
- Community groups and activists say Prey Lang’s forests are being decimated at alarming rates, with satellite data showing nearly the same amount of forest cover loss in the past five years as in the previous 18.
License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
- Cambodia’s largest island, Koh Kong Krao, off its southwest coast, is covered in largely untouched old-growth forest, but recent satellite imagery shows deforestation is spreading.
- Much of the forest cover loss is in areas tightly controlled by Marine Brigade 2, a navy unit stationed on the island that has historically been accused of facilitating the illicit timber trade.
- Residents of the island said the navy controls almost every aspect of life there, with provincial officials afraid to intervene or investigate the military’s actions on Koh Kong Krao.
- Cambodia’s military has long been a key factor in illegal logging across the country, and reporters found evidence of its continued involvement in logging across the Cardamoms.
Rainforest reporting: Journalists discuss the challenges & dangers of Amazonia
- We speak with journalists who have known and reported on Amazonia for years, and who also know the violence in the region like the back of their hands.
- Repórter Brasil’s Daniel Camargos speaks about how he adapted his way of working after the deaths of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira.
- Combat journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto shares good memories of his extensive trajectory reporting directly from Amazonia.
- Finally, photojournalist Michael Dantas and Talita Bedinelli from Sumaúma tell of their coverage and experiences with the Yanomami people.
Podcast: Goodbye to blue skies? The trouble with engineered solutions
- Humanity has created a lot of ecological problems, and many of the proposed solutions come with giant price tags — or the things lost can even be priceless, like the sight of a blue sky — with no guarantee of solving the situation in the long term.
- Many such solutions — like Australia’s deliberate introduction of the toxic cane toad, which has wreaked havoc on the country’s wildlife — create new problems.
- Solar geoengineering to slow climate change would have the most visible effect to all, likely making the sky appear white: No more blue skies—but how would this affect the global plant community’s ability to photosynthesize, would it harm agriculture?
- Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert joins the Mongabay Newscast to talk about her latest book, “Under a White Sky,” which examines these interventions, the problems they come with and humanity’s seeming inability to stop turning to them.
Mongabay founder wins prestigious 2022 Heinz Award for the Environment
- The Heinz Awards are presented annually to honor excellence and achievement in the arts, environment, and economics. Previous winners in the environment category include Paul and Anne Ehrlich, Amory Lovins, Jane Lubchenco, and James Hansen, among many others.
- This year’s winner of the prestigious prize’s environment award is Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler, for his work creating a popular and impactful media outlet that publishes news from nature’s frontline in multiple languages for a large global audience.
- “The pace of environmental degradation, deforestation and habitat loss due to human activity is devastating, but Rhett has responded with courage and dedication, creating a platform that equips the world with critical news information gathered with the highest journalistic and scientific integrity,” says Teresa Heinz, chair of the Heinz Family Foundation and founder of the Heinz Awards.
- “The rise of Mongabay as one of the most widely read environmental news sources is a powerful testament to what’s possible when even one person has the interest in and passion for the natural world that Butler has,” says Mongabay board member Jeannie Sedgwick.
Indigenous reporters awarded for fight against fake news deep in the Amazon
- Brazilian Indigenous communications network Rede Wayuri has won the 2022 Rule of Law Award from the World Justice Project (WJP).
- Using word of mouth, radio, and mobile messaging apps, the network plays a key role getting news to and from Indigenous communities in the Rio Negro region of the Brazilian Amazon.
- Rede Wayuri has been credited with debunking wild claims circulating on WhatsApp about the COVID-19 vaccine — including that it can turn a person into a crocodile — thereby helping counter vaccine hesitancy among vulnerable Indigenous populations.
- The network has 55 Indigenous communicators from 15 ethnic groups, disseminating information in at least four native languages (Baniwa, Tukano, Nheengatu and Yanomami), in addition to Portuguese, in a region the size of Nicaragua.
Book Review: ‘Slaves for Peanuts’ gets to the troubling roots of a beloved snack
- Journalist Jori Lewis’s “Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History,” tells the stories of “people that history forgets and the present avoids.”
