Submitted:
11 February 2026
Posted:
12 February 2026
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Abstract
This study examined the knowledge of journalists in the newsroom to determine what they know, what they do, and how they could improve their reporting of climate change in Nigeria. The study population included 15,000 registered members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) from 37 councils (chapters). It was a mixed method that employed both quantitative and qualitative data. The sample size was 403. A purposive sampling procedure was applied while gathering data from the respondents via the Internet. It was found that journalists in Nigeria do not have sufficient knowledge of critical issues around climate change, such as mitigation and adaptation strategies. The study also found that only 14% of journalists regularly report climate change issues. This study concludes that professional deficiency was the reason why the majority of journalists do not report on climate change. It recommended training, retraining, and exposure to awards and other opportunities to encourage journalists to report climate change frequently.
Keywords:
climate change
; knowledge
; newsroom
; sources of information
; Nigeria
Introduction
Climate change has emerged as a global concern due to its challenges. This includes loss of life, biodiversity, and ecosystem collapse. Even though it has been in existence since the history of man, it became a topical issue in 1988 when an American climatologist, James Hansen, raised an alarm that human activities, such as greenhouse gas emissions and population growth, were contributing negatively to global warming, resulting in an increase in average temperatures (Iheaka, 2021). To stop it from degenerating into a worst situation, more experts joined in amplifying the voice that overall rise in temperatures and weather patterns over a long period of time could consume the entire earth if unmitigated (IPCC, 2022; Maibach et al., 2022).
In 2023, for instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) postulated that climate change could cause 700,000 deaths annually worldwide. The WHO also noted that 2 billion people already lacked access to water, 600 million suffered from foodborne diseases, and many were exposed to mental health issues caused by displacement and disrupted social cohesion. It was further estimated that one million species were threatened with extinction as 85% of wetlands and Amazon rainforests disappear annually just as infectious diseases spread (Pfenning-Butterworth et al., 2024; United Nations, 2025).
This calls for collective action from all stakeholders, especially the mass media, to address the challenges. The media are required to play a central role because they are constitutionally and professionally obligated to inform, educate, advertise, and entertain (Akpan, Anorue, and Ukonu, 2012). However, the media’s ability to fulfil these roles is contingent on the knowledge and understanding of their practitioners (journalists). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2024) argued that the media would function effectively in promoting climate action and disaster management when the practitioners (journalists) acquire relevant capacities and encouragements to thrive. Elia (2021) added that knowledge of climate change is essential and beneficial to both educated and uneducated individuals.
Journalists with a good understanding of climate change are expected to frequently publish and broadcast accurate, objective, balanced, unbiased, and non-sensational climate change-related reports across mainstream and new media (Danaa, 2018; Quiñones, 2022). They are also expected to use intelligence and technology tools to investigate climatic issues such as wind and weather conditions, analyze the map, and question the State and non-State actors over their actions, inactions, and inability to make or adhere to relevant legislations (UNESCO, 2024). Anderson (2011) observed that the mass media have started performing some of these roles across the globe, leading to accelerated public awareness of climate change. However, he argued that most media reports on climate change are event-driven rather than systemic problems.
Hence, this study aims to ascertain what Nigerian journalists know and report about climate change and how they could improve their climate change reportage for effective climate adaptation. Several scholars have reported that the media has knowledge of climate change (Elia, 2021; Danaa, 2018; Gadzekpo, Tietaah, and Segtub, 2018; Onuegbu et al., 2024). However, most of their findings revolve around the attitude and knowledge of print media journalists, media reporting of climate agricultural sustainability, news framing, and media’s role in reporting climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to further assess the knowledge level of journalists in Nigeria in the newsroom with regards to climate change, identify what they mostly report and suggest how they could improve. The study is also necessary because the country of about 221,560,158 people is bedeviled with flooding, gully erosion, farmers-herders clashes, water scarcity, drought, among others due to its climatic condition and mineral exploration (Ukaogo, Ewuzie, and Onwuka, 2020; Umar and Gray, 2022; World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal, n.d.).
Therefore, this paper explores two theoretical frameworks, namely, the Knowledge Attitudes and Practice (KAP) Model and the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI). The two theories enabled the researcher to effectively argue the position of the paper by exploring climate change as a complex and multifaceted issue that requires the use of holistic communication methods. They would be helpful in providing a more comprehensive understanding of what the media should know and how the knowledge could drive them into reporting climate action holistically, effectively, and succinctly.
