Become a climate
reporter
Help us highlight global risks
Calling all reporters and storytellers! Are you experiencing the impact of climate change around you, and do you want to take action? Become a climate reporter, and write about your experience!
The global influence of climate change is evident as weather patterns shift, seas rise, and temperatures soar worldwide. At Arctic Basecamp, we try to explain why this is happening by using data and science, as you can see on our Arctic Risk Platform.
But this alone is not enough. To make the world understand how much the climate is changing, we need to tell stories about climate impact all over the world. That’s why we’re encouraging everyone, from young to old, from scientist to citizen to participate. Become an Arctic Basecamp climate reporter, tell your story, and join us to show the worldwide impact of climate change!
Please note: Everyone is welcome to participate. You do not need to be an expert in Arctic science or journalism, you just need to be an expert in your own experience.
Do you want to see what people have previously submitted through our Climate Reporting project? Coming soon: our Stories page, where you can see all previous submissions!
The steps to get started
Choose your story - a story only YOU can tell
Choose your format - video, writing, photography, or a combination!
Which language should you report in?
Read our ethical guidelines for reporting - highlight your climate story without causing harm and provide your sources
Some resources to help you get started - Writing tips, scientific resources, and free tools!
Hand in your story here
Our promise to you - we handle content with care
Choose your story - A story only YOU can tell
There are multiple ways to tell a story about climate change.
Check out our suggested formats, or come up with your own!
Tell a generational story
Do you have any family or friends that have been around longer than you have, that have seen their environment change around them? Interview them about the changes in climate they have seen in their lifetime.
Report on an event
Other ideas
Do you want to tell your climate story in another way? Would you rather write poetry, film a speech, or talk about your day to day life? We are open to your suggestions!
Choose your format
Reporting can be done in many ways.
We always recommend including visuals of some kind, either in photo or video form.
This helps people to understand your story better!
Combining formats is possible and encouraged.
Video
Submit a video highlighting climate vulnerability
To ensure maximum engagement and accessibility*
- 60 seconds max length per video. It can be a series of multiple videos of 60 seconds if you have a longer message!
- Add subtitles. Subtitles will make the video more accessible.
- Show your face and your surroundings. Help your audience understand who is talking to them, and from where.
- Tell a story with your video. Use video to highlight how people are affected on a personal level by climate change. Show the effects it has on your relatives, community, and living space.
- Ask questions to the audience. Make the audience consider the important questions to think about when facing climate change. *OR send your raw footage immediately to us and we will edit it for you!
Writing
Write a blog post about your story
To ensure maximum engagement and accessibility:
- Write around 400 words.
- Tell a story with your writing. Write about human interest stories to help readers connect with climate change on a personal level. Make your story relevant by highlighting its impact on people, communities, and issues your readers care about.
- Use some imagery to accompany your writing. Using pictures can help the audience give context to what you are talking about.
Photography
Tell your story in pictures and send them to us
- Take your own photo(s).
- Make sure to have consent of anyone included in the photographs
- What about picture quality? The photos don’t have to be the highest quality, and you do not need new or fancy equipment. After all, the best camera is the one you already have! Just make sure the pictures are clear enough to see what they are portraying.
- Tell a story with your photo(s). Add depth and emotion to your images. Consider the narrative you want to convey and how to capture it visually. Use composition, lighting, and visual elements to create a narrative that guides the viewer through the story.
- Add in a caption. If you are only sending in pictures, send us a short caption to accompany the images you took.
What language to use?
We understand that it is not always easy to translate a story.
Therefore, we highly encourage you to write in your native language, if you want to.
At Arctic Basecamp, we have an international team, so we will do our best to assist and support you.
Please provide translations in English. Chat-GPT can make an excellent translation tool, as listed below in our free resources.
If you make a video in your native language, please submit it with subtitles.
Ethical requirements & fact-checking
When reporting, it is important to make sure you follow ethical guidelines.
Following ethical guidelines ensures that you do not harm anyone or anything while trying to highlight your story on climate change.
As Arctic Basecamp is a scientific organisation, fact-checking is of high importance.
Below, we’ve made an overview of the most important things to keep in mind to ensure your report can make the most positive impact possible.