- The book sheds light on how the commercial trade in peanuts in Senegal was driven by European expansion and drew on unfree labor.
- The mutilation of Senegal’s lands resulting from peanut commerce foreshadows the damage that commercial monocultures continue to inflict today.
- “Slaves for Peanuts” is published by The New Press, a nonprofit, and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and bookshop.org.
Helping empower the next generation of environmental journalists at Nature’s frontline
- Mongabay is establishing a fellowship program for young and aspiring journalists from the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
- The Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship Program will provide opportunities for journalists from tropical countries to report on critical environmental issues, gaining valuable training, experience, and credibility that will help them advance their careers in journalism and communications.
- We purposefully do not have any educational prerequisites to apply for the program. We believe that anyone has the potential to become a journalist and access to education should not be a barrier to opportunity.
- It is our hope that the fellowship will empower the next generation of environmental journalists to tell stories from Nature’s frontline.
Deaths of Phillips and Pereira shine light on a region of the Amazon beset by violence
- Brazilian police reported on June 15 that they had found the bodies believed to be those of Brazilian Indigenous defender Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips deep in the western Amazon.
- The bodies were found not far from where the pair disappeared on June 5, in the Vale do Javari region, considered the most violent region of Brazil, where criminal groups vie to seize land occupied by Indigenous and traditional communities.
- Similar conflicts occur all over the Amazon, with some land grabbers admitting that they will, if necessary, use violent methods to achieve their goals.
- The Brazilian Senate has launched an investigation into the disappearance of Pereira and Phillips, but observers say it’s unlikely to deliver the far-reaching change required to tackle the violence.
Mongabay reporter sued in what appears to be a pattern of legal intimidation by Peruvian cacao company
- A Peruvian cacao company that sued a Mongabay Latam writer for reporting on its deforestation in the Amazon has also targeted others in what lawyers said appears to be a pattern of intimidation.
- Tamshi, formerly Cacao del Perú Norte SAC, had its lawsuit against Mongabay Latam’s Yvette Sierra Praeli thrown out by a court in November.
- A separate lawsuit against four environment ministry officials, including the one who led the prosecution of the company, has also been dropped, although it may still be appealed.
- In a third lawsuit, environmental activist Lucila Pautrat, who documented farmers’ allegations against Tamshi, was handed a two-year suspended sentence and fine, but is appealing the decision.
Peruvian court dismisses defamation case against Mongabay journalist
- A court in Peru has formally dismissed a defamation case filed by an agribusiness company against Yvette Sierra Praeli, a reporter for Mongabay Latam, Mongabay’s Spanish-language bureau that primarily serves Latin America.
- On Monday, the Fourth Criminal Chamber of Lima ruled by majority to dismiss the aggravated defamation claim presented by Tamshi SAC, a plantation company the Peruvian government has prosecuted for “crimes against the environment” in the Amazon.
- The decision brings to an end a case that began nearly a year ago when Tamshi SAC sued Sierra over a story she published on Mongabay Latam about an investigation led by Alberto Yusen Caraza, a member of the Loreto Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, that resulted in a July 2019 conviction against three Tamshi officials for environmental crimes.
- The decision may have broader implications for environmental journalism in Peru, says Sierra’s attorney.
Jane Goodall’s Hopecast podcast features Mongabay founder
- Primatologist and conservation icon Jane Goodall recently interviewed Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler for her Hopecast podcast. The episode was released October 26, 2021.
- Goodall and Butler talked about the importance of good storytelling in conveying information about the environment. Goodall lamented that much of the news around the environment is sad and depressing, and said there was a need to showcase more hopeful stories, including conservation successes.
- Butler said that while the media does tend to dwell on the negative, good environmental outcomes can result from “bad stories”: “Sometimes you can have a bad story that results in a good outcome,” he said. “Covering it can then lead to the activity stopping or people being empowered.”
With Myanmar’s press muzzled, experts warn of surge in environmental crimes
- Myanmar’s military authorities have followed their Feb. 1 coup with a sweeping clampdown on press freedom, including the arrest of reporters, closing of news outlets, and driving of journalists underground or into exile.
