In the fourth edition of Earth 5R’s Sustainable Futures podcast series, titled Reporting for the Planet, environmental journalist and PhD candidate Sanam Mahoozi joins us from London. Sanam, a contributor to Forbes, Al Jazeera, and other major outlets, discusses her journey into environmental journalism, focusing on underreported issues in the Middle East and Iran.
The conversation explores Sanam’s research on Iran’s 2021 water protests and the complexities of reporting on climate change in politically sensitive regions. She shares insights into the challenges of accessing reliable data, navigating media restrictions, and the importance of elevating on-the-ground voices. Sanam also offers advice for aspiring climate journalists, emphasizing the value of persistence and passion in driving impactful change.
Chapters:
- Introduction: The Background
- Covering Environment Related News In Different Parts Of World
- The World Water Week
- Approach for covering sensitive news
- Changing narrative on Climate Change
- Guidance for Future Professionals
Conversation:
Module 1: Introduction: The Background
Saurabh: Welcome everybody to the Sustainable Future podcast. And our guest today is Sanam Mahoozi from Iran, currently she is in London. Sanam is an environmental journalist who is doing her PhD from City University of London. And she has been writing for Al Jazeera and Forbes and she’s an environmental contributor. And she has written some really amazing stories and deep fact-finding about environmental issues in the Middle East, Iran and various regions. So welcome to the podcast, Sanam.
Sanam Mahoozi is a journalist writing about climate change, water and the environment mostly focused on Iran and the Middle East.
We would like to know a little bit about yourself from you.
Sanam: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. So as you said, I am in the final months of finishing a PhD at City University in London. My focus is on environmental journalism. I’m looking at the media framing of Iran’s 2021 water protests, looking at how international media, social media and local media framed the protests. I have been starting, I started this PhD in 2020 before that I did a master’s at City University in London, again in international journalism. Since then I’ve been writing for various publications, the Washington Post, Reuters Foundation, Al Jazeera, NBC. And now I’m a sustainability contributor for Forbes, allowing me to write on various global climate and environmental stories. But because I’m from you know, my main focus is on Iran and the Middle East and I’m passionate about it. I tend to write more about these, these regions. Okay. Well, once I finish my PhD in a couple of months, I will be hopefully working full-time in environmental journalism somewhere.
Saurabh: Interesting. Sanam, you have a very educational background. What inspired you to pursue a career in journalism, especially focusing on climate change and the environment?
Sanam finishing a PhD at City University in London
Sanam: Yeah, so basically, when I started studying, I was very interested in economics.So my undergrad at the American University of Paris was in economics. And I, my family and myself always wanted me to, you know, pursue a PhD, a doctorate. So the route I took was to do that in economics. Um, you know, so I did an undergrad in economics, I did another master’s at LSE in history of international relations. And I wanted to apply for a PhD in economics, I had to do a master’s in economics in order to do that. So I went to SOAS and did a master’s there.But, you know, due to a personal matter, unfortunately, my father got ill, and I had to go back to Iran in 2010. And so I didn’t do a PhD in economics, I started working for a financial firm in Iran. And so this financial firm was bringing foreign investment into Iran at a very interesting time, you know, when the JCPOA was being signed, and you know, the doors to foreign investment were being opened.So it was, it was a very, you know, educational and interesting time. And there was a lot of media interest in Iran. So that’s when I started to get very interested in journalism. So let’s say 2013-2014, I started to fall in love with journalism. And I started thinking of, you know, how it can be possible to become a journalist. But
In Iran, it’s very difficult, there’s a lot of restrictions.
Saurabh: And it’s not so easy to become a journalist.
Sanam: And you know, because of my background in London, and my educational background, I decided to apply for a master’s and other master’s in journalism here in London. And, you know, it took me a couple of years, but I finally came in 2018, straight into journalism. And one thing that happened is that during the class, I think it was international journalism, we did a presentation on media coverage of climate change, which is when I, you know, decided to take this route, and I fell in love with environmental journalism, hence the PhD.
Saurabh: So what was that in that particular presentation that instigated you to enter into journalism?
Sanam: Well, I just found out something. A couple of my friends and I were talking. I always tell one friend in particular, he knows who he is, that he inspired me to pursue this path. It really fascinated me. It was very specific, very interesting, and timely.
The presentation, you know, was great. When you’re in school and love your subject, it’s a different story. But I was genuinely excited to research this issue and present it.
After we finished, I felt good and inspired. I spoke to several people, and they said that this is something I can really focus on. Iran and the Middle East are underreported on this issue. I thought it would give me a great advantage, not necessarily an upper hand, but value as a journalist.
