LAHORE: Women journalists who have worked extensively on issues pertaining to the environment and climate change joined together to discuss their experiences on a webinar.

The discussion was based on a study titled ‘Missing In Action: Experiences of Women with Climate Journalism’, which was compiled and written by journalist Zofeen T Ebrahim, in collaboration with Oxfam, and which examined as to why more of such journalism was not being done.

Zofeen Ebrahim told Dawn that a 2014 report had revealed that countries in South Asia had largely failed to include the rights of women in their disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience-building efforts.

“It is vital for women journalists to give voice to other women,” she said. “Not just bring attention to problems, but also establish that women are the forerunners in environmental conservation, and that they intuitively carry traditional wisdom; are resilient and can strategize and change when empowered economically and armed with scientific and technical knowledge.”

She said that it was important that more women in Pakistan claim this space because their stories were important. The male perspective is not the only expert view, she said.

Journalists Shabina Faraz, Haya Fatima Iqbal and Rina Saeed Khan were part of the discussion, while Zofeen mediated it. Others also joined in.

Shabina Faraz, a Karachi-based journalist with an experience of 19 years, said that no one talks about what women go through – whether as a journalist, or as a source in a remote region.

“Unfortunately, there are not many women writers who are writing on environment,” she said.

“This topic requires a serious approach, strong research and commitment - most women have all three. Today in the media, mediocrity has set in, with a nonstop barrage of breaking news and sensationalized content. It is almost never discussed how the environment or climate change has impacted the lives of ordinary people – especially women.”

Haya Fatima Iqbal, a filmmaker, said that it was time to chronicle climate change in Pakistan.

“Only when I stepped out and looked at things from a climate change perspective, did I see things differently,” she said. “I spoke to survivors of climate change, and realized the diversity of related problems that the communities face and what their approaches are. In terms of challenges women journalists face, it is not easy to make editors accept these ideas and pitches seriously, except if they are themselves interested in them. Usually we have big stories such as smog or heat wave, but that’s about it. No one is looking at what is happening in areas like Chitral and Tharparkar due to climate change.

Rina Saeed Khan, one of the renowned environmentalists and writers on related issues, says that for most journalists it is not an encouraging field because of some reasons.

“It is not a highly paying field and most papers and channels do not even have dedicated beats for environment journalists,” she said. “It is a struggle to get climate change and environment stories the same coverage and importance as political stories. Journalists who cover environment are also not given the same kind of recognition, limelight or payments that political reporting attracts in Pakistan

She added that there were also some limitations in reporting as a woman, because some remote locations could be a ‘logistical nightmare’, without any place to stay overnight, lack of reliable and safe local transportation, and also sexual harassment.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020