- Industry experts say the measures have effectively criminalized independent journalism in the country.
- As conflict and violence spreads throughout the country, monitoring forests, illegal logging and the associated illicit trade on the ground is increasingly risky. Satellite platforms that monitor forest loss will likely become increasingly useful.
- With the loss of the independent press watchdog a reality, experts say they fear the circumstances are ripe for overexploitation of natural resources.
Mongabay-India editor recognized among ‘16 Women Restoring the Earth’
- The Global Landscapes Forum honors “16 Women Restoring the Earth” through science, policy, journalism, music, land rights, and many other creative and effective avenues.
- Among the honorees this year are Sahana Ghosh, a contributing editor at Mongabay-India whose reporting focuses on gender, climate, biodiversity, and environmental health, and the legendary Jane Goodall, who serves on Mongabay’s advisory council.
- “Journalism, especially in the environmental domain, has the power to make people aware of the shared challenges and local connections,” Ghosh says.
Mongabay founder wins environmental journalism award
- Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been awarded a 2020 SEAL Environmental Journalism Award in recognition of his coverage of environmental issues for the website. The honor is presented by the SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement & Leadership) Awards, an environmental advocacy organization.
- His fellow winners – at outlets ranging from The Guardian to The New York Times and The Washington Post – were selected based on each journalist’s work, a data-driven analysis of the impact and reach of their articles, and the bringing of fresh perspectives and social relevance to environmental issues, the organizers said. Butler has been publishing on Mongabay since he founded it in 1999.
- Butler established Mongabay as a U.S. non-profit news organization in 2012 and has since grown the organization to report on environmental issues in ten languages via five international bureaus which publish the work of staff writers and a network of about 800 freelance reporters in 80 countries.
- The outlet’s growth continued in 2020, reaching new heights in terms of readership – 10 million monthly readers on average.
Mongabay editor Philip Jacobson wins courage in journalism award
- Philip Jacobson, a contributing editor at Mongabay, has won the Oktovianus Pogau Award for Courage in Journalism.
- The award was given by the Jakarta-based Pantau foundation, which highlighted Jacobson’s role in Mongabay’s collaboration with The Gecko Project to investigate corruption linked to palm oil and other industrial agriculture in Indonesia.
- The foundation also cited Jacobson’s dedication to his work despite being imprisoned and deported by Indonesian authorities last year.
Mongabay launches in Hindi to expand environmental journalism in India
- More than 21 years ago I established Mongabay out of my love for nature and wildlife. Today the endeavor has grown far beyond what I could have ever imagined.
- I’m now pleased to announce that Mongabay is launching in Hindi, India’s most widely spoken language.
- If we’re looking to maximize the impact of environmental journalism globally, Hindi is critical. Spoken by over 600 million people, the language plays an important role in setting the national discourse in India, which is home to 17 percent of the planet’s population.
- I welcome all Hindi readers to Mongabay’s reporting. I hope you find real inspiration and solid information here that informs your work and helps you navigate some of the biggest questions facing our world.
Diary of a top environmental journalist and bad traveler: Q&A with Jeremy Hance
- Mongabay’s award-winning senior correspondent Jeremy Hance’s new book – “Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-Trotting Hypochondriac” – lands in bookstores and on e-readers worldwide today.
- Despite dealing with extreme anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder since the age of 10, Jeremy has traveled extensively to report for Mongabay, and has filed an almost unbelievable 3,000+ environmental news stories since 2008.
- In an interview about the new book, he shares some favorite treks and top tricks for dealing with travel anxiety.
- “Baggage” is available via HCI and the major publishing house Simon and Schuster in digital, paper format, and as audiobook.
2019 was the deadliest year ever for environmental activists, watchdog group says
- In a new report, the watchdog group says that at least 212 environment and land defenders were killed across the world in 2019.
- The deadliest countries were Colombia and the Philippines, with 64 and 43 killings respectively.
- Despite making up only 5% of the world’s population, representatives of Indigenous communities accounted for 40% of those killed.
- Killings related to agribusiness jumped by 60%, to 34 in 2019 – researchers say as consumption of commodities like beef and palm oil increases, so too will deadly conflict over land.
