The South African Civil Society Information Service

Brendan Boyle: We need to Make the Story of Climate Change about 'Me'

24 Nov 2011

Brendan Boyle, editor of the East London-based Daily Dispatch newspaper argued that we need to make the story of climate change about "me" in order to make it newsworthy for newspapers to pick up on.

Boyle contended that climate change is the next global catastrophe.

He compared current coverage of climate change to early coverage of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa when aids denialism predominated.

Boyle argued that from a media perspective, he would not want to take positions on climate change. He would rather tell the story and let the positions emerge.

Boyle made these remarks at a roundtable discussion, which sought to ascertain how the South African media is reporting on climate change in the run up to COP17. The roundtable was co-hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office and the South African Civil Society Information Service. It took place on November 11, 2011.

Keynote speakers at the event included: Brendan Boyle (Editor, Daily Dispatch), Sue Blaine (Environment and Development Editor, Business Day), Prof. Herman Wasserman, (Deputy Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University), Bobby Peek (Director, Groundwork) and Saliem Fakier (Head of the Living Planet Unit at the World Wildlife Fund and SACSIS columnist).

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You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/466.19.