Challenges and Opportunities for Increasing Media Coverage of Climate Change in Kenya

Globally, media coverage of climate change has been disappointing in both advanced and developing countries, Kenya included. This article addresses the need to educate and train African journalists so that they can report adequately on climate change and in doing so, help not only to raise awareness of climate change but also to increase understanding of the multiple aspects of the phenomenon. Although Kenya has an elaborate governance structure in support of climate change, coordination across key ministries, departments and institutions at national and county levels has been wanting. Coverage of climate change by Kenya’s main print media houses and television stations over the last decade (2010-2019) is investigated and found to be minimal. A survey of the opinions of the local media sets the parameters for a discussion of the current challenges faced in increasing media coverage of climate change. Lack of journalistic capacity, conflicting media priorities and inadequate funding to train and support journalists are major concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion on how media coverage could be improved to close the gaps in science journalism and, in particular, coverage of climate change in Kenya.


Introduction
Given the continued threat of climate change, there is an urgent need to educate the general public about the issue. The media are perfectly positioned to do this and yet in many countries coverage of climate change is sparse, and globally, the problem of climate change persists. A BBC (2009) documentary entitled: Least responsible, most affected, least informed, suggested that African citizens are among the least informed about human-induced climate change, its causes and its consequences.
Despite having a comprehensive set of policies around climate change in place, media coverage of issues related to climate change is scant in Kenya and the lack of awareness of climate change issues by the general populace in Kenya is typical of the BBC's African citizens.
This article addresses the need to educate and train African journalists so that they may report on climate change and in doing so, help not only to raise awareness of climate change but also to increase understanding of the multiple aspects of the phenomenon. A decade ago, Tagbo (2010) noted that media coverage of climate change is disproportionate to the level of threat that it poses to the African continent, Kenya included. Her observation is just as true today. This paper, therefore, considers the challenges associated with, and opportunities for, much better media coverage of climate change in Kenya.

Methodology
A literature review was carried out to develop an overview of general global trends in media coverage of climate change over the last few decades. The politics of climate change in Kenya was then reviewed with regard to the role of national ministries, legislation, NGOs and civil society. Having provided the political context in which the local media operates, a web-based survey was undertaken to an enabling regulatory framework, efforts to enhance climate resilience and adaptive capacity, and the mainstreaming of climate change into planning processes. The National Policy is in line with Vision 2030, which is the Kenyan government's blueprint for development projects. It provides opportunities for low carbon development for both individuals and communities.
The Climate Change Act of 2016 also addresses the development, management, implementation and regulation of mechanisms to enhance low carbon development and climate change resilience for sustainable development in Kenya (KOEE, 2018 (GOK, 2013). Sadly, the role of the media was not clearly spelled out in the national plan and it is doubtful whether the government will apply Section 9 of the national plan which focuses on knowledge management and capacity development and bring in the media to cover and disseminate climate change information to all segments of Kenyan society.

Global Trends in Media Coverage of Climate Change
The extent of media coverage of climate change differs from one nation to the next (Kansas University, improve our crops, to promote group collaborations, and so on. Although some editors fear that climate stories will not sell papers, Thysen (2019) Kakonge (2012) suggests that the way forward for journalists and editors is to humanize climate change messages and stories.  and The Standard, from 5 to 22, and 1 to 4, in the two papers respectively. The Star, which on average covered more stories annually than the other papers, also upped its coverage almost threefold, from 7 to 20 in the same period. This new reporting vigour has been carried through to 2019, with all papers having published significantly higher numbers of climate change stories than ever before. By October 2019, when the data for this study were collected, 106 articles had already been reported in the three papers.   From a review of the online archives, it was possible to determine the number of television programmes that focused on climate change (see Figure 2). Again, it is important to bear in mind that these figures are dependent on the accuracy of the archives.

Media Coverage of Climate Change in Kenya
It is clear that very view television programmes have addressed climate change. In the review period, The Citizen only aired a total of six programmes, NTV eight and KTN nine. One positive sign is that, so far in 2019, the amount of coverage on two of the three networks has been greater than over the nine previous years combined.

Challenges Facing the Kenyan Media with regards to Covering Climate Change
In light of the sparse reporting on climate change by the newsprint and television media, the next stage in this research exercise was to collect the opinions of people working in the media in Kenya in an attempt to understand the reasons for this disregard. Some studies, such as those of Corner (2011), KOEE (2018 and Tagbo (2010), suggest that efforts to build the capacity of journalists need to be carried out in collaboration with editors and media owners.
This will ensure teamwork and support of the climate change stories being covered by journalists.
However, while the media is an important source of information on climate change, many journalists find it difficult to get editors' buy-in for stories on climate change.