Telling big environmental stories in a close-knit country (insider)
- Long ignored by the mainstream media, Guyana is getting a lot of new attention as the world’s latest oil nation. Now, telling its environmental stories is more important than ever.
- With its rich biodiversity and continued threats to its ecology, Guyana is a fascinating place to be an environmental journalist.
- Lack of internal resources means the environmental agenda is often led by international organisations or overseas funders. Add to that expensive travel costs, and telling the stories of what’s really going on at the grassroots level isn’t always easy.
Audio: The links between COVID-19, wildlife trade, and destruction of nature with John Vidal
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with acclaimed environmental journalist John Vidal about the coronavirus pandemics’ links to the wildlife trade and the destruction of nature.
- As the current coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, Vidal penned an article co-published by The Guardian and non-profit media outlet Ensia that looks at how scientists are beginning to understand the ways that environmental destruction makes zoonotic disease epidemics more likely.
- We speak with Vidal about what we know about the origins of COVID-19, what he’s learned while reporting from disease outbreak epicenters in the past, how the destruction of nature creates the perfect conditions for diseases like COVID-19 to emerge, and what we can do to prevent future zoonotic disease outbreaks.
The reporter-editor bond (insider)
- International freelance environmental journalists work in some of the wildest locales on the planet, where the rampant destruction of nature is occurring against the backdrop of political power struggles, human rights crises, armed conflict, and organized crime.
- These independent journalists take on significant financial, physical and psychological risk with a very thin safety net. The related stresses and burdens can create roadblocks.
- Existing support and resource tools to help keep journalists safe and healthy are scattered throughout hundreds of local, domestic and international organizations and media outlets.
- In addition to resources Mongabay already provides to support independent journalists, in 2019 it hosted a six-month pilot project to provide targeted support and mentoring to a small group of international freelance environmental journalists.
American journalist Philip Jacobson freed after prolonged detention in Indonesia
- Philip Jacobson, an award-winning American editor for the non-profit environmental news site Mongabay, was deported from Indonesia today, January 31, 45 days after authorities in the city of Palangkaraya detained him over an alleged visa violation.
- Philip was detained after attending a meeting between the Central Kalimantan parliament and the indigenous rights organization the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN). Immigration alleged that his activities were “not in accordance with the intent and purpose” of his business visa.
- Despite the long detention, including a four-day stint in prison, Jacobson ultimately was not charged with a crime: the original charge against him was dismissed.
- This is a press release from Mongabay.
Mongabay editor has now been detained 6 weeks in Indonesia
- Mongabay editor Philip Jacobson was detained in Indonesia on December 17, 2019 over an alleged issue with his business visa.
- Jacobson was formally arrested on January 21 and was incarcerated in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan through January 24.
- Jacobson is currently under ‘city arrest’ without his passport and is prevented from leaving Palangkaraya.
- This is a press release from Mongabay about a developing situation and may be updated.
Mongabay staffer Philip Jacobson released from jail, transferred to ‘city detention’
- Philip Jacobson, an award-winning editor for the environmental science news outlet Mongabay, has been transferred from the Palangkaraya Class II detention center to ‘city detention’ in Palangkaraya.
- Jacobson was arrested and incarcerated on January 21 for an alleged visa violation.
- The story is developing.
Covering environmental defenders can put journalists in dangerous situations (insider)
- Environmental defenders are increasingly under threat for protecting their lands against agribusiness, mining, illegal logging and other forms of development.
- Covering environmental defenders can put journalists in dangerous situations, but a sense of guilt at being able to safely leave can often follow journalists long after they have gone, and can be more psychologically difficult to deal with than the immediate danger.
- Learning how to acknowledge and deal with feelings of guilt is an important part of the job
Mongabay editor arrested in Indonesia
- Mongabay editor Philip Jacobson was detained in Indonesia on December 17, 2019 over an alleged issue with his business visa.
- Jacobson was formally arrested on January 21 and is currently incarcerated in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan.
- This is a press release from Mongabay about a developing situation and may be updated.
- As of January 29, Jacobson is still under ‘city arrest’.
