Climate Minister convinced by the case for more journalism on sustainable development

Let’s get straight to the point. “When it comes to sustainability, the media will have to work in a more integrated way,” says Gijs Lambrechts – a Master’s student in Communication Sciences at the VUB.

If we really want to create a better world, we will have to make ‘sustainable’ a key concept in every aspect of our society. This includes the media, as the winning thesis of 2022 demonstrates. “Today, we still work too much in silos,” explains Gijs. “On the one hand, you have a climate section, and on the other, an economics section. But if we are to speak of objective and neutral reporting, a climate dimension will have to be added to political, economic and social reporting, and vice versa.”

Phenomena such as climate change, racism and migration issues are not isolated phenomena. They are dysfunctions of a system in which various aspects across different domains interact with one another. As a result, expertise is no longer a guarantee of objectivity, which is so crucial within the media. Knowledge within a single domain, without situating that domain within the wider system, automatically leads to subjectivity. “For example, an expert in one field may be in favour of nuclear energy, whilst an expert in another field is against it,” said Gijs during the presentation of his final thesis. “Both experts are objective within their own framework, but their positions become polarised because they are not sufficiently contextualised within the system.”

The media currently faces a major challenge: reporting more accurately and effectively on topics that matter to readers and viewers. Can this be achieved through greater expertise and/or better specialist training within journalism? Both approaches are necessary to ensure that the media can provide reliable and accurate reporting.

The content of the winning thesis for the Encon Sustainability Award is a theme close to Minister Khattabi’s heart. “The same principle applies at government level too,” she remarked afterwards. “It would be interesting to explore how we can collaborate more effectively across departments and view Belgian policy from an overarching perspective rather than from the perspective of individual sectors.”

“Although the winning thesis of 2022 does not immediately propose a solution,” admits Robin Bruninx, CEO of Encon, “it does spark an interesting debate.” What is the role of the media in sustainability and climate issues? What are the implications of a broad target audience? How does this affect people? Let’s open up the debate on this.

That does not, of course, detract from the fact that it is also important to take the next step and formulate ideas that could lead to a solution. That is why we would like to take this opportunity to issue a call to universities and students. Turn your climate activism into action, and put your ideas for a different approach in the media – or other industries – into practice!