The Knowledge Attitude and Practise Model (KAP) which came into existence in the 1950s, is very useful in measuring people’s behaviors and attitudes after learning new things (Onuegbu, Wogu, and Anunike, 2025). The theory could explain what having knowledge of climate change entails in journalists’ behavior, actions and inaction. Understanding of climate change shows that knowledge of climate change could be boosted through capacity building, as well as influencing or changing how journalists feel, think, or behave after learning or acquiring more skills on reporting climate change (Binuyo, Bamgboye, and Adeola, 2022). KAP addressed the issue of identifying the who (sources) in climate change reporting should be, what (climate change is all about), where (society, human and other inhabitants, biodiversity, and the media), why (climate impact), when (frequency or always), and how (behavioral and attitudinal change, lifestyle, reporting, advocacy, and activism). Hence, Binuyo, Bamgboye, and Adeola (2022) believed that journalists will provide advocacy interventions on climate mitigation with adequate skills on reporting climate change, while Ofori et al. (2023) argued that it could contribute effectively toward climate mitigation and adaptation.
Relatively, diffusion theory or diffusion of innovation theory (doi) examines how innovation, idea, and technology spread from one stage to another, people to people, among others (Yasuda and Batres, 2012). Rogers’s (1962) theory argues that people accept or adapt to innovation due to their level of knowledge, exposure, experiences, qualities, and other key factors. The study identified five stages of innovation: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. This implied that journalists could be positively influenced to regularly report climate change after passing through various professional transformations, such as training, retraining, grant winning, fellowship programs, awards, and traveling. However, the theory further argued that innovation takes a longer time to become internalized, diffuse or effect a change. It adopted a communication model that explains that information is being transmitted from the sender to the receiver and back to the sender as feedback.
In summary, KAP helped buttress the study’s argument that adequate knowledge could spur journalists to succinctly report climate change, while DOI explained that journalists’ knowledge and professional reportage could be transformed positively after rigorous long-term training, thereby enabling them to establish effective feedback mechanisms for improved climate communication, mitigation, and adaptation.
Materials and Methods
This study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Therefore, a survey and an in-depth interview were adopted as the research methodology to address the research objectives without any lapses. All the journalists registered with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the 37 councils (chapters) of the NUJ constituted the study population. According to the data obtained from the NUJ National Secretariat, Abuja, on January 20, 2025, they have 15,000 members working in mainstream and new media, respectively. However, the sample size for the quantitative data was 390, which was obtained with the help of the Australian Sample Size calculator. They were purposely sampled with questionnaires prepared on Google Form and distributed on WhatsApp.
However, 15 respondents were administered with key informant interview questions to gather qualitative data, thereby bringing the total sample size to 403. The 15 news managers were from Channels Television, the Punch, the Nation, the Sun, Wazobia FM, Vanguard, NTA, AIT, Daily Trust, FRCN, Premium Times, NAN, ICIR Nigeria, TheCable, and Daily Post. They were selected based on their media organization’s availability and national spread. However, the respondents were coded and featured in the study as respondents A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N and O. Test-retest method was used to ascertain the reliability of the research instruments. The quantitative data were extracted using SPSS and further analyzed using tables and percentages, while the qualitative data were analyzed using the themes coded from the respondents’ responses.
Results and Analysis
Although most journalists in Nigeria (69%) have knowledge of climate change, their understanding of key climatic concepts is not encouraging (Table 1). Hence, 14% of the respondents disagreed with the definition of climate change, whereas 17% were undecided. Additionally, up to 48% of the respondents believed that climate change is a punishment from God. To further buttress these, even though 78% of the respondents agreed that human activities can equally cause climate change, the level of agreement on human activities capable of causing climate change was unsatisfactory, as up to 28% could not tell if oil spillage causes climate change, just as 38% of the respondents disagreed that road construction could cause climate change, and 43% of the respondents were not sure if it happens. Similarly, 46% of the respondents did not admit that adaptation and mitigation were good strategies for tackling climate change. Moreover, 31% of the respondents disagreed that adaptation is the best strategy to mitigate climate change in Nigeria.
Table 2 shows that only 14% of the respondents reported climate change. Also, climate change reports written mostly (always) by the respondents are flooding (51%), while government agencies are the most consulted source (38%).
What Journalists Could Do to Improve Their Reporting on Climate Change
The result from the qualitative data were analyzed using the following themes developed from the responses obtained from the 15 respondents (Table 3):
- 1.
