TOOLS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTING AT COP26

Fermín Koop

@ferminkoop

TOOLS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTING

• Our audiences are changing and so are the strategies we use to engage with them. It’s time to stop thinking on just a plain text
• Digital tools, many of them free to use, allow use to tell stories with new resources in a more dynamic and interactive way
• The level of complexity of many of the climate news can be simplified to non-specialized audiences through a wide array of digital tools that we can incorporate

¿PHOTOS? CREATIVE COMMONS!

• Non-profit organization that promotes the exchange and legal use of content covered by copyright. To do this, among other activities, it provides a set of standardized legal tools known as creative commons licenses.
• They are free licenses that allow us to access thousands of photos for our articles, especially when we cannot go to the site to take a photograph

WEBSITES TO ACCESS CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTOS

NEW FREE COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FOR COP26

JUXTAPOSE. THE BEFORE AND AFTER

TIMELINE. A TOOL TO TELL STORIES

THINKLINK. PHOTOS WITH EXTRA INFORMATION

GOOGLE EARTH TIMELAPSE

GLOBAL POWER PLANT DATA BASE

CANVA. INFOGRAPHICS AND CHARTS

GIPHY.�ANIMATIONS AND INFOGRAPHICS

¿HOW TO USE THESE TOOLS AND OTHERS TO REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE?

The Guardian

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New York Times.

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Climate Central

“How hot will summers be?”

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Sin reducción de emisiones

Con reducción moderada de emisiones

Temperatura promedio de verano actual

Climate Central.

“Surging seas”

With no emissions reductions

With a marked emissions reduction

¿HOW TO REPORT ON THE GROUND FROM COP?

MOBILE JOURNALISM AND OTHER RELEVANT TOOLS

• While there’s a media center where you can use your computers, it’s likely you won’t always be there. Instead, you’ll be at side-events, protests and on the hallways talking to your delegates and doing interviews
• That’s why it’s very important to have a good grasp of all the tools that you can use on your phone, which will become very handy as you are on the go, either at the venue or outside covering a protest

EDITING AND SHARING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

• Journalists can make some edits from the scene so it’s as close to publish-ready as possible.
• The built-in camera app on many devices lets journalists trim the in-and-out points of a clip and make simple adjustments to exposure and color balance. Cropping the video to different aspect ratios, such as 1:1 or 16:9, to suit various social platforms may not even require moving to a different app.
• To edit together multiple video clips, adjust audio levels, or add text, journalists typically rely on a video editing app. There are many available—both free and paid—depending on the make of the phone.
• Look for apps that allow for control over video export settings, including file size and resolution, and the ability to save videos directly to cloud-based folders for sharing.

COLLABORATING IN THE CLOUD

• Mobile journalists with a smartphone and a solid internet connection can access collaborative media platforms like Google Drive to upload raw video and images directly from wherever they are at the venue
• These platforms address some of the main challenges of a mobile workflow. Media asset management on a smartphone can present its own obstacles, with limited ways to create and organize folders. The same goes for sending large video files back to the newsroom.
• Videos need to be ingested into the newsroom editing system and transcoded before the eyes of the world turn to them.
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MICROPHONES AND LIGHTING

• The built-in microphones on smartphones are improving, but they’re not always up to par. An external microphone can quickly become one of the best tools for journalists who need to capture true broadcast-quality sound.
• A lavaliere mic, also known as a lav mic, clip, or lapel mic, can be clipped onto a lapel or collar. It’s the ideal location to capture interviews and standups, especially in noisy environments.
• As far as image sensor technology used in phones has progressed, the sensors themselves are still small. Considering how low-light conditions create a challenge for even broadcast news cameras, it pays to be prepared.
• A wide variety of small battery-operated lights were designed specifically for phones. Look for a light that allows manual brightness adjustment. Some also come with snap-on filters to diffuse light and adjust color temperature.�

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SOME RECOMMENDED (FREE) APPS

• Anchor. To create, distribute, host and monetize your own podcast
• Audiolab. To edit any audio stored on your mobile device
• Canva. A design app, choosing from templates or starting from scratch
• Adobe Lightroom. Free and powerful photo editor
• KineMaster. A video editing app
• Adobe Spark Post. Adds text and applies design filters to your photos and creates graphics to share on social platforms

Thanks!

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Fermín Koop

@ferminkoop

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