I speak Farsi, I know people in the Middle East, and I have a background in economics and international relations. I felt like this was a unique mix. Environmental issues are connected to everything—politics, economy, and more. I thought this would round out my educational pursuits nicely.
Saurabh: And also provided the situations in Iran, it’s also a very bold move.
Sanam: Yes, it is. But you know, the thing is, because Iran is such a political country, because the news coming out of Iran is so politically centered, rarely the environment gets covered unless it’s something like the 2021 water protest that I’m actually PhD on, because it’s politically adjacent, right? So you, I mean, unless you have a very specific interest on Iran, it’s rare that you see somebody just comes and like, I don’t know, writes about sandstorms in Iran, or so unless, you know, as I said, floods happen, a number of people die, then it makes it into the news. Otherwise, not so much.
Saurabh: Could you elaborate a bit more on your PhD topic, since we’re talking about it, and it’s a very, very timely topic.
Sanam: Okay, yeah, I mean, it’s a little bit. Okay, so I’ll tell you. So basically, these, you know, I’m sure you know, when you do a PhD, you have to focus on a very specific area, and take a timeframe. So two protests happened in Iran in 2021, one in the Khuzestan province in July 2021. A few months later, in November, in Isfahan province, both protests turned deadly nationwide because of water, severe water shortages. People didn’t have water. And this is because of decades of bad water management, by the authorities, building dams, and around 90, more than 95% of Iran’s water is extracted by the agricultural sector. And this is because, you know, the government wants to be self-sufficient, historically, because of the war with Iraq, and the Islamic Revolution, and a lot of other issues. So people ran out of water, and water is one of the biggest problems that Iran is facing. And it got so bad that people came to the streets, it became nationwide. Many people died, many people were killed. And as I said, so I’m looking at the media coverage, and I’m looking at the differences between how the media covered this issue and framed it, very interesting findings, because local media in Iran is restricted. There’s, of course, the conservative media, there’s the reformist media, but they rarely challenge the authority, which is the Supreme Leader and the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard Force. And the media in Iran is controlled by the regime, the state, meaning the Supreme Leader and the IRGC. The presidential and the administrative branch have lesser control. So at the time, the president was a reformist, President Rouhani, I mean, reformist, President Rouhani. And, you know, so the media coverage, the local media coverage was very focused, basically, on the narrative that the Supreme Leader was giving, which is that this has been instigated by foreign elements. And, you know, as usual, the enemy is trying to influence the people, trick the people, and not looking so much at the, you know, root causes of the welfare problems. One interesting finding that I did find is that this was one of the rare times that there was some admission of bad management from the authorities. But again, that was to divert blame from the regime to the lower echelons of the government. So this is how the local media was framing it. The international media was a little bit more balanced, you know, because of sources. And this is something that I wanted to talk to you about is that accessing sources in Iran is extremely difficult. And when you do, they’re more often than not going to be anonymous. So the framing of the international media was a little bit more skewed towards experts. And social media has a life of its own, you know, it’s like all over the place. So, these are my findings. And hopefully, within a month or two, I will get this degree. And yeah.
Saurabh: Nice. So how long, roughly, your PhD is taking, the duration?
Sanam: Four years, four years, four years, four years and a half, you know, but it was during COVID. So it was a very weird time, you know, we couldn’t really meet, I couldn’t go to school. So I was doing it online, meeting my supervisors once a month online, it was, it was, it was quite an experience.
Saurabh: Okay. So how has your academic experience from studying in institutions like City University, SOS and LSE have shaped your approach towards environmental journalism?
Sanam: Well, as I said, you know, first of all, studying in these establishments give you a lot of access to alumni, to academics, to professors, which is great, you know, I always have some place to go and they’re supportive, you know, when you publish something, they repost it. And it’s a basically good support system to have. And as I said, you know, they’ve all had some sort of effect on my writing. You mentioned earlier that my writing is a little bit more from, I’m not gonna say expertise, but it’s a little bit more scientific than journalistic. And this is because of my academic background, because when I write, it’s, of course, newsworthy, and the news peg is extremely important, but I try to delve into the root causes. And I always try to give some sort of solution.
Saurabh: Right. And this is when we reached out to you. And I told you in our first meeting that the most striking feature about your writing about your early journalism was the scientific accuracy of the information.
Sanam: Yeah. Okay, well, thank you. But, you know, that’s not so much me as my sources. So again, because of my academic background, access into the academic and expertise field, I maybe have, you know, more opportunities to speak to these people, you know, because it’s, I mean, I, the steps that I have to go maybe instead of 10 are seven. Okay, because I know who these people are.