- Lack of funding and funding needs
The respondents argued that climate change coverage is very expensive as it requires funding for travel, interviewing of the affected persons and sources, and seeking interpreters. They said:
Respondent A: “We lack the funding to conduct proper investigations/research.” The relevant authorities need to help outstanding reporters or climate change pitches through institutions of awards, grants, and fellowships.”
Respondent B: “The challenges are lack of funding, logistics, manpower, and technical issues.” There is a need for organizations, international and local donors to fund reporters without any attempt to control them. This will encourage reporters to explore the space the way it should.”
Respondent O: “There is a need for more funding by giving grants and awards to the best journalists in climate change reporting to rekindle the spirit among journalists.” This may also take care of logistics, manpower, and technical challenges.”
Respondent H: “I have been advocating for an improved funding of reporters covering climate change issues by their organizations and maybe, nongovernmental organizations. However, there is also a need for reporters to reinvent new ways of reporting climate change stories without incurring significant expenses.”
Respondent J: “There is a need for more funding of media houses and establishment of climate change libraries in media organizations or communities for easy access to climate information.”
- 2.
- Lack of information access and need for digitalization and dissemination of relevant climate change legislation and policy documents
The respondents believed that relevant policy documents, laws, and other relevant data on climate change are not readily available and accessible to journalists. They advocated for the availability of simplified climate change information and data in digital and printed copies to increase accessibility and comprehension to the citizenry. They said:
Respondent J: “Journalists face the challenges of the unavailability of information and key resources to effectively report climate change.” “Stakeholders should be interested in making those data available.”
Respondent D: “Several journalists have heard about the campaign to protect the environment but may not be fully aware of what climate change is all about. Stakeholders like the civil societies, the government, and others should simplify the information and make it available to as many journalists as possible in print through the NUJ or editors of various media or even in digital form.”
Respondent E: “Reporting climate change is a specialized task that requires expertise.” Unfortunately, most journalists are not knowledgeable on this topic and have little or no access to the information they need, which will enable them to report it accurately, and that has an effect on the audience receiving the information.”
- 3.
- Professional deficiency and need for regular training and education
The respondents observed that most journalists find it difficult to report climate change because they were not trained in the field of science. They believed that this could be why it is difficult for journalists to understand climate change terminologies that enable them to discover and report it regularly. Therefore, they advocated for regular training and retraining of reporters by their media organizations and others. Some also urged journalists to seek knowledge of this through the Internet or by enrolling in formal and non-formal education programs. They said:
Respondent C: “I think that journalists’ limited knowledge about climate change issues will stop through personal training and field experience.” (Respondent C, male)
Respondent F: “Every assignment has its peculiar challenges.” However, with frequent training, on-the-job experience, and research, journalists covering climate change will triumph.”
Respondent O: “They don’t have adequate knowledge.” A knowledge gap exists in the sector because of the technicalities. Climate change comes with scientific organs, but you can master them through constant practice.”
Respondent L: “When we studied mass communication, we talked so much about the judiciary, laws of mass communication, crimes, and so on. Little or nothing was said about climate change. Media scholars and lecturers should upgrade their knowledge of climate change and update the students accordingly. Lastly, journalism is a practical job. It requires passion to do well. Therefore, journalists can seek further studies to improve their reporting of climate change.”
Respondent K: “The challenges are largely due to the lack of adequate knowledge, exposure, and resources to execute climate change stories.” Journalists need extra training, resources, and exposure to comprehend the scientific technicalities, jargons, and terminologies of climate change issues in Africa and Nigeria. Negotiation, bilateral agreements, climate change effects, global conversation, adaptation and mitigation, etc. If you do not have the background knowledge of these and many more, you will not be able to explain them to your audience.”
Respondent J: “The reasons behind those challenges are that most journalists we have are those who read Mass Communication or have a social science background. Naturally, they are not exposed to science and technology terminologies. I am encouraging them to expose themselves to paid and unpaid seminars, workshops, and conferences to broaden their knowledge, gain exposure, and gain access to resources.”
- 4.
- Lack of institutional support and actions to be taken
Respondents revealed that some of their media houses are not interested in publishing or broadcasting climate change. They explained that climate change stories have been rejected by editors due to a lack of space or time slots. They advocated the creation of climate change desks, assigning climate change beats, among others. Read them:
Respondent E: “I can say that the challenges facing climate change reporting will fizzle out once editors stop rejecting climate change news stories sent in by their reporters. They should rather assist in making those stories publishable, readable, and understandable.” It encourages reporters to do their work with passion. Government institutions like the Emergency Management Agency should also partner for effective information sharing, resources, and training.”
