Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Help educate public on climate change

Media practitioners everywhere must be aware of problems in their societies and be advocates, educating the public on these problems and also demanding actions for solutions from the relevant quarters.

Since media practitioners are also humans and, as such, suffer from some human frailties, they sometimes have to be prompted to or reminded about what is happening in society and the need for them to act as it is required of them.

Sometimes they have to be called upon to pay particular attention to some specific problems because of their serious effects on society.

Media practitioners must not deem such calls as moves to denigrate them, but ones meant to emphasise how society values the role they can play in its forward march.

Thus, it is not out of place for Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Chief of Staff, Office of the President of the country, to call on media practitioners in Africa to prioritise advocacy on climate change and other environmental crises to support efforts to mitigate their impacts.

The Ghanaian Times believes this call is paramount because, generally in Africa, those who are supposed to take the necessary actions to address certain problems most of the time neglect their roles because, whether they perform or not, no one will hold them accountable.

In the face of the lack-of-accountability situation, it would take only the media to expose those neglecting the duties for which they are paid by the taxpayer.

Sometimes, it is not as if duty bearers have shirked their responsibilities, but they have challenges they cannot just wake up to talk about for various reasons, and so media promptings create opportunities for them to ease their frustrations.

On such occasions, the media can demand action from the relevant institutions or ministries.

It is also important for the media to inform and educate the public about occurrences that affect their very existence and progress.

Relating these to climate change and other environmental crises to support efforts to mitigate their impacts, we can say that the media must continuously study environmental crises in terms of their causes, effects, and how they can be addressed.

They can then get to know who does what, who should do what, and, if need be, what media practitioners themselves can do to help stem the crises or mitigate their effects.

This is a daunting task because in Africa, due to the diverse perspectives in different societies on even the same problems everywhere, the African media practitioner has to diagnose the particular situation and report on it for effect.

Frema Osei-Opare is, therefore, right to point out that the media should take up the responsibility of informing Africans about the adverse effects of human activities on the environment and the need to protect it.

She is equally right when she says media education is critical in influencing public opinion on environmental issues, as it can positively impact the larger society in combating climate change and other environmental crises.

Elsewhere, society is well informed about climate change and its effects on society, and there are also measures adopted by governments to address the situation.

In Africa, it will only take the media to push for that state of affairs, as the people find it difficult to demand such accountability.