By Enock Sithole
A new mentorship-driven fellowship aimed at strengthening climate change reporting in South Africa has been launched by Fossil Free South Africa (FFSA), in response to what its founders describe as a “dire” state of climate journalism in the country.
The Climate Media Lab fellowship, spearheaded by FFSA’s David Le Page, Jo-Anne Smetherham and Ozayr Patel, seeks to equip working journalists and digital storytellers with the tools to integrate climate context into everyday reporting, from politics and education to business and natural disasters.
The initiative comes amid growing concern that African universities are not adequately preparing journalists to report on climate change. According to research conducted by the European Journalism Observatory (EJO) and the African Journalism Educators Network (AJEN), in 2024, two-thirds of international journalism educators responding said their institutes did not offer courses on how to cover climate change.
“There’s a dearth of climate reporting and climate context in South African news,” Smetherham said. “From major oil and gas discoveries framed as development victories to floods and droughts reported without any climate context — we’re missing the bigger picture.”
Although studies show many South Africans are aware of climate change, a significant portion do not believe it is human-caused, pointing to a gap in public understanding. The fellowship aims to address that gap by strengthening the quality and quantity of climate-informed reporting.
Mentorship at the core
The programme will run from March to November and is free of charge to selected participants. Organisers are aiming for 20 fellows — primarily working journalists, community reporters and social media storytellers.
Each fellow will be paired with an experienced climate writer and meet twice monthly for mentorship sessions. Participants will be guided on how to incorporate climate context into their existing beats and produce at least two dedicated climate-focused stories.
“We want to make it as easy as possible,” Smetherham said. “Climate change is complex and nuanced. Journalists often don’t know who to ask or how to frame the issue under tight deadlines. We’ll provide resources, expert contacts, and break down the complexity into digestible pieces.”
In addition to mentorship, the fellowship will host seminars featuring prominent climate communicators.
The seminars are designed to inspire participants and introduce solutions-oriented storytelling, moving beyond narratives of doom and gloom.
Newsroom constraints and editorial priorities
Patel noted that financial pressures in shrinking newsrooms are a major obstacle to climate coverage. “There’s so little money in journalism. Who’s hiring a climate reporter these days?” he asked, pointing to the reality that specialist climate positions are often the first to disappear when funding dries up.
While some outlets — such as News24 and Daily Maverick — have made editorial decisions to prioritise climate reporting, these remain exceptions rather than the rule.
“Climate change cuts across every beat,” Patel said. “It’s not just environment. It affects food prices, education, infrastructure, politics. We want journalists to understand the ‘so what’ — how it affects people’s daily lives.”
Smetherham added that fear of getting the science wrong often discourages reporters from tackling the topic. The fellowship, she said, aims to build both knowledge and confidence.
While the 2026 cohort is limited to South Africa, organisers say there is clear continental interest. Applications were received from Kenya and Malawi, but funding constraints prevented expansion this year.
“If we can secure funding, we’d love to take this across Africa,” Patel said. “There’s a huge appetite.”
The long-term goal, organisers say, is not only to improve individual reporting skills but to gradually shift newsroom culture — embedding climate awareness into everyday journalism beats rather than treating it as a niche subject.
For journalism educators across the continent, the message is clear: while universities grapple with curriculum reform and funding pressures, civil society initiatives are stepping in to fill a critical gap in climate reporting capacity.
As climate-related disasters intensify and economic impacts deepen, the organisers argue that equipping journalists to tell these stories accurately — and in context — is no longer optional, but essential.
Image via Fossil Free South Africa.