Saurabh: Yeah. So, although we have understood a little bit about your transition to journalism, but we want to understand a little bit more from economics to journalism, because you have shared that it was part of your work, but also would like to understand a bit more that were there any deliberate choices that led you to move from economics to journalism?
Sanam: I mean, passion.
Passion, you know, I mean, after all these studies, and of course, I, you know, I loved all these degrees that I studied. But as I said, when you study something that you love so much, and it doesn’t seem like studying, it doesn’t seem like work.
That was it. I, you know, head over heels in love with journalism.
Saurabh: So because you care about the cause,
Sanam: I care about the cause, I enjoy the experience, it defines me fully. So basically, all the sacrifices I’ve made throughout the years seem, don’t seem like a sacrifice, you know, I think the passion for journalism I have is just basically driving me to do it. I think when I was studying economics or other things, I did feel passionate, but it’s very, very, very different. So there’s no question in my mind. I mean, I don’t have any doubts or any, you know, any moments in the past, let’s say seven years, which I moved to London, to doubt this for a second.
Saurabh: That’s amazing.
Sanam: And it’s been hard. It’s been very hard. You know, I mean, I arrived here, then COVID happened. And then, you know, the protest in Iran happened, I was away from family, alone, it’s just super difficult. But as I said, every day when I wake up, I know I’m doing something that I love, I feel good.
Module 2: Covering Environment Related News iIn Different Parts Of World
Saurabh: That’s really amazing. What would you say are the key differences between covering environmental stories in Iran and the Middle East compared to other regions?
Sanam works with organizations to publish environmental news.
Sanam: Very different, because as I said, access to sources and information. So when you’re writing about, for example, which I do, like, I don’t know, a climate change conference, or some something happening, I don’t know, in the US or UK, it’s very, very different, because the sources that you access, respond to you openly, there’s no need for any drama. And the information is there, you know, accurate on time, trustworthy information. With Iran, it’s a Middle East, Middle East, I don’t know, Iran, my expertise, I will talk to you more about. So data is not up to date. And plus, some of them aren’t even accessible, because of filtering. And you know, some of this data, you can’t even access, government sources don’t talk to you. So even though I do contact them on every story that I write, because that’s protocol, you have to ask them, I’ve never had a response. So that’s something, you know, you don’t, the way to balance the story becomes a little bit difficult, you have to rely on social media posts, or press releases, or I don’t know, interviews or things like that. And on the ground sources, of course, super, super difficult when you’re writing about Europe, or North America, you get to talk to people on the ground, and they’re willing to talk to you. And you get a lot of insight into what’s going on on the ground in Iran, you know, rightfully, people are afraid. So either they talk to you anonymously, or they don’t talk to you at all. And you know, you have to be very careful of who you source and who you don’t source, and you don’t want to get anybody into trouble.
Saurabh: Right.
Sanam: So, you know, when I write about Iran, I usually only, you know, I, I talk to experts who are based outside of Iran, usually, and one or two on the ground sources, which have to be anonymous.
Saurabh: Right.
Sanam: So it gives the story a very different feel than when you’re writing very openly about someplace, you know, in the rest of the world.
Saurabh: Saram, in your journey as a journalist, did you have a mentor role model who guided you? And how did you find this person? Or?
Sanam: Yes, I mean, very, very helpful and valuable mentor, of course, I had on especially on the environment was serendipitous. But throughout my career, throughout my education, yes, a very important and helpful mentor I’ve had taught me a lot about, you know, Iran, Iran’s environment, environment and general climate change, especially, especially water.
Saurabh: Did you find some mentors in the colleges as well?
Sanam: Yes, my supervisors, who are both very helpful mentors, taught me a lot about studying journalism and navigating a PhD. Every couple of months, you run into some kind of issue, and these people become your lifeline, your saviors.
Honestly, sometimes you just think, “What am I going to do?” because life happens, and you can’t change it. In the past couple of years, it’s been very difficult for everyone. The pandemic, wars, protests, and environmental disasters have made things harder.
That’s why having a support system is so important. I can’t stress this enough. Mentorship really helps keep you on the right path and prevents distractions.
There were times in my career when I thought about moving away from environmental journalism. For example, during the protests in Iran, with Mahsa Amini and the anti-government protests, I wrote extensively for various publications.
I also wrote about technology, which I’ll continue because it’s related. But sometimes, you get distracted, thinking you should be writing about this or that. These mentors help keep you on track.
After a few years, you realize just how valuable their advice has been.