Respondent N: “There is a need for media organizations to make their reporters prioritize climate change. Some of them are into it mainly because of many opportunities in climate change reporting, such as fellowship programs, traveling, seminars, workshops, and conferences. Reporters should be encouraged to go beyond that because the effect of climate change is everywhere. There is so much to talk about climate change in terms of gender, politics, economy, and energy. Cover it as soon as possible.”
Respondent C: “The fact is that climate reporting has not been institutionalized in many newsrooms like other beats. There are insufficient reporters who strictly cover climate change. Newsrooms need to set up climate desks, assign reporters to cover climate change every day, and train them to fit in effectively to increase the level of climate reporting. That will be a good starting point.”
Respondent D: “There is a need to engage with news managers, especially those in the print, to get them to understand the need for provision of spaces for climate change reports at least weekly. That will encourage journalists or reporters to send in more climate-related stories and attract more readership in that direction.”
Respondent I: “We have an environment desk headed by an Editor, and climate change is part of what they report. He sends reporters to cover climate change. However, it is actually an area that many reporters do not like to cover because there is no free money like politics. Some do not believe there is climate change and others see the effects such as rise in sea level, heat, and others as acts of God. Many do not believe that the types of food we eat, what we do, and the vehicles we drive contribute to climate change.”
- 5.
- Low audience interest and need to humanize climate stories
The respondents observed that the audience pays little or no attention to climate change reports compared to stories on politics and crimes. They advocated the humanization of climate change stories through features, investigative and documentary reports in all areas citing relevant climate change legislations, bilateral agreements reached by the government, among others. They said:
Respondent H: “We are not paying much attention to climate change because most of the audience is not interested in reading those reports.”
Respondent M: “Climate change does not enjoy more readership in Nigeria because most journalists engage on it as academics. It requires in-depth interviews, field work, observation, and research. Reports should be written in simple terms for easy understanding. It should not be too academic to allow people to relate. Story-telling or experience-sharing formats should be adopted to ignite the interest of the audience. “Reading, listening, or watching climate change reports should encourage people to learn, adapt, or take decisive actions to protect our environments.”
Respondent L: “Journalists’ reports on climate change in Nigeria are not encouraging because the audience’s knowledge level is also poor, probably because of poor orientation.” We need more orientation from both the state and non-state actors to improve the situation.”
- 6.
- Poor government and other stakeholders’ attention and solutions to climate action
The respondents observed that the lack of government and other stakeholders’ commitment to the implementation of climate action was also why journalists paid less attention to climate change reporting. However, they urged reporters not to be discouraged but to keep reporting regularly to improve advocacy and stakeholders’ engagements. They said:
Respondent H: “The challenges include the lack of positive attention toward climate change issues by civil society organizations (CSOs), the government, and other relevant authorities.” Most of them have attended conferences (cops) on climate change where African countries and even the United Nations reached positions or resolutions. However, whenever they return, they go back to their old ways. We are just scratching through the surface even though we are feeling the impact in so many ways. I want to encourage journalists to keep pushing. Do not be discouraged. Adapt new innovations to increase stakeholders’ interest in it.”
Respondent I: “You hardly see politicians talking about it unless during campaigns or there are people affected by things like flooding, fire, and other natural disasters. We have created free space for NGOs, CSOs, government agencies, and other institutions to come and tell us what they are doing with regards to the environment and climate change.” We did the same in our radio and television stations. However, they are not forthcoming as expected. Other media houses should create similar avenues and keep disturbing to take action.”
- 7.
- Lack of self-censorship and teamwork
The respondents advocated the creation of beat associations or professional bodies for effective collaborations, improved training, teamwork, and increased climate change reporting. They said:
Respondent F: “When you come to urban centers and other bigger areas like FCT Abuja, there are beat reporters on the environment. However, we don’t have any on climate change for now. Those reporting on climate change should create beats associations and collaborate with groups, agencies, and associations to institute prizes, trainings, and mechanisms to checkmate abuse.”
Respondent O: “Identifiable challenges facing climate change coverage are lack of self-censorship, lack of drive to pursue stories on climate change, poor knowledge of research methodologies, including how to access materials on e-libraries and Internet using computer gadgets like laptops and android phones, and power fluctuation.” Perhaps, there should be a select group of reporters covering climate change all over the nation as organization. They can organize training, support members with resources, institute prizes and awards to encourage their members to improve their climate change reporting.”