10 noteworthy books on conservation and the environment from 2019
- 2019 produced a number of notable books on the environment, ranging from the memoirs of researchers and journalists to how-to guides and prescient novels.
- Here’s a sample of what was published in the past year.
- They cut across a variety of environment-related themes, though climate change is a common point of meditation for many of the authors on the list.
- Inclusion on this list does not imply Mongabay’s endorsement of a book’s content; the views in the books are those of the authors and not necessarily Mongabay.
Mongabay at 20: Two decades of news and inspiration from nature’s frontline (commentary)
- Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler writes about the experience that led him to start Mongabay more than 20 years ago.
- Since then Mongabay has transitioned from “a guy sitting in his pajamas in his apartment” to a nonprofit media platform that has 500 contributors in 70 countries, produces original reporting in five languages, and is read by millions of people a month.
- Rhett lays out Mongabay’s vision for the next 20 years.
Going the extra mile (Insider)
- UK-based environmental journalist James Fair knows from personal experience just how unpredictable working in the field can be.
- After years of reporting on wildlife conservation projects for BBC Wildlife Magazine, Fair is deeply familiar with the many dangers faced by biologists, ecologists and zoologists in their work.
- Two decades ago after a fall and ankle injury while working in Bolivia, Fair half-crawled nearly three miles to get help.
From science to reporting (Insider)
- Environmental journalist and Mongabay freelance contributor Ignacio Amigo started his career as a scientist.
- After realizing that he was reading science features and studies outside his area of expertise, he realized that he really wanted to be a reporter.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.
Audio: David Quammen on ecological restoration, emerging diseases, evolutionary science, and more
- Today we speak with award-winning science writer, author, and journalist David Quammen about some of the most promising and fascinating trends in conservation and evolutionary science.
- In a recent piece for National Geographic, where he is a regular contributor, Quammen profiles Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. His 2014 book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, looks at the science, history, and human impacts of emerging diseases. Quammen’s most recent book, 2018’s The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, explores the revolution in how scientists understand the history of evolution on Earth sparked by the work of Carl Woese.
- David Quammen appears on the Mongabay Newscast to discuss all of the above as well as what gives him hope that biodiversity loss and destruction of the natural world can be halted.
As Amazon deforestation rises, sensational headlines play into Bolsonaro’s agenda (commentary)
- Deforestation appears to be on the rise in the Brazilian Amazon, but sensational headlines are playing into the Bolsonaro administration’s campaign to undermine science-based monitoring of the Amazon.
- For example, administration officials are actively calling into question Brazilian space agency INPE’s data, according to BBC News, which last week quoted General Augusto Heleno Pereira as saying that data on deforestation rates in the Amazon are “manipulated.” Pereira’s claim is completely unsubstantiated, but is nonetheless consistent with a reported push by the Bolsonaro administration to privatize deforestation monitoring.
- It is critically important that deforestation data is reported accurately by the media. The damage being wrought right now is certainly real and significant. There is no need to embellish or misrepresent the data. Doing so only furnishes the Bolsonaro administration with more ammunition for its war on journalism, science, and the environment.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
My journey toward ‘green reporting’ (insider)
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – From the time I was old enough to recognize my real desires and ambitions, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. I had always been a writer interested in analyzing the political and cultural aspects of my society. When the time came for me to make a career decision after leaving […]
Laurel Chor on photojournalism and Hong Kong’s ‘incredible biodiversity’
- Hong Kong is a city of 7.3 million people and isn’t known for its biodiversity, but journalist Laurel Chor has made it her mission to educate people about their natural heritage
- A photojournalist and filmmaker, she has traveled the world covering stories with images and words, from Iceland to the DRC.
- In conjunction with Ecosperity Week and World Environment Day, Laurel will be speaking at a special edition of Ecosperity Conversations on June 7. She is also a judge for the photo competition Shoot for Sustainability.
Fighting corruption in Liberia through on-the-ground reporting (insider)
- Editors from large outlets pass on environmental stories in Liberia all the time, making it harder to hold the powerful accountable for misconduct.
