Environment and Sustainability in the Media
On November 19, 2020, a panel of journalists discussed some of the challenges in telling environmental stories and the typical narratives we hear, but also practical tips for researchers on how to frame research for media and how journalists use research within environmental and sustainability stories. The event provided insights to the world of environmental journalism and how researchers can play a role in shaping environmental and sustainability narratives, and into the role of research and media in changing public perceptions and influencing behaviour change.
Panel:
• Kayle Crosson, Green News
• John Gibbons, Climatechange.ie
• Caroline O’Doherty, Irish Independent
• Sylvia Thompson, Irish Times
Chair: Louise Holden, FH Media
Panel biographies
Kayle Crosson is Editor of the Green News. She has covered an array of climate stories both on the ground and from her desk. Kayle grew up in New York City, moved to Ireland for her secondary school education and then graduated from Leiden University College in the Netherlands with a degree in World Politics in 2017. She has previously worked at PBS in the United States, World Press Photo in the Netherlands and at the Irish Times as an intern and contributing writer.
John Gibbons has been writing and campaigning on environmental and climate issues for the last decade and a half. This included a three year stint as weekly environmental columnist with the Irish Times. He is founder of the website Climatechange.ie and he also maintains a long-running environmental blog at ThinkOrSwim.ie. He has appeared on national broadcast media outlets, including RTE (TV and radio), Virgin TV, BBC TV and CBC (Canada), Russia Today, TodayFM and NewsTalk. He is a regular contributor to a range of print and online media outlets, including the Irish Times, The Business Post, The Guardian (UK), Village magazine, Irish Examiner, DeSmog UK, Irish Wildlife magazine, among others. He is also co-author of the Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism (2020). A father of two teenagers, he is also co-founder and managing director of a specialist medical and healthcare publishing and creative organisation.
Caroline O'Doherty is Environment Correspondent with the Irish Independent where she reports on a wide range of environment related topics from the climate crisis and conservation to the built environment, energy, extractive industries, pollution, the policies causing problems and the people trying to effect change. She is a graduate of UCD and NUI Galway and began her near-30-year career in journalism in provincial and city newspapers. Prior to joining Independent News & Media in 2019, Caroline worked with the Irish Examiner where she had a roving brief nationally and internationally.
Sylvia Thompson is an author and journalist whose principle work is as a features writer for The Irish Times. She writes on health and environmental issues across various sections of The Irish Times including the Science Page. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1986 with an Honour’s Degree in Psychology. She subsequently completed a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Dublin City University after which she began her writing career. Fluent in French and Italian, she also worked for a time as an English Language Assistant at the University of Grenoble in France and at the University of Pavia and Milan State University in Italy. In 2005, she won Medical Journalist of the Year and in 2007, Consumer Print Journalist of the Year at the Irish Medical Media Awards. Her books include Hands On: The art of crafting in Ireland (Liberties Press, 2012); Test-Driving Complementary Therapies (Newleaf Press, 2002) and When Food Becomes Your Enemy (Mercier Press, 1995).
