A breakdown of the key points from: « Cross-border investigations about climate emergency and migrations »

Photo : Marie Le Bobinnec/EPJT

With Chloé Emmanouilidis (Cyprus), independent journalist; Stella Levantesi (Italy), journalist and climate expert and Urszula Idzikowska (Polond), journalist and migrations expert.
Moderated by Klaudia Bronckaerts (Belgium), member of Journalismfund.

The issues

The JournalismFund organisation promotes collaboration between journalists from different countries, offering funding, mentoring for those who need it, and mediation for potential ethical issues. Within the current backdrop of conflict and wider global issues, the three speakers shared their experiences in this panel discussion.

The quotes

Chloé Emmanouilidis: « I have been working with other journalists on the wildfires in southern Europe. We have faced some challenges trying to prove our findings due to some countries not having sufficient data. Our overall goal was to find a common angle, a common pattern across all of the countries involved in the project.

« I really believe that crossborder collaboration has much more impact: we can publish in many countries and have a wider audience.

« Our job is to link the events with the facts, and at the same time while putting aside our own emotions. »

Stella Levantesi: « We are currently working on the issues surrounding natural gas access in Europe, and more notably since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is of course a touchy question, because we are up against the gas industry and its lobbies.

« It’s important to keep your goal in mind and why you are doing what you are doing. You need to look at your work thinking of the bigger picture. Talking with others journalists, understanding their perspectives and thoughts and sharing experiences is at the core of what we do. »

Urszula Idzikowska: « We can see that the Russian influence is spreading. It’s the case in Polond, where I come from, but also in other countries. Russians have started spreading the narrative about ‘traditionnal’ family values. This question is further afield than just in Ukraine. »

The takeaways

« Stories don’t stop at borders », Klaudia Bronckaerts, from JournalismFund remarked. With the three speakers’ testimonies on their own reports, journalists from different countries sharing their experiences seems all the more important in a time when local issues are becoming increasingly global. »

Marielle Poupard