Editorial Guidelines

About climateXchange

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. The media is critical in defining and shaping how the public perceives this crisis—but it is failing to convey its urgency, or motivate the action needed to mitigate its impact. Audiences care about the climate—but at the same time feel alienated, fatigued by doom-heavy narratives or left unable to understand how the issues intersect with their everyday lives.  

ClimateXchange (cXc) is the first initiative of community interest company Syli. Its mission is to understand the gaps in climate understanding, and elevate climate journalism through collaboration with global newsrooms, research institutions and local initiatives. We enable and support work by our members that transforms the subject from a siloed, terminology-heavy topic to a cultural issue every citizen can understand, relate to, and feel empowered to act on.  

These editorial guidelines reflect the principles upon which we work with our members around the world.  

cXc pillars of climate reporting 

How can journalists write better, more impactful climate stories?

Objectivity

However emotive the subject matter, content should be delivered in a way that captures diverse viewpoints, isn’t inappropriately coloured by the views of the reporter or the title, and is free of agenda, save for one: that climate change is happening, its impact is increasingly intersecting with everyday life and situations, and action must be encouraged.  

Accuracy

Journalists must source their material ethically and tenaciously, scrutinising their work for ambiguity and producing content that is persuasive yet factually correct and responsibly sourced to the highest degree possible.

Relatability

The blight of climate reporting is that it is happening faraway, to someone else. Bring it home to people; make them see why this affectsthem, too, and relates to their lifestyles, interests and wellbeing. And showthem exactly how little changes made by many can add up to big changes foreveryone and be aspirational in themselves.

How cXc applies these principles

• Consultation — embedding directly with newsrooms to rework the treatment of climate coverage both strategically and in a live environment, undertaken confidentially with member media organisations.    
• ‍Collaboration — our team of multi-platform journalists produce climate stories with member newsrooms on co-developed projects for social, print and online. Case Study: Catholicism and climate change, GMA Media, Phillippines
• ‍Innovation — ideation and seed support for financially sustainable news prototypes for a new era of climate journalism. Case study: Planet Plate, KBR Media, Indonesia  

Since 2023 we have worked directly with newsrooms in three key regions—Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe—and our network of support extends around the world.  

8 tips for effective climate journalism

Want to write better climate stories? Here are some quick tips to get you started. If you’re a newsroom looking for more targeted guidance for your market, apply for cXc membership and let’s start a conversation.  

1. Make climate personal  

Relatability is one of the key problems with current climate output: it’s too big, too overwhelming, and happening somewhere far away. By engaging people not just where they are, but where their interests and enthusiasms lie—their culture and its many applications—the relatability gap can be bridged. It helps people understand why a story matters to them and their communities.  

2. Use accessible language  

Terminology is excluding and doesn’t cross borders. Often the people who take most from climate news are those with a limited understanding of the science. Use clear frames of reference, familiar cultural concepts and, if science is needed, use only the most relevant points. Take time to be clear.  

3. Avoid alarmism

‍Scaring people can work when a threat is immediate. Otherwise, it can be a pathway to disengagement. Instead of using sensationalist headlines, use skillful framing to attract people to a story, and offer benefits to them and their way of living.  

4. Make climate-positive behaviours sexy  

Ambition begins with aspiration. And consumer culture is fed by both. Create the demand for climate responsible behaviours at a cultural level and inspire consumer habits by showing audiences the personal benefits— as well as telling them why. Individual-level action isn’t meaningless: the world’s biggest companies rely on consumer habits for their existence, and these start small. Create the demand for change, and change will happen. The media has the power to inspire it.  

5. Don’t stop entertainment; be entertainment  

Leverage interest niches. Use humour. Frame stories that are entertaining and accessible, and have a low threshold for buy-in. Use storytelling that appeals to the curious, or the bored, whilst retaining credibility and usefulness. Be diverting and rewarding: don’t annoy with interruptive, sensationalist content. You have far more to gain from spending those extra moments crafting a story than falling back on old tropes.  

6. Be real  

Carefully chosen, human-driven imagery is critical for credibility and cultural resonance, with climate content of all kinds often relying on a suite of cliched imagery. Exercise care when selecting pictures, ensure you use real people in real situations, and ensure you go the extra mile for impact—it is this that often makes the difference between a story being read, and being skipped.  

‍7. Go (hyper) local  

Local news has the potential to drive the most actionable change as it is unambiguous about who it affects: local voices are relatable, are deeply rooted in culture and speak to specific issues and experiences that inspire trust and recognition in audiences. Wherever possible use local journalists and local voices to anchor your  

8. Be subtle  

Climate is a serious subject, but engaging users with information relating to it can take many forms. Often small amounts of information packaged skilfully within other stories can be more memorable than long investigative pieces. And positive, affirmative pieces can be more effective than chiding, negative exposes. Education by osmosis can be a highly effective way to influence behaviour.  

‍Read more in a Journalist’s Guide to Climate Culture, (pb cXc) accessible here.

Editor’s Code of Practice