Transforming Newsrooms With Katherine Dunn

Communicating Climate Change

This episode features a conversation with Katherine Dunn, Content Editor at the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, a program led by the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute. It was recorded in March 2024.

Through her work at the Oxford Climate Journalism Network (or OCJN) Katherine has worked with more than 500 journalists from over 100 countries, seeking to improve climate literacy and climate storytelling. In 2023, she was a co-author of the European Broadcasting Union’s, “Climate Journalism That Works”, a report on how newsrooms can better cover climate change and build a climate strategy. I actually discussed this amazing resource in a previous episode, with Alexandra Borchardt, so, though Katherine and I didn’t talk about it here, if you’re interested, you can find a link to that episode below.

Before joining the Reuters Institute, Katherine spent the best part of a decade working as a reporter and editor in business journalism, with a focus on the energy and commodities markets and industries. This included a stint as editor at Fortune magazine, where she covered climate change and the energy transition.

Amongst other things, Katherine and I discussed what makes an effective climate news story, the obligations of newsrooms when it comes to addressing climate issues, and the unique role of meteorologists in delivering relevant and actionable local climate insights.

Additional links:

About the Oxford Climate Journalism Network

Climate news insights from The Reuters Institute

Insights on news avoidance from The Digital News Report

“Find your mango” and other learnings from the OCJN

The BBC’s “Life at 50C” series

The New Yorker’s stories about electricians

My interview with Alexandra Borchardt about the “Climate Journalism That Works” report.