Saurabh: Do you go to any professional networking events or conferences where you build some new, fresh network, or do you meet some people to learn from?
Sanam: Yeah, well, I mean, right now, because of, you know, this doctorate, I don’t travel much, but I just came back from Stockholm, Sweden. So I was at World Water Week, I was covering the event as a contributor for Forbes, I met so many people. It really, you know, I wrote a piece about it, which, you know, I think, hopefully, I’m going to get to do again. Yes, it really does help because, you know, it kind of puts you in that situation where you meet all these experts and all these academics who know so much about the field that you’re interested in. But I hope to go. I mean, I don’t think this year I’ll be able to go but from next year, I’m going to go to every COP. Yeah. And then I’m going to go to, you know, UN, UN events, water events, environmental events as much as I can. Hmm.
Module 3: The World Water Week
Sanam Attended The World Water Week 2024
Saurabh: So on that note, your recent attendance at World Water Week, could you share some major takeaways insights that you’ve gained, especially because the water crisis is becoming a very big crisis worldwide?
Sanam: Yeah, well, I mean, I guess the biggest takeaway is that water is becoming more and more. But yeah, okay. So I mean, maybe until a couple of years ago, it wasn’t a separate issue other than the environment. Now, its people are focusing on water a little bit more. And there’s, for example, I think it was last year, a big UN conference after many, many years happened specifically on water. I think it’s, it’s, it’s super interesting and very helpful to just mainly focus on one aspect of the environment. And these
experts were trying to shed light on water management, you know, kind of helpful tools that help very practical, helpful tools that help in communities, save water, especially in indigenous communities and communities that are vulnerable to climate change.
So these are the takeaways that I had. And I think it’s a very good thing that, you know, people with their expertise are focusing specifically more on this issue, and writing about it. You know, reports about it. I’ve encountered so many reports after this conference that I went that, you know, helped me understand it better.
Module 4: Approach for covering sensitive news
Saurabh: Oh, that’s interesting. So how do you approach sensitive topics like climate change in such a politically complex region like Iran? I mean, you have shared some insights, like, you have to talk to a lot of people and sometimes you have to be, you have to have their identity as anonymous, or they have to be based in some other countries, but still, it’s very, very complex. So how do you arrive at that? How do you plan that?
Climate Change Crisis in middle east
Sanam: Well, I mean, I don’t plan much. When things happen, for example, if floods happen, heat waves happen, or, you know, water issues happen, then I think of it then, you know, as I said, it needs to be newsworthy.
Saurabh: Right.
Sanam: So for example, I wrote a piece on extreme heat waves in Iran in July, I think. Yeah, in July. So Iran was experiencing temperatures more than 50 degrees, even more in some areas. And even though I was extremely stressed out with my dissertation, I thought that I should write about it because I looked at the media coverage of this issue in international media, and I saw it was very limited. So I thought that I should, you know, there was some coverage, but it was basically about, you know, government closures, institutional closures because of heat waves. And I thought that I should delve a little bit more into it and explain why this is happening. And, you know,
the government’s response to climate change is very important to this issue.
So Iran is one of the only countries, aside from Yemen and Eritrea, that hasn’t ratified the Paris Agreement. They signed it in 2000, I think, 15 or 16, but they haven’t ratified it yet. And the government is saying in the previous climate change conferences that they’ve attended from the Department of Environment, saying that, you know, sanctions, basically the economic sanctions, sanctions is what is hindering their response to climate change, which, you know, speaking to the experts that I have say that this is basically just an excuse, because it’s not, doesn’t seem to be a priority for the government, because they do spend money on other areas. But this one, it has gone down the list of priorities. And these are, these are things that I think local people like Iranians understand better, because, you know, you have insight into the country a little bit more. So these are the things that I try to hit in my article.
Saurabh: Yeah, okay. Do you also consider local, since you’re based in London, do you also work with local journalists, or do you directly go to the sources?
Sanam: I don’t work with local journalists, but I talk to them, you know, especially environmental ones, because they have the information, right? I mean, I do ask for help sometimes to maybe give me a contact detail of somebody or kind of explain something to me because they’re on the ground.
Saurabh: Right.
Sanam: Local sources, I’ve built up a number of on the ground sources who I speak to, you know, not not so much experts, but people like, you know, usual people who go through these environmental challenges. And, for example, if something happens, let’s say in a specific area, I try to just look at people who have spoken to maybe diaspora media. Yes. So there are people speaking to maybe BBC Persian or Iran International or like outlets like this. So I kind of see, okay, who’s willing to go on the record? Okay, and then I try to contact them.
