Top data reporters shared how they cover climate impacts in Latin America. They discussed the struggle to access reliable data. New tools and platforms are shaping environmental journalism. The roundtable offered practical insights for newsrooms.
Access to reliable environmental data remains a major challenge for newsrooms covering climate change in Latin America. During a recent “Inside the Newsroom” roundtable, leading data journalists detailed how they use digital tools and databases to report on extractive industries and deforestation across the region. The session, moderated by Fermín Koop of Dialogue Earth, brought together Gibran Mena from Data Crítica, Juliana Mori of InfoAmazonia, and Alexa Vélez Zuazo from Mongabay Latam.
Panelists described the difficulties journalists face when searching for trustworthy data to explain the effects of climate change, from the Amazon rainforest to the Paraná River Basin. They outlined how projects have leveraged geolocation, satellite mapping, artificial intelligence, and collaborations with scientists to investigate issues such as oil exploration’s impact on Indigenous communities, water extraction in Mexico, and agribusiness-driven deforestation.
The journalists highlighted platforms like Global Forest Watch, MapBiomas Amazon, and the Amazonian Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG) as key resources for sourcing environmental data. They emphasized that access to these tools is essential for providing accurate context to the public about climate impacts.
The full discussion is available on the Knight Center’s YouTube channel, along with a companion session in Portuguese featuring Brazilian data and environmental journalists. These events are part of the Knight Center’s “Inside the Newsroom” series, which focuses on innovation and opportunities in Latin American journalism. The article was translated with AI assistance and reviewed by Teresa Mioli. For more, see the original report at inma: https://latamjournalismreview.org/articles/data-reporters-explore-tools-and-databases-used-to-explain-the-climate-crisis-in-latin-america/