Media Priorities
Kenya is not alone when it comes to inadequate coverage of climate change by the media. Other analysts, such as Tagbo (2010), confirm that the media focus on politics, corruption, entertainment and business, because copy on those topics sells better and, in that way, they can command the lead in newspaper placements. In short, as the previous respondent noted, there is a tendency by the Kenyan media to concentrate only on political stories and scandals, hyping and sensationalizing mundane matters at the expense of serious journalism. Consequently, climate change only becomes a topical issue when there is an opportunity to write a sensational story.

Financial Constraints
One of the challenges identified by a number of studies, including Corner (2011) andKOEE (2018), is the cost of training both journalists and editors to cover and report about climate change issues Kenya (Mwangi, 2018). Of course, this has implications for funding programmes relating to the media and climate change.
IIED (2011) observed the extensive need for predictable and adequate funding to strengthen the media's capacity to cover climate change issues. The availability of such funding would help countries like Kenya to plan and implement national programmes to increase public awareness and understanding of climate change issues, and these, in turn, would support the country in meeting its international obligations. Likewise, CDKN (2018) has emphasized that no matter whether the amounts concerned are small or targeted, funding can make all the difference in enabling journalists to get out and cover the climate change stories that otherwise would go unreported.

Opportunities and Best Practices for Covering Climate Change
It is not easy to report on climate change. Even when journalists have capacity, when there is buy-in from the media houses, and when funding is available, the complex nature of the subject and its

Encourage Proactive Reporting
Globally, there is a tendency for the media to focus on crises or disasters that result from climate change. Feedback from participating local journalists and editors indicated that issues around climate change only receive limelight and publicity when catastrophic events like droughts or floods occur.
While some participants argued that covering disasters provides them with an opportunity to inform and educate the public, others noted that coverage of these crises is directed primarily towards exposing the failures of either the national or county governments to respond to climate change. In addition, as noted by some journalists and editors, organizations will sometimes sponsor media houses to cover crises in order to acquire information. NGOs, for example, can use that information to solicit money from their sponsors.
Regardless of the motives, Kenyan media coverage of climate change tends to be reactive rather than proactive. Adopting a more informed, proactive approach, focusing on the human stories of people making a positive contribution to curbing climate change, through better agricultural practices, for example, could have a direct and benefic impact on the way people respond to climate change.
3.5.5 Sponsorship Support for Proactivism As noted above, media sponsors tend to favour stories of disasters such as floods, droughts and famine.
While sensationalism will always sell papers, a more informed public will also relate positively to stories of a more sustainable, proactive nature. If sponsors can be encouraged to support these stories, then coverage of climate change should improve. One idea worth exploring is the institution of awards for both journalists and media houses that give priority to and good coverage of climate change.
Sponsors could also be encouraged to support these awards.

Target University Students
Finally, to grow a new generation of scientifically savvy reporters and journalists, science graduates should be encouraged to take postgraduate journalism and communication courses. These students should be financially supported and provided with mentors to hone their skills.

Conclusion
The media coverage of climate change in Kenya is very much like that in most developing countries.
Although print media coverage has increased substantially over the last year and a half, television coverage remains minimal, and stories still tend to focus on natural disasters and other sensational events. Without strong political and financial support, the media will find it difficult to maintain their momentum and produce informative and engaging stories.
Climate change is a complex subject and journalists, reporters and editors working on climate change stories need to understand the science behind the subject. Journalists who are passionate about climate change and the environment should be encouraged and supported in efforts to deepen their understanding and to develop their networks of specialists. Editors and media houses must enable more extensive and regular coverage of climate change, not only when disasters happen, but also to highlight stories that present proactive approaches to the issue. By engaging their readers and viewers with inspiring stories about such good practices, public empathy with be encouraged, and this, in turn, could result in changes in attitudes and more responsible behaviour.
The Kenyan government's climate change governance structures should be revised to reflect the current realities. In particular, the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology need to make provision for and support extensive and informative media coverage of climate change. The government should devise innovative ways to support climate change coverage in print, television and radio media. National and county governments should establish climate change funds to cover the training of journalists and editors and also to enable them to travel to affected areas and provide comprehensive media coverage. Recent cases of established climate change funds in Garissa, Makueni, Isiolo, Wajir and Kitui counties are instructive in this regard. Implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan calls for a strong political will and commitment. Accordingly, allocating adequate funds from the government's budget will demonstrate national commitment, this commitment is essential before funds can be solicited from partners and donors.
Above all, as Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, affirmed in April 2016, upon signing the Paris Agreement on behalf of his country: "Climate Change will test our intelligence, our compassion and our will. But we are equal to that challenge". Echoing his sentiment, we marginalize the media at our peril. The media must be recognized as a critical partner in the war to combat climate change and be supported to develop informative, accurate and humanized coverage of the multiple aspects of climate change.