Semi Malaki/SPREP
Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 22 August, 2012 -- Pacific journalists attending the 43rd Pacific Islands Leaders' Forum in the Cook Islands advanced their knowledge and understanding on Climate Change issues and learned how to convey them to their audiences in their respective countries.
The training conducted by officials from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) gives a clear understanding of what climate change is about and its impact upon the people in the Pacific region.
The Media and Public Relations Officer of SPREP, Ms Nanette Woonton says the training aims at and strengthening the capacity of journalists to communicate climate change in their respective countries and the region.
She says the training also builds the capacity of participants in taking scientific and technical terms and breaking them down into everyday language for the general public but still remain factual.
The training is held for two days with the hope to build the confidence of participants in taking part in interviews and press conferences and ask the relevant climate change questions and how to access information quickly with reliable and available sources.
Participants at the training also learned the impacts of Climate Change in the Cook Islands and how the Cook Islands adapt to these changes.
The training is conducted by SPREP in partnership with the Government of Australia's Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, AusAID, the Pacific Islands News Association and the Pitt Media Group.
It was well attended by journalists working in print, radio and television from Fiji, Vanuatu, Niue, Tonga, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Cook Islands and Tuvalu and was held on 22, 23 August.