Results and Discussion of the Findings
This study explores what climate change is in the newsroom with special interest on what Nigerian journalists know and do and how they could improve their reporting of the subject matter. This study reviewed relevant literature on climate change in Nigeria, Africa, and the world. The study findings were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. The data in Table 1 shows that most Nigerian journalists (69%) know about climate change, but their level of understanding of key climatic issues was poor. Hence, 48% of the journalists believed that climate change is a punishment from God, while a good number of the respondents (28%) were not aware that oil spillage causes climate change, almost half of the respondents (46%) did not know that adaptation and mitigation were good strategies for tackling climate change, and 31% of the respondents ruled out adaptation as the best strategy to tackle climate change in Nigeria. This implied that although the respondents knew about climate change, they did not have a deep knowledge of its causes and how to mitigate or adapt to it. This was in line with the findings of Ugwu et al. (2021) in Nigeria, Elia (2021) in Tanzania, Danaa (2018) and Gadzekpo, Tietaah and Segtub (2018) in Ghana, and Leiserowitz et al. (2022) in India.
The study further found in Table 2 that only 14% of journalists in Nigeria reported climate change, although flooding was the most common report (51%). They mostly consult government agencies (ministries, parastatals, etc.) (38%), followed by victims (29%) and experts (25%). This implied that poor understanding of key climate change concepts could influence how journalists, especially in Nigeria, source their materials and report the phenomena. This could also explain why Guenther (2023) found that the media focused attention mostly on press releases on climate change and activities of nongovernmental organizations, among others. Nwabueze et al. (2015) found that climate change reports in Nigerian media were mainly straight news, public events, opinions, and advertisements. However, Onuegbu, Wogu, and Anunike (2025) and Epa (2025) believed that the public should equally learn about climate change trending issues, such as green economy, climate technology, climate policies and legal actions, climate financing, impact of climate change on health and gender-based violence, climate justice, climate resilience, climate markets and businesses, climate activism, and renewable energy.
The study also identified in Table 3 that the major challenge facing journalists in reporting climate change in Nigeria was professional deficiency (6) mostly caused by not studying climate change or science-related courses while in school. It also identified lack of funding and motivation (5) and lack of institutional support (5) due to negligence and other factors affecting media ownership, including the government and stakeholders, as challenges. The findings showed that what should be done to increase climate change reportage were endowment of awards, embarking on self- and institutional trainings, creation of climate change desks and assigning reporters to frequently report climate change issues, and formation of climate change beat association. This finding implied that journalists should be factored in by all stakeholders in climate financing. Some media organizations, such as Premium Times, Nigerian Tribune, the Cable Nigeria, Daily Trust, and International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), have already started reporting climate change. Anderson (2011) also believed that the government should inform and encourage the people (probably through the media) to take action at their respective homes by knowing what to do, how to go about it, who should do what, and when to do it to tackle environmental challenges. The finding also implied that journalists should expose themselves to training opportunities regularly run by local and international organizations, such as the PAN African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), ICIR, Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), the UNESCO, Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), or further their education in related fields for effective reporting of climate change (UNESCO, 2024). They will boost their knowledge of climate change concepts, including how to use digital tools in data gathering and reporting climate change, and relevant laws as reported by Babangida (2023).
Conclusions and Recommendations
This study aimed to determine what journalists in Nigeria know about climate change, including what they report and how they could improve their reporting of the subject matter. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative approaches using questionnaires and in-depth interviews to gather data from the respondents via social media. Out of the 15,000 study population, 403 respondents attempted both the survey and questionnaire. The study applied two theories: Knowledge Attitudes and Practice (KAP) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI).
Journalists in Nigeria have limited knowledge or poor understanding of climate change concepts and issues. The study also found that journalists report mostly on climate change incidents, such as flooding, erosion, and water and food insecurity. The finding further showed that journalists usually consult news sources such as government agencies, climate change victims, and experts. It was also found that the major challenge preventing journalists from covering climate change efficiently is professional deficiency, which requires self- and institutional training. The study concludes that journalists in Nigeria are aware of climate change, but their knowledge of critical issues in climate change, including mitigation and adaptation, was poor.
Therefore, the study recommends the capacity building of more journalists to encourage the frequent and deep reporting of climate change among journalists in Nigeria. Journalists are also encouraged to seek personal training and retraining opportunities through the Internet, among other formal and informal education systems. There is also a need for media organizations, governments, and civil societies to support journalists in gaining deep knowledge and motivation for reporting climate change through funding and prizes. The study limitation was funding, methodology, and literature review. Therefore, future scholars are advised to use content analysis, focus group discussion, or case studies in exploring similar or related studies.
