#rp22 Speaker Wolfgang Blau: Challenges of Climate Journalism

Wolfgang Blau already looks back on a long, international career in journalism. He headed various editorial offices and eventually one of the largest publishing companies in the world.

In his work for the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, which he founded together with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Wolfgang Blau highlights the climate crisis as "the greatest challenge facing journalism". He argues that editors-in-chief should master the basics of climate change in order to adequately convey the urgency and far-reaching nature of the problem in their reporting.

In his session at #rp22, he would like to present possible solutions. We asked him three questions in advance.

3 Questions for… Wolfgang Blau

What topic will you be talking about at #rp22?
The question that drives me is how news media can do journalistic justice to the climate crisis.

What have you missed out on in the past two years and what do you think needs an urgent reboot?
In these Covid years, the urgency of the climate crisis has unfortunately received too little attention. We have lost precious time in the process and now need to get the phase-out of fossil energies done as quickly as possible.

The motto of #rp22 refers to the last line of the Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody". In your opinion, which song should not be missing from the karaoke at #rp22 and why?
"Any Way the Wind Blows" also fits in with the energy transition. :-)
Also fitting: "Praying for Rain" by Don Henley.