- There is often no substitute for traveling to the actual location of a story and gathering information from the field.
- Mongabay is one of the few outlets that understands the value of environmental field reporting and is willing to finance it.
Panamanian indigenous people act to protect the forest from invading loggers
- The Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia has long been known as an impregnable stretch of rainforest, rivers and swamps inhabited by indigenous peoples as well as guerrillas, drug traffickers and paramilitaries.
- Today the area is undergoing steady deforestation as timber colonists and oil palm entrepreneurs advance across the region, bringing strife and violence to the area’s indigenous residents.
- In Panama, some of the Darién’s indigenous communities are working to reverse this situation. Mappers, a drone pilot, a lawyer, bird-watchers, a journalist and reforesters are carrying out ambitious projects to stop the degradation of the Darién Gap.
Vietnam a challenging yet rewarding country for environmental reporting (insider)
- Vietnam is among the hardest countries in the world to report in, as it ranked 175th out of 180 nations in Reporters Without Borders’ 2018 Press Freedom Index.
- Despite this ranking, foreign journalists face much less scrutiny than their local counterparts, meaning it is possible to travel around the country for field reporting, though those trips can end in utter frustration.
- The fast-growing country sits at the intersection of numerous environmental issues, from wildlife trafficking and climate change to deforestation and urbanization, meaning a wealth of stories is available for those willing to put in the work to get them.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.
Have a good cry, but don’t miss deadline (insider)
- In modern western journalism, journalists are trained to temporarily diminish our humanity for the greater good of the story.
- Journalists are not trained, however, to express our very human reactions to what we see, do, and report on in settings people typically use to process grief and the reactions of exposure to trauma.
- Over time, the impact of shelving the experiences and reactions of exposure to trauma can lead to unhealthy mental and physical reactions. But after more than a decade in journalism, I’ve come to find that there’s good news, too: just by opening up to others we can start to heal.
Journalists reporting on the environment faced increased dangers in 2018
- Journalists describe some of the threats and dangers they faced in 2018.
- These range from intimidation to legal threats to outright violence.
- At least 10 journalists covering the environment were killed between 2010 and 2016, according to Reporters without Borders — all but two of them in Asia.
How Mongabay grew from a guy in his pajamas to a multinational media organization (insider)
- Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler writes about how Mongabay grew from a small venture into an environmental media outlet spanning continents.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.
Indonesia to investigate death of journalist being held for defaming palm oil company
- Muhammad Yusuf, a journalist in Indonesia, reportedly died of a heart attack earlier this month while being held on charges of defaming a palm oil company owned by a powerful tycoon.
- Activists and fellow journalists question the circumstances surrounding Yusuf’s arrest and death, and suspect the company used the defamation charges to silence Yusuf.
- Indonesia’s national commission on human rights has vowed to investigate Yusuf’s death, which his widow has deemed unnatural.
Meet the winners of Mongabay’s best intern articles awards
- Hosting over 50 interns to date, Mongabay’s Environmental Journalism Internship program has gained and nurtured many talented writers from around the world.
- To highlight and reward our interns’ outstanding work, we have offered another end-of-the-year article award.
- Mongabay will start accepting applications for the upcoming six-month summer term in April 2018.
Environmental reporting in Vietnam often a comedy of errors
- Vietnam’s global press freedom ranking is one of the lowest in the world.
- Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 175 0f 180 in its 2017 annual press freedom index.
- Environmental journalists in Vietnam, including citizen journalists and bloggers, routinely face roadblocks and sometimes jail time.
The media megaphone: does it help curb bad infrastructure projects?
- A tsunami of infrastructure development is putting global ecosystems, wildlife and indigenous people at risk; with 25 million kilometers of new roads planned by 2050, most in the developing world. Add pipelines, hundreds of dams on the Amazon, Mekong and other river systems, with their electricity used often by mega-mining projects.
- As in the past, this tidal wave of construction is being heavily backed by national governments, greatly benefiting industry and international investors, often at the cost of indigenous peoples, rural communities, wildlife and habitat. Government and industry typically have large public relations budgets to promote such projects.
