Global eSummit: Journalism and the Climate Crisis

Corinne Podger is a results-driven educator, author, and lecturer based in Australia, with a proven track record of supporting newsrooms, NGOs and social impact organisations in more than 60 countries to implement digital innovations that grow audiences and support business priorities. She has worked in the media sector for more than 30 years. She is a firm advocate of media diversity and inclusion in all her work.

Corinne is an accredited trainer with BBC Media Action, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and the Solutions Journalism Network. Her specialisms include digital-first newsgathering, online verification, mobile journalism, social multimedia production, podcasting and audio storytelling, and strategic audience engagement that drives brand awareness and media revenue. She also works with science and public health organisations to tackle misinformation and disinformation.

Fergus Bell is the founder & CEO at Fathm, a multi-award winning independent news lab, agency and consultancy. Fathm has a mission of working with people who are trying to spark creative change and drive sustainability in media by improving newsroom processes and efficiency, making use of emerging technologies, and tackling the ever increasing problems of mis and disinformation.

Harry Surjadi is a science journalist who specializes on environmental issues for more than 25 years. He is
passionate in developing citizen journalism movement, including building capacity in writing skills and media engagement. He has been providing training and workshop on environmental/science journalism,
environmental communications, and media training in Indonesia, the regions and global (Timor Leste, Malaysia, Cambodia, Ukraine, US, etc.). He received the Knight International Journalism Fellowship from the International Center for Journalists for two times. He has to manage around US$ 30,000 fellowship grant by himself for one year. Recently he found TempoWitness a citizen journalism channel at Tempo.co.

Ian Yee is a journalist, editor, producer, and co-founder of The Fourth, an investigative and impact journalism team that tackles social injustices through compelling multimedia documentaries and creative public action campaigns.

He is also executive director of the Environmental Reporting Collective, a UNICEF Malaysia national consultant, Human Rights Measurement Initiative ambassador, Acumen Fellow, and Obama Foundation Leader. He is a founding member of R.AGE, the youth news and lifestyle platform of The Star, Malaysia’s top English daily newspaper.

Imelda is an environmental journalist and a media trainer for over 20 years covering climate change, biodiversity, energy, water, illegal wildlife trade, environment-health, and other environment-related topics in the Philippine and Asia.

As Internews Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Senior Coordinator for the Philippines and the Pacific Region, she has managed various media activities such as series of climate change and environmental reporting workshops, mentorship, cross-border collaborative reporting, managing media and story grants, networking with media organizations and individual journalists, and development of resource materials.

Imelda has been covering the UN-backed climate change conference for 15 years as a UN and Internews EJN’s fellow and media trainer. She has helped train more than 15,000 international and local journalists.

For her contribution to climate change and environmental journalism, Imelda was recognized as the Philippines Climate Change Media Champion in 2018 and 2019 by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. She is Asia Development Journalists of the Year 2009, a United Nations Gold Medal Champion on Humanitarian and Development Reporting in 2009, IUCN-Reuters Asia Awardee on Environmental Reporting in 2002, among other international and national journalism awards.

Imelda is the founding president of the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists (PNEJ). She is a former member of the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Kavita Chandran is a journalism trainer and news content advisor based in Singapore. A journalist for more than 25 years, she has worked in newsrooms across the United States and Asia, reporting, writing and editing stories. She started her career in New Delhi as a business reporter and moved on to anchor shows for CNBC Asia. She worked as a Breaking News editor with Bloomberg in New York, and then spent 10 years in Reuters’ newsrooms as a Training Editor and Front Page editor.

Kavita is currently a certified journalism trainer with the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) and the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), where she trains journalists across Asia on topics such as climate change, human trafficking, racial injustice and social inclusion. She is also a mentor for young journalists, moderator at news events, and speaker on ‘Solutions Journalism’ as a catalyst for change in the media.

Luba Kassova is an award-winning evidence-based storyteller and TEDx speaker. Alongside her writing, Luba is also a researcher and audience strategist, having co-founded AKAS, an international audience strategy consultancy. Her passion lies in advancing the response to the climate crisis; working on gender and racial equity, supporting freedom of press and children’s wellbeing. Luba’s written work and articles have been quoted or published in over 300 news outlets in more than 75 countries across the world, including the Guardian(vaccines), The Washington Post, The Independent, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Forbes, Poynter Institute, El Pais, Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, The Conversation, Bloomberg, the Guardian(women), Nation Media Group, bTV, EUObserver, Balkan Insight, ijnet and others. She has an academic background in sociology, European studies, and behavioural science.

Meera is co-founder of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network within the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), where she is Deputy Director and leads the Fellowship programmes.

Phil leads the global AFP newsroom of 1,700 journalists based in some 150 countries. Responsible for implementing the agency’s visual-first multimedia strategy and driving the digital transformation of the company. Built AFP’s leading position in the battle against misinformation. On advisory boards of First Draft News, Reporters Without Borders, World Editors Forum and the NewsXchange.

