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Approximately 35 Mexican journalists flocked to a Mexico City workshop Jan. 14-16 to learn more about
coverage of air pollution issues.
Nobel Prize-winner in chemistry Mario Molina led a distinguished group of speakers from
government, non-profits, academia and investigative journalism. They ranged across a panorama of air
pollution issues - from health impacts to solutions -- and armed journalists with tools
Nobel Prize-winner Mario Molina was interviewed by participants on air pollution issues.
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to dig deeper into the subject. Discussions produced a sheaf of stories in local news media. And after the
workshop, a group of participants took steps to launch a Mexican association of environmental journalists.
Several stories out of the workshop focused on a disclosure that government officials are considering
tying the property tax on each car to the amount of pollution the vehicle generates. Currently the tax
is based on vehicle prices.
The participants acquired computer-assisted reporting techniques for conducting their own investigations
of pollution matters. They heard detailed accounts of successes against pollution in Los Angeles and both
pollution and traffic congestion in Curitiba, Brazil and Bogota, Colombia. And in a field trip, they reviewed
sources of pollution and toured a laboratory that plays a key role in the local air monitoring system.
"Stupendous workshop," exclaimed Miguel Angel Ortega, a former editor of El Financiero who is starting work
on an ecological magazine. "I learned a lot."
The program, January 14-16 at the Hotel Casa Blanca, was a joint venture of the International Center for
Journalists, the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, the Knight Center
for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin, and Periodistas de Investigación,
the Mexican affiliate of Investigative Reporters and Editors (US). It enjoyed sponsorship from the Ford Motor
Co. Foundation's Ford Environmental Journalism Fellowships and assistance from Mexico City's Center for
Sustainable Transportation.
The event was the first of a series of workshops on air pollution coverage planned by ICFJ in the growing
cities of developing countries. A workshop also was presented in Quito, Ecuador, from March 1-3.
The program was organized by the Washington-based International Center for Journalists, the
Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at
Michigan State University and the Knight Center
for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, and Journalism for
Environmental Awareness assisted with aspects of the program. Sponsors included the
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the
Ford Motor Co. Fund.
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