- Many conservationists trying to mitigate the harm of ill-advised projects, or even see them canceled, are relying heavily on the media to achieve their aims. There is precedent for such a strategy: media coverage has historically played a key part in curbing some of the most ambitious of international mega-infrastructure projects.
- As infrastructure development rapidly accelerate, today’s environmentalists are utilizing all the media tools at their disposal — ranging from traditional newspapers and television, to Twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube — to shine a light on poorly designed infrastructure projects and inform and engage the public.
The results are in: Winners of the Mongabay internship awards
- Mongabay published nearly 100 articles written by journalists participating in its internship program in 2015.
- A competition was held among interns for their most compelling contributions to Mongabay’s conservation news site.
- Four awards, accompanied by monetary prizes, were given out to the winners.
Amazon journalist endures, despite decades of threats and harassment
- Since 1987 Lúcio Flávio Pinto has published his own one-man bimonthly newspaper in the Brazilian state of Pará, Jornal Pessoal.
- His independent coverage of the plunder of the Amazon, shady dealings by prominent families, and government corruption earned him national and international accolades over the years, as well as many prominent enemies.
- Pinto has continued his work in spite of numerous death threats, a beating, and dozens of lawsuits that have left him in precarious circumstances.
Journalism prizes explore community forestry, commodity supply chains, China’s seafood consumption
Mongabay.org announces three new $20,000 environmental reporting prizes under its Special Reporting Initiatives program. Three new environmental journalism prizes will enable journalists to do in-depth reporting on three important environmental topics: the role of community forest management in addressing climate change, cleaning up commodity supply chains, and the market for more sustainable seafood in China. […]
Shifting to a non-profit model for environmental news reporting
Last week the Mongabay.org board unanimously voted in favor of a motion to shift Mongabay’s news production — news.mongabay.com — from the traditional for-profit entity to the non-profit organization formed last year. The decision marks an important new development in the evolution of Mongabay and one that I believe will improve our independent reporting. The […]
New $20,000 reporting grant: The state of marine fisheries in Indonesia
Mongabay.org announces new $20,000 environmental reporting grant: the state of marine fisheries in Indonesia. After kicking off the Special Reporting Initiatives program last month, Mongabay.org is announcing a call for applications for its newest topic: the state of marine fisheries in Indonesia. Fisheries in the Western Pacific are often poorly managed, leading to over-exploitation and […]
$20,000 grant for reporting on the next big idea for forest conservation
Mongabay.org launches $20,000 competitive grant for in-depth reporting on key environmental themes. Today Mongabay’s non-profit arm launched a new journalism program that funds in-depth or investigative reporting on key environmental topics. The first reporting opportunity under the Special Reporting Initiatives (SRI) program is titled: Innovation in tropical biodiversity conservation. While deforestation rates have slowed and […]
Influential British editor banned from Sarawak
Clare Rewcastle Brown, the editor of Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, has been deported from Sarawak reports the Bruno Manser Fund. Both the Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak are known for high-profile and investigative journalism that is often critical of Sarawak’s chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud or ‘Taib’, and his family for alleged […]
Chinese forest activist arrested for self-publishing books
Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Hainan Island, China. Photo by: Anna Frodesiak. An award-winning forest activist, Liu Futang, is facing trial in China for printing books without the proper licenses, even though he says he gave most of the self-published books away for free. In April, Futang won Best Citizen Journalist in China’s Environmental […]
Another journalist attacked in Cambodia for covering illegal logging
Illegal logging of rosewood, a highly sought luxury timber, in Virachey National Park in Ratanakkiri Province. Photo by: Greg McCann. Two weeks after an environmental journalist was found murdered in the trunk of his car, another journalist has been brutally attacked in Cambodia. Ek Sokunthy with the local paper Ta Prum says he was beaten […]
Environmental journalist investigating illegal logging murdered in Cambodia
Aerial view of illegal logging in Cambodia. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. Less than five months after high-profile forest activist, Chut Wutty, was killed in Cambodia, an environmental journalist, Hang Serei Oudom, has been found slain in the trunk of his car, possibly murdered with an ax, reports the AFP. Oudum, who worked at the […]
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