Aghan Daniel, CEO, MESHA addresses a past conference in Nairobi on the place of solutions journalism in the media. | Photo Credit: Courtesy
Six media outlets from five African countries have been selected for the inaugural Africa Climate Beacons Newsroom Initiative 2026/2027, a seven-month programme aimed at strengthening climate solutions journalism.
The initiative has been launched by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN).
The six newsrooms were selected competitively from 133 applications received by MESHA. They will participate in the programme from September 2026 to March 2027.
The successful newsrooms are The Star Newspaper/Radio Africa Group from Kenya, Water Journalists Africa and Media Challenge Initiative from Uganda, Social Voices from Nigeria, Habitat Media from Tanzania and Zodiak Broadcasting Station from Malawi.
The inaugural cohort represents five African countries and a range of media platforms, including radio, digital, print, broadcast and other emerging platforms.
MESHA Chief Executive Officer Aghan Daniel said the initiative would help newsrooms strengthen climate reporting and move beyond focusing only on climate problems.
“The initiative brings together newsrooms from across English-speaking Africa to strengthen climate reporting, deepen newsroom capacity and shift coverage beyond problem-focused reporting towards evidence-based responses to climate challenges,” said Aghan.
Through the partnership between MESHA and SJN, participating newsrooms will receive support to strengthen their ability to report on how climate change is affecting communities and examine evidence-based responses and adaptations.
SJN Africa Initiative Manager Caroline Karobia said the partnership would help participating newsrooms change how they approach climate stories.
“We are excited to welcome the inaugural cohort of the Africa Climate Beacon Newsroom Initiative and to work in partnership with MESHA to support the newsrooms in transforming how they approach and cover climate change stories, so they regularly practice climate solutions journalism that highlights credible, replicable, and actionable solutions,” Karobia said.
The programme will provide solutions journalism training and regular coaching from experienced climate and solutions journalism experts.
Participants will also receive audience and community engagement training, impact tracking support and take part in workshops aimed at deepening climate solutions storytelling.
The newsrooms will participate in monthly engagements and coaching sessions involving MESHA and SJN staff.
The initiative seeks to encourage newsrooms to investigate credible and evidence-backed responses instead of reporting problems alone. It will also seek to strengthen journalists’ climate literacy and storytelling skills, improve audience engagement and encourage cross-border and regional collaboration on shared climate challenges.
As part of the fellowship, the participating newsrooms will develop inception work plans outlining their climate story series and timelines.
They will also be expected to produce at least eight in-depth climate solutions stories. The stories may be published in print, digital, broadcast, multimedia or podcast formats.
The newsrooms will track the reach and impact of their reporting as part of the programme.
MESHA Vice-chairperson Nduta Waweru said selecting newsrooms from five African countries reflected the shared nature of the climate crisis while recognising that climate impacts and responses are deeply local.
“The six newsrooms bring different audiences, platforms and experiences to this initiative. Over the next seven months, they will have an opportunity to strengthen their climate and solutions journalism skills, learn from experts and peers, engage more meaningfully with their audiences and produce stories that can contribute to a better understanding of possible responses to climate challenges,” she said.
Waweru added that climate reporting should also examine responses and lessons from communities.
“Climate change is not only a story about what is going wrong; it is also a story about what is being done, what is working, and what can be learned,” she said.
MESHA Chairman Bozo Jenje congratulated the selected media houses for taking part in the climate story mentorship programme.
Jenje said the initiative was more than training, describing it as a value-added programme that would help communicators produce evidence-based stories that communities can relate to and use in addressing their issues.
“It is a milestone for MESHA to be on the front line to work with the media in Africa to offer this essential service to empower communicators to be better and deliver quality to the audience”, he said.
The initiative is expected to create a network of newsrooms better equipped to produce rigorous, locally relevant and impactful climate solutions journalism while fostering learning and collaboration across borders.
