IJNotes: An IJNet podcast IJNet

In India, as in many other countries, abortion is a divisive social and political issue. Although it is legal to get an abortion in India, there are many obstacles to obtaining one.

In our latest podcast, we spoke with two reproductive health professionals from CommonHealth India, a coalition that advocates for increased access to sexual and reproductive health care for women and marginalized communities. Dr. Alka Barua leads the organization’s abortion portfolio and Sanjeeta Gauri is a consultant on maternal health. They  discuss the alternative methods people turn to when denied access to abortion services, and bring to light under-reported topics and ways to discover new data that journalists can use  to inform coverage. 
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For our latest podcast on reporting on reproductive health, Sofia Heartney with the ICFJ communications team spoke with Dr. Camilla Fitzsimons, a professor in the department of adult and community education at Maynooth University and the author of “Repealed: Ireland’s Unfinished Fight for Reproductive Rights.” 

In this episode Fitzsimons discusses the role of journalists in the movement for reproductive rights, how reporters can continue to cover the issue even after abortion access moves off the front page, and intersectional approaches journalists should consider on the relationship between reproductive access, race and immigration.
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Mis- and disinformation surrounding reproductive health is not new. But since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. in June 2022, the consequences of the vast amounts of false information seeking to affect the reproductive choices of millions of Americans have made their way front and center in people’s minds. 
In our second IJNotes episode on reproductive health reporting, IJNet’s Disarming Disinformation Intern, Mya Zepp, spoke with Felice Freyer, a health care reporter at the Boston Globe and president of the Association of Health Care Journalists. 

Freyer discusses the prevalence and impact of disinformation surrounding abortion and reproductive health, and what journalists should do to promote credible information on abortion safety and access. Listen here: 
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Our new IJNotes podcast series will dive into reproductive health, how journalists globally are reporting on this highly personal and political issue, and the ways in which reporters can accurately and ethically cover the many related topics. To kick off the series, I spoke with Maya Miller, a reproductive health reporter at the Gulf States Newsroom, on the role local journalism plays in covering reproductive rights. 

In this episode, Miller discusses the importance of local journalism, how restricted access to abortion coincides with maternal health deserts across the Gulf States, and the ways reporters can best cover Dobbs’ consequences in their own communities.



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In early June, environmental journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing in the Amazon while reporting on Indigenous peoples in the state of Amazonas. The two were later found to have been murdered, in one of the most high-profile kilings of environmental journalists in recent years, wich have also taken place in Mexico, India and Colombia. 
In the aftermath of the killings of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, we sat down with Jonathan Watts, global environmental editor at The Guardian, who has been reporting on the Amazon for over 10 years. Currently based in the Amazon, Watts is also the founder of Sumaúma, a new environmental platform that aims to place the rainforest at the center of global reporting. 
During the interview we discuss the challenges environmental journalists face in their reporting, why their reporting  brings risks similar to those faced by war reporters, and how journalists can manage threats to their safety.
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Environmental crime, also known as eco-crime, is any form of illegal activity — organized or otherwise — that has a direct and negative effect on the natural world. From illegal deforestation in the Amazon, to unregulated overfishing in the Indo-Pacific, to water, air and soil pollution caused by illegal gold mines, environmental crime doesn’t just harm the environment, it also often has devastating consequences for local communities who rely on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods.
Reporting on environmental crime can take years, combining on-the-ground investigative reporting techniques with data journalism, geo-mapping, and combing of government records. Journalists on this beat are required to not only be skilled investigative reporters, but also adept communicators who can explain why these crimes should matter to the average reader.
For more about what it takes to report on environmental crime, we spoke with Fiona Macleod, founder and director of the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism, Africa’s first investigative outlet covering environmental crime. In our podcast, Macleod discusses why she founded Oxpeckers and the impact of its multi-year investigations, while offering advice for journalists interested in reporting on environmental crime.
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