Funding
This study was not funded by any organization.
Conflicts of Interest
There are no conflicts of interest expressed in this article.
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Table 1.
What journalists know about climate change.
| Variable | SA | A | D | SD | UD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in temperature or weather patterns over a long period of time | 47% | 22% | 14% | 0% | 17% |
| Climate change is a natural phenomenon | 22% | 28% | 24% | 15% | 11% |
| Climate change is God’s punishment | 20% | 10% | 16% | 32% | 22% |
| Human activities can cause climate change | 32% | 46% | 12% | 8% | 2% |
| Human activities that cause climate change are | |||||
| Oil spillage | 20% | 40% | 12% | 0% | 28% |
| Building on waterways | 32% | 42% | 1% | 8% | 17% |
| Road constructions | 4% | 15% | 23% | 15%] | 43% |
| Greenhouse gas emissions | 16% | 14% | 22% | 20% | 28% |
| Oil exploration | 27% | 34% | 14% | 9% | 16% |
| Indiscriminate refuse dump | 21% | 51% | 0% | 0% | 28% |
| Mining activities | 46% | 15% | 1% | 12% | 26% |
| Deforestation | 45% | 25% | 7% | 1% | 22% |
| Climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to address climate change | 9% | 21% | 4% | 20% | 46% |
| Climate mitigation are actions that humans should take to reduce or prevent greenhouse effects | 10% | 27% | 5% | 6% | 52% |
| Climate adaptation suggests how humans can change their behaviors, attitudes and responses to climate change. | 4% | 30% | 30% | 0% | 36% |
| Adaptation is the best strategy for addressing climate change in Nigeria | 5% | 17% | 23% | 8% | 47% |
Source: Author’s field work. SA = strongly agreed, A = agreed, D = disagree, SD = strongly disagreed, UD = undecided.
Table 2.
Climate Change Reports and Sources.
| Variables | A | VO | S | R | N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How often do respondents report climate change? | 14% | 4% | 18% | 17% | 47% |
| Frequency of reporting the following climatic issues | |||||
| Report on climate finance | 2% | 7% | 23% | 29% | 39% |
| Report on climate justice | 1% | 0 | 30% | 18 | 51% |
| Report on the climate technology | 1% | 5% | 23% | 13% | 58% |
| Report on flooding | 51% | 29% | 19% | 1% | 0 |
| Report on the drought | 5% | 1% | 51% | 23% | 21% |
| Report on the erosion menace | 46% | 24% | 14% | 7% | 9% |
| Report on wind or thunderstorm activity | 3% | 10% | 23% | 5% | 59% |
| Food or water insecurity report | 14% | 21% | 49% | 4% | 12% |
| Sources of climate change information | |||||
| Experts (scientists, civil society, etc.) | 25% | 11% | 18% | 7% | 39% |
| Legislation, books, or journals | 3% | 16% | 51% | 5% | 25% |
| Government agencies (ministries, parastatals, etc.) | 38% | 16% | 22% | 12% | 12% |
| Victims of climate change | 29% | 21% | 46% | 3% | 0% |
| Eye witness to the impact of climate change | 14% | 22% | 41% | 12% | 11% |
Source: Author’s field work. A = Always; VO=Very often; S=Somewhat; R=Rarely; N=Never.
Table 3.
Challenges and forward-looking strategies.
| S/N. | Challenges | Ways forward | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Themes | Responses | Themes | Responses | |
| 1. | Lack of funding and motivation for research | 5 | Endowment of awards, fellowships, scholarships, and travel grants to encourage more climate change are reporting | 5 |
| 2. | Lack of access to information | 3 | Publishing, distributing, and interpreting digital copies of legislation, policy documents, and other documents related to climate change | 3 |
| 3. | Professional deficiency | 6 | Regular in-house training for journalists, including formal and informal education for self-development | 6 |
| 4. | Lack of Institutional Support | 5 | Creation of climate change desks, assignment of climate change beats, allocation of timeslots and spaces, and commitment to regular publication of climate change stories. | 5 |
| 5. | Low audience interest | 3 | Humanize climate change stories through investigative features and documentaries in all areas using climate change legislation, etc. | 3 |
| 6. | Poor attention of the government and other stakeholders to climate action | 2 | Report regularly, improve advocacy, and conduct frequent interviews. | 2 |
| 7. | Lack of self-censorship and teamwork | 2 | Create professional associations for improved training and teamwork. | 2 |
Source: Author’s field work.
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