Internews Network
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
The Earth Journalism Network is Internews’ environmental media program, and also a global professional association with more than 15,000 members dedicated to improving media coverage of environment and climate issues.
EJN is looking to carry out a year-long study that assesses current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to environment and climate journalism around the world.
In addition to this overarching goal, we are also looking to produce a sub-report evaluating journalists’ understanding of the ‘global polycrisis’ and interest in covering it.
The findings will be made public. They will be useful in helping to inform journalists, media outlets and other practitioners seeking to work in this field, and to support climate and environmental journalism by building understanding of the current strengths, weaknesses, needs and gaps of climate and environmental journalism and of how it can play a more effective role in also informing policy-makers and the public.
LOGISTICS
Consultant bids will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so submit soon!
This a limited duration consultancy, with an expected end date of 30 April 2024.
OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING
We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people . Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.
CONTEXT AND RELEVENCE OF THE RESEARCH
There is growing interest in and recognition of the role of journalism and communication in highlighting and addressing the rate and impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. This research seeks to explore that role more fully, assessing the current strengths and weaknesses of journalism in relation to wider communication efforts and how those may be leveraged or addressed in order to enable climate and environmental journalism to fulfil its role. This study will do that by contextualizing climate and environmental reporting in the wider efforts to communicate about these topics, and by then focusing on the individual experiences of journalists to explore their successes and challenges. This research interest is informed by three assumptions:
- That the general state of climate and environmental journalism around the world has been poor, yet it is improving;
- That mis- and disinformation, closed states and digital and physical security threats are hindering the continued growth and improvement of the field; and
- That increased investment, capacity-building support and resources contribute to the field’s improvement.
The research focus and assumptions themselves are anchored in EJN’s Theory of Change and intervention logic: If the general state of environmental and climate journalism around the world is improved; if the capacity of journalists and media to report on the environment and climate is increased; if financial resources for journalists are provided; if mis- and disinformation are successfully countered, then the quality and quantity of environmental reporting is increased, the public will be better informed about climate and environmental threats as well as solutions to mitigate them, and therefore be empowered to demand action and positive change, and policymakers will be better equipped to make well-informed decisions to make development more sustainable. As such, this research has not just strategic and conceptual relevance as it allows EJN to better understand and potentially refine its interventions logic; but also offers a much needed global and holistic perspective on the state of climate and environmental reporting to redefine what support journalists and potentially other important communicators might need.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this research are threefold. Firstly, to gain a nuanced overview and understanding of climate and environmental coverage that takes into account the multiple facets of this dynamic field of climate and environmental reporting. Secondly, to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to climate and environmental journalism, viewed comprehensively as a field, or divided up into different categories by focusing on individual experiences and perceptions. Secondly, to examine how media development organizations, donors, and other stakeholders can proactively support better and more reporting. Thirdly, to determine whether – and how/to what extent – journalists are reporting on the “Global Polycrisis.”
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Within this research, there are five overarching research questions: For better illustration, the five questions include multiple sub-questions which demonstrate the direction of interest but will need further refinement or revisions throughout the research process.
- What is the current state of environmental and climate journalism globally, and is it improving?
- What are the main challenges faced by journalists seeking to improve or increase climate and environmental reporting?
- What are specific opportunities and approaches for journalists and media development organizations to safely overcome these challenges posed by mis/disinformation, closed states and threats? What do journalists need to increase their capacity to report on the environment and climate change?
- What role do and should funding organizations play in supporting environmental and climate journalists by building their capacity and strengthening their networks of journalists.
- In what ways are climate and environmental journalism impacting on public policies and public awareness about environmental and climate issues? How do they compare in terms of effectiveness to other forms of communication? Have journalists/media outlets seen any specific impacts of their work on public policies, regulations, debate?
THE ‘GLOBAL POLYCRISIS’ RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- How frequently does the term ‘global polycrisis’ (or a similar concept referring to multiple inter-connected crises) appear in the media and how familiar are journalists with it?
- Does reporting vary in different regions (eg, Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc)?
- What are the current perceptions of and interest in reporting on the concept?
- What are examples of reporting journalists have done on the subject?
- What story angles on the ‘global polycrisis’ are of interest to journalists and editors?
RESEARCH METHODS AND SCOPE
The general approach to this study is a mixed-method approach and includes qualitative and quantitative methods of the social science, and the researcher is expected to revise them where appropriate: While the sample will include a global perspective, especially for the quantitative part of the study, a set of target/priority countries will be chosen to take a deep dive into the challenges and obstacles journalists face in their climate reporting. In particular, the research team/consultant is expected to conduct the following methods:
1) Desk Research – Collect and review relevant studies (often country-based) on the status of environmental journalism and on non-profit financial flows to support that coverage. The desk review will provide the basis for a comprehensive overview of what environmental and climate communication today looks like in all its facets and forms, and help identify how the environmental journalism sector is shifting.