Ethics
- Make sure all your work is your own, do not plagiarise. Write your own stories, make your own videos, and take your own pictures. Do not copy from others: the best work you can do is work that can only be made by you. We value authenticity over “perfection”.
- Objectivity and fairness. You should strive to be objective and fair in your reporting. This means presenting multiple perspectives and opinions, and avoiding bias and personal opinions.
- Transparency. Be as transparent as possible about your sources and methods. Disclose any potential conflicts of interest, and any use of external resources,
- Responsibility. Consider the potential consequences of your reporting, and ensure that it does not contribute to harm.
- If you use AI, use it responsibly. AI can be a great tool to use as a jumping-off point, but do not use it to create a final product that you will pass off as your own.
Fact-checking
- Identify your sources and include them in your report. If you use any external sources to write your story, make sure to use reliable ones. This could be peer-reviewed scientific journals, official reports from government agencies, or credible news organizations. Be cautious of sources that lack transparency or have a clear agenda.
- Check any data you use. If you use any data in your story, make sure to fact-check this data. Use the most recent data available and use it in the correct context.
- Verify claims. If you come across a claim in your research or reporting, verify it with multiple sources. Don’t rely on a single source for information.
- Check for bias. Be aware of potential biases that could be present in your sources. If an organization has a clear bias or agenda, be cautious of their claims.
- Fact-check your own work. Before sending your story to us, re-read your report and double-check the accuracy of your information. Look for any errors or inconsistencies.
Consent from participants
- Ask for consent by using the consent release form. Ask for consent before you film, photograph, or interview anyone using this consent release form. Submit it at the hand-in section at the bottom of this page.
- If you do not have consent, do not capture people in a way they are recognisable. This can be done by either only capturing them with their face turned away, or blurring their faces.
- Avoid putting people in danger. Do not capture anyone in a certain location or making a certain statement they could get in trouble for, including yourself.
- Please do not capture children.
- Please do not use any visuals or statements from people you do not have consent from.
Some resources to help you on your way
Here are some final resources to help you improve the quality of your reporting!
Check out our storytelling tips to ensure your story is as impactful as possible. If you are doing video with a script or writing a blog, make sure to take a look at our writing tips as well.
To help you get started, we have listed some free tools that can help you complete your report.
How to tell a story effectively
- Use human interest stories to help readers connect with climate change on a personal level.
- Make your story relevant by highlighting the impact of climate change on people, communities, areas, and issues your readers care about.
- Use multimedia, like visuals and interactive elements, to help illustrate your story and to engage readers.
Improve your writing
- Be clear and concise. Use simple language and avoid jargon to ensure that your message is easily understood.
- Use active voice. Using active verbs creates a sense of urgency and action.
- Be accurate and reliable. Fact-check your sources and ensure that your writing is based on trustworthy information.
- Check your grammar and spelling. Make sure to check your grammar and spelling for a high-quality report.
Head to our resources page
Our Arctic Risk Platform offers a solid base for understanding Arctic change and global risks. Also definitely check out our blogs on climate vulnerable countries.
Some more free tools
Submit your story here
Our promise
Your story is valuable. Not just to us, but to the world. Our promise to you is that we:
- Always handle with care. We will guard and respect your story.
- Never use your story without crediting you
Never pass your story off as our own work
As a scientific organization, there are implications for the way we share content. To ensure maximum integrity and transparency we:
- May edit parts of your story to ensure it complies with our ethical and quality guidelines
- May check your story for plagiarism
- May not publish your story if it goes against our ethical and quality guidelines
- Check the sources you provided to ensure that we distribute stories that are accurate and reliable
- State a disclaimer when posting your story to ensure transparency to our audience
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where will my story get published?
- Depending on the format, the story can be published on any of the following channels:
- Our socials
- The Arctic Basecamp website
- The Arctic Risk Platform
- We may also showcase your stories at events
- Depending on the format, the story can be published on any of the following channels:
- How long does it take for my story to get published?
- Depending on the size of your story, it can take up to 3 weeks to process
- If I want to film or photograph, do I need a high-quality camera?
- You do not need fancy equipment! As long as the picture is clear, we are happy to receive it
- I’m interested in becoming more involved with Arctic Basecamp, how do I do that?
- Go to our youth page to find different ways to engage with us!