Press Release: The 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards Announced

Press contact: Colby Kelly
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For release: April 20, 2022

The 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards Announce 68 Finalists From Newsrooms Around the World

The climate emergency is the biggest news story of our time, and today the best journalists and outlets covering the climate story were named as finalists for the 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.

See the announcement video and full list of finalists here.

Covering Climate Now, a non-profit collaboration of 500-plus news outlets reaching an audience of some 2 billion people, received more than 900 entries in this second year of the awards. Submissions came from TV, radio, print, and digital journalists representing newsrooms big and small in 65 countries.

“This outpouring of submissions—a 50 percent increase over last year’s entries—reflects how news organizations increasingly recognize that climate change demands more and better coverage from all journalists,” said Kyle Pope, the editor and publisher of Columbia Journalism Review and the chair of the CCNow Awards judging process.

Among the Finalists for the 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards are journalists from such big-name outlets as The New Yorker, Bloomberg, Agence France Presse, the Guardian, Reuters, BuzzFeed, Al Jazeera, Channel 4, and Scientific American. Joining them are journalists representing more regional or targeted media including the Polish daily newspaper Gazetta, the news collaborative Next Blue in Bangladesh, the independent website Scroll in India, Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast, TV Globo’s Bom Dia Brasil, and contenders for the Emerging Journalist Award from Alaska, the Middle East, and the Philippines and the Student Journalist Award from India, the U.K. and the United States.

“Better news coverage is an essential climate solution, a catalyst that makes progress on every part of the problem—from politics to business, lifestyle change and systems change—more likely,” said Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of CCNow and environment correspondent for The Nation. “The rapid shift in energy, agricultural, and economic practices needed to defuse the climate emergency simply will not happen without the informed and engaged citizenry that strong journalism fosters.”

A jury of 90 distinguished journalists from around the world considered entries in 18 awards categories, including long and short form print coverage, long and short form video coverage, audio work, investigative reporting, commentary, social media engagement, photography, student and emerging journalists, and newsroom innovation. The overall quality of the entries was so high, in addition to 68 Finalists, 20 entries were awarded Honorable Mentions. A separate jury will meet in May to select the winners and name a Climate Journalist of the Year.

Covering Climate Now is supported by generous grants from Actions@EBMF, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Michaux Family Foundation, One Earth Fund, Park Foundation, Rockefeller Family & Associates, Rockefeller Family Fund, Schumann Media Center, Taylor Family Charitable Fund and Wayne Crookes.