Module 5: Changing narrative on Climate Change
Saurabh: So in your view, how has the global narrative around climate change evolved in recent years? And what more needs to be done in terms of media coverage? Like the changing narrative around climate change? What do you mean changing narrative? You mean it’s getting more attention? Yeah, getting more attention and is the approach changing? Is the approach changing? Do you think so?
Narrative and mindset changing around Climate Change
Sanam: Well, I don’t know so much about it because I’m in the field, you know, I kind of look for the news. So all I see is news alerts and news from this area. I do see more interest and more focus on it, especially on the media side. This is part of my academic studies. You know, I think within maybe the past two decades, coverage of the environment has increased exponentially. Now all the media outlets have a specific desk dedicated to the environment, right? You know, so any of these major news agencies you look at, they have a dedicated climate and environmental desk. So this wasn’t the case a couple of years ago, you know, I think I think media coverage in that area has become much, much, much better. Journalists are, you know, speaking to scientists more, trying to understand the background about it more. It’s not as sensationalized as it was. You know, now they’re actually going into the root causes and looking at what is causing these things. And one thing that I’ve learned throughout my coverage on Iran, and this is, again, you know, what I’ve learned from all these people that have helped me and my mentors, is that
climate change in countries that are authoritarian, like Iran and the Middle East, again, as an excuse.
So the government tries to blame everything on climate change to kind of derail, divert the blame from themselves because of mismanagement. So what I was taught is that, yeah, so this is this is something that, again, is a little bit, you know, I was lucky, I guess, to be taught by, you know, these experts is that have to be very careful, because what’s happening with Iran’s environment is not only climate change,
climate change is an amplifier, of course, you know, it’s, it’s, it makes events harsher and faster, but definitely not the root cause.
The root cause is, you know, bad water management, misuse of resources, and water transfers, dam building, you know, and these stakeholders that are profiting from all these things and blaming climate change alone is just giving them a way out. So you have to be very careful to give enough weight to what is actually causing this environmental degradation in Iran. I guess I said one of the biggest issues is water there.
Saurabh: Yeah, so it’s a systemic issue.
Sanam: Yeah, so it’s, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s getting more attention. Like I’ve, I’ve read a number of articles and it seems to be that the media is actually, I don’t want to say this, but getting it right a little bit. Yeah. Science is coming into it, which is where people,
Saurabh: yeah.
Sanam: And these experts, you know, scientists, I think it’s very important that they communicate with journalists. Yes. So what I’ve, what I’ve realized is that when you speak to these scientists and experts and communicate, they, you know, ask them, what is it that you want people to know? You know, what, what, what is it, what are you saying? You know, what, what are you saying? Yeah. So, and they tell you and you listen and, you know, that’s, that’s how I think it’s important to cover these, these stories, you know, listen to the scientists, listen to the people on the ground. And of course, yes, also government is extremely important because they’re the ones who are implementing the policies, right? So you have to have a mixture of all these things. And then in the end solutions. So, okay. Now what? Now what’s the next step? Yeah. Iran is a country that is, you know, politically very difficult to navigate. What can you do? Like how I speak to these experts, like, okay, with the status quo, what are some of the practical solutions that you can have? And, you know, they, most of them, say it’s maybe preparing, sharing information, educating people on the ground. For example, these places that in the South have been suffering through dust and sand storms, for example, thousands of people being sent to the hospital every year. Well, this is an issue that can be to some extent mitigated, you know, heat waves, for example, it’s happening all the time. Floods are happening all the time. Flooding is something that if you prepare for it, you can actually environmentally, maybe use it a little bit to your advantage because you can save that water, you know? So these are, these are, I wrote, I wrote about this. So these are things that these scientists are saying, and I think it’s very important as a journalist to relay it and just listen to them.
Saurabh: So do you also like, I understand that you work with a lot of different sources, but do you also build a list of scientists or sort of experts that you refer back and forth again and again? Do you have some sort of?
Sanam: Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I mean, these, the people I speak to are very, you know, they’re very specifically focused on a very specific topic. So when I write about, let’s say, I don’t know, let’s say, water, I go to a certain person. If I write about, I don’t know, women in climate change, I go to a certain person. If I write about, for example, I wrote something about the fact that we don’t have enough climate change emojis.It’s a good one.
Saurabh: Yeah, it’s a funny one.
Sanam: Actually, you know, so, so I speak to maybe techie people, you know? So yes, I do have a list of like who to go to, but then you do have to diversify, of course, you know, you can’t keep going back to the same sources, but they build up and you know, I mean, this is a very interesting thing that has happened to me. I mean, I have built up a very good roster of sources. And as I said, I