2) Quantitative Online Survey – The researcher will work with the EJN team to prepare and distribute an online survey to EJN’s 15,000+ members and its 40,000+ followers on social media with the help of EJN staff, and analyze the survey results using descriptive statistics. This method will unravel the journalists’ individual perceptions and experiences but also general patterns and trends. One important aspect is to understand what other solutions there might be to support them better. It will include, but not be limited to, survey questions probing the issues described above which ask respondents to rate their answers on a numerical scale.
3) Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with key informants from the field – EJN will provide a list of key informants in the field for a deep dive into individual assessments, coping strategies and approaches to tackle constraints and explore their challenges, but also to query about support that is working and what they need. We expect the researchers will carry out at least 70 interviews to pick up on major themes emerging from the survey and add context to them. EJN staff around the world could also potentially be enlisted to help carry out interviews with a set of agreed-upon questions.
WORKPLAN AND TIMEFRAME
The work under this project will take place between April 15, 2023 – April 15, 2024.
Activity
Timeframe
Comments
Launch of ToR
Deadline for applications: April 16, 2023
The consultant is expected to have initial meetings with members of EJN and the Impact & Learning Team to streamline research objectives and questions and inform the inception report.
Inception report
May 31, 2023
Relevant documentation will be made available, and the inception report will include preliminary desk review; draft methodology; data collection tools including the survey; key questions; and details on approach to quantitative data analysis of findings after data collection.
Fieldwork: desk review, data collection and analysis
June – October 2023
Status Report by Sept 1, 2023
Researchers are expected to meet with EJN leaders monthly to provide updates on latest findings and to provide a status report on the state of research by Sept 1, 2023
Report writing and presentation of first draft
First draft due by Dec 15, 2023
Internews staff will have an opportunity to comment and provide feedback on draft report.
Final report (and
a clear and attractive PowerPoint if that’s in the deliverables)
Final draft due by Jan 31, 2024
The consultant is expected to revise the draft report based on feedback from Internews and submit the final report together with a PowerPoint presentation.
If applicable and part of deliverables: Presentation of findings to key stakeholders
February 2024
The consultant is expected to present the research findings to EJN’s key stakeholders. EJN team will be responsible for organizing this event.
DELIVERABLES
- Inception report, for which a template will be provided, by May 2023;
- Status report to EJN in September 2023;
- Final report, which must be a high-quality, publishable report presented in English and minimum 50 pages. The report must include:
- An executive summary highlighting the main findings, conclusions and recommendations;
- An introduction including a review of the existing literature;
- A methodology section including description of research objectives, research questions, research methods, and limitations;
- Presentations of results;
- Discussion of key findings;
- Conclusions; specific and action-oriented recommendations.
- Smaller sections of the report that could potentially be distributed piecemeal;
- A sub-report (or separate report) on coverage of the ‘global polycrisis’;
- A PowerPoint presentation to brief EJN/Internews about the findings, and which can then be used by Internews/EJN to publicize the findings more broadly;
- Potentially, collaboration with Internews/EJN on a short video to highlight the main findings.
- In all services, an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS WE’RE LOOKING FOR:
Required
- Master’s degree in social sciences, international development, or related fields;
- At least 5 years’ experience in research;
- Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods;
- Fluency in spoken and written English;
- Excellent inter-cultural communication skills/cultural sensitivity and the ability to forge strong cross-cultural relationships and build trust demonstrated through previous experience;
- Strong facilitation, presentation, writing and communication skills.
Preferred
- PhD in relevant field;
- More than 5 years’ experience as a professional researcher for international development projects;
- Experience conducting research in the area of environmental and climate change reporting and/or media development projects;
- Experience working in different communities across the world, particularly low- and middle-income countries;
- Fluency in language(s) other than English.
Note: While we are open to all applications from independent researchers interested in these topics, we are especially interested to work with a researcher or team of researcher affiliated with a academic department specialized in climate reporting.
TO APPLY:
Interested parties should submit an application that includes the below documentation:
- A 2-3 page statement of interest/draft proposal, highlighting how your methodological approach will address the scope planned for this research as well as describing how your profile and experience meet the criteria;
- Organization profile/CV and 2 references;
- Evidence of relevant research work (e.g., link to research reports or PDF attachments);
- A short cost justification / brief budget (not included in the 2-3 page limit);
- Indicative team profile.
How to apply
Please submit application materials at https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf04/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=INTERNEWS&cws=38&rid=2031