Portia Ladrido is a journalist and editor from the Philippines. She is Co-Founder of INKLINE, a media platform based in Oxford, UK, that specializes in solutions journalism. INKLINE is one of the 21 fellows of Solutions Journalism Network’s inaugural LEDE Fellowship, in which the team produced and commissioned in-depth, solutions-based stories on climate change. In parallel to these features, workshops were held in the UK, India, and the Philippines to discuss why climate change solutions are not more prevalent in the media landscape and the ways that can be done to tackle these barriers.

Portia is also the lead convener of the Solutions Journalism Philippines community, a diverse group of reporters, development workers, and academics who are interested in and dedicated to the rigorous reporting of solutions. Previously, she was an editor at CNN Philippines Life, the digital features arm of CNN Philippines. During her time at CNN, she was awarded the Human Rights Journalism Fellowship by the Philippine Human Rights Information Center for her coverage of social issues. The fellowship also allowed her to investigate the human rights abuses perpetrated by the military on peasant farmers in Eastern Visayas, one of the poorest regions in the Philippines. Portia graduated with a Master’s degree in International Journalism at Cardiff University, UK through an international scholarship awarded by the Cardiff University College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Rebecca is a proud mum of one and is dedicated to telling compassionate, human-centered data stories. Recently, she completed her Masters in visual tools with the University of Girona and has worked for The Straits Times for over seven years.

Richard Addy is a Co-Founder of AKAS an international consultancy founded in 2012, delivering impact, audience, corporate, narrative and communication strategies to a wide range of purpose-led organisations predominantly in the media, philanthropy, international institution and NGO sectors. In the media space AKAS has worked with The Guardian, BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Media Action, Channel 4 News/ITN, EUObserver, Balkan Investigative Reporters Network, Hromadske, CPJ (Committee To Protect Journalists), ICFJ (International Center For Journalists), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Thomson Foundation, Luminate, Adessium, Deutsche Welle Akademie, Rudolf Augstein Foundation, Wellcome, Civitates, Internews, Participant Media and Warner Bros. Prior to setting up AKAS, Richard gained 20 years’ experience working as a Strategist and a Government Economist advising CEOs, Government ministers, and organisational leaders, including being the Chief Advisor to the BBC’s Deputy Director-General who was head of BBC News locally, nationally and internationally. After being a trustee of Mind, the UK’s leading mental health charity, for 8 years, Richard was appointed by the Board as Co-Chair of Mind’s Race Equality Committee and as a board advisor. Since 2020, Richard also sits on the Creative Council of Africa No Filter, an organisation that aims to change global narratives about Africa. In 2021, Richard was also invited to join the board of Guardian.org.

Ritu Kapur is the managing director and CEO of Quint Digital Media Limited which runs The Quint, an independent news site in India. She has strived to provide multiple platforms for free speech like

Sahana Ghosh is a science journalist based in India. She reports on biodiversity, climate change, disaster risk reduction, environmental health, and gender for Mongabay-India, the India bureau of the global news platform mongabay.com. Although desk-bound in the pandemic, her work takes her to diverse places and enables her to collaborate with journalists and scientists from across the country and beyond. She is featured as one of the 16 Women Restoring the Earth, 2021, by the Global Landscapes Forum. Sahana is an alumna of the 2019 International Visitor Leadership Program, the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program, and has steered women-centric reporting projects augmented by the Solutions Journalism Network’s LEDE fellowship and Earth Journalism Network’s Bay of Bengal grant. She is also an executive member of the Science Journalists Association of India.

Journalist| Principal Correspondent @thequint. Previously Principal Correspondent @IndiaSpend

Paul Adepoju joined the ICFJ as a Forum Manager to help fellow journalists hone heath crisis reporting skills. He is a contributing reporter, academic, and author. He covers health and tech in Africa for leading local and international media outlets including CNN, Quartz, and The Guardian. He’s also the founder of healthnews.africa. He is completing a doctorate in cell biology and genetics and holds several reporting awards in health and tech.

Eugene Tang has been a business journalist since 1994 and has 16 years experience in China, including 10 years building and managing a bilingual news operation as editor and Bloomberg’s China Bureau Chief. Before joining the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Eugene was product director of institutional news and Factiva products at Dow Jones/Wall St Journal. As SCMP’s Business Editor, he is responsible for coverage of markets, banking and finance, property and industries.

Jane leads editorial innovation for Reuters, developing new business areas including AI, verification and events, as well as working closely with clients and others in the media industry to understand current and future trends, find new opportunities and meet customers’ changing needs. Her work includes improving digital storytelling formats, building new editorial capabilities for growth and tackling industry challenges from misinformation to talent.