Gobar Times Magazine (Environment for Kids Monthly) - Centre for Science and Environment

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GT Special Editions

G R E E N C A R E E R S

G R E E N J O U R N A L I S T

Who is best qualified to be a environmen-tal journalist?

Anyone!

Environment concerns every-one. Far more important than being an expert on some com-plicated engine or scientific the-ory is to have an acute sense of justice and sensitivity and pas-sion towards how we treat our fellow human beings and other living creatures. heand.jpg (3008 bytes)

Yet, in today’s world of science and technology you cannot claim to be an effective environmental crusader using very simplistic slogans like ‘Save Trees’ or ‘Green is clean’.

You can only make a good environmental journalist if you don’t:

faint when asked to read and analyse 30 pages of statistics on groundwater in the country.

say ‘my grandmother is sick’ when asked to travel to a remote drought stricken village.

give up your career after writ-ing for six months on vehicular air pollution in your city and see no results.

believe everything that the minister of environment says in his press release

go home after reading ‘ENTRY PROHIBITED’ in front of a polluting factory you are investigating.

call a leopard a cheetah.

scream and pass out when a leech crawls up your leg while interviewing a tribal village elder in the forest.

BECOME A ENVIRO-JOURNO!

To get green news onto the pages and screens of media, their is an increasing need of journalists who understand the complexity of environ-ment and develop-ment and then have the passion and skill to convey what they find to people through their writing and reports. Given the interdisciplinary nature of environment as a subect, graduates from both science and humanities, can find jobs in various media outfits. Nowadays a lot of NGOs working in the development sec-tor need the services of skilled writers, communicators and researchers who have a good understanding of environmental issues.

To know more about environmental careers click onto
www.cseindia.org/programme/env_edu/index.htm

A C T I V I T Y

Make your own Gobar Times

You can make your own GT. Here are a few steps to help you achieve it.

1. Gather an interested bunch of friends in your school or neigbour-hood.

2. Brainstorm and identify a few key environmental issues that you think need investigation and attention in your school or neighbourhood.

Take the help of a teacher or parent.

3. Divide the respo-nsibilities of report-ing, researching, writing, designing and distribution of your GT amongst your team.

4. Research your chosen subjects well. Try and gather as much data and information from goverment, NGOs, media. Verify and check your facts. Speak to as many peo-ple as possible involved with the issue.

5. Locate a computerand soft-ware to design your newspaper. If you can’t write and illustrate it by hand. It’s equally effective.

gt cover 6. Make good use of humour, pictures, statistics and illustrations in your layout.

7. Think of how you want to present and disseminate your GT...as printed A4 sheets; as a website; as a wall newspaper in your school of commu-nity centre. There are lots of possibil-ities depending upon your skills and creativity.

Take the help of a journalist or media professional for ideas.

8. Think of ways of advertising and distributing your very own GT. Try and get it into the hands of the authorities concerned. Record peoples reac-tions and comments to your efforts. It will be useful in the future.

9. Don’t forget to send a copy of your GT to Pandit Gobar Ganesh.