climatetruth:
With the wave of media coverage surrounding the COP 21 climate summit in Paris, it might be hard to believe that climate change and other environmental issues suffer from a lack of coverage in the press. But, while major events like the COP can lead to brief peaks in reporting, media outlets continue often to struggle to engage both themselves and their readers in these issues. The former Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger, shortly before stepping down, said he felt the media was failing to meet the challenge of covering the climate crisis; it’s a view shared by many others in the press, even as seriousness of the danger posed by climate change is increasingly recognized.
At this year’s World Resources Forum (WRF) 2015 in Davos, close to 500 environmental experts from more than 100 countries gathered in Switzerland, discussing ways to solve the world’s most pressing environmental crises, including climate change. Pro Journo spoke to WRF participants to hear what problems they see with current media reporting of environmental issues and how it might be improved.
guardian:
Ferguson: A carnival-like demonstration filled the centre of the city after a new police chief given control of protests over the killing of an unarmed 18-year-old implemented a dramatic shift in tactics.
Where the officers with assault rifles once stood, backed by armoured trucks topped with snipers’ nests, on Thursday there was almost no police presence.
• Read the latest report
Officers from the Missouri state highway patrol march with demonstrators in Ferguson. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
guardian:
Aleppo’s most wanted man - the rebel leader behind tunnel bombs
The most wanted man in Aleppo is feeling satisfied. Less than a week before, he had helped pack the last of 25 tonnes of explosives into a tunnel dug under a hotel and filled with Syrian troops.
“I was sitting in this room,” said Abu Assad, the rebel commander of Aleppo’s tunnel forces at another of the city’s frontlines. Smiling, he cupped his ear and added: “We heard the blast from here. It made us very happy.”
Full story here
Pictured: Abu Assad, rebel commander of Aleppo’s tunnel forces. Photograph: Zac Baillie for the Guardian
pewresearch:
While the journalism world conferred its top honor, the Pulitzer Prize, yesterday to the newspapers that reported on Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks, the public remains divided over whether those classified leaks served the public interest.
“This decision reminds us that what no individual conscience can change, a free press can. My efforts would have been meaningless without the dedication, passion, and skill of these newspapers, and they have my gratitude and respect for their extraordinary service to our society. Their work has given us a better future and a more accountable democracy.”
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Edward Snowden in his statement after the Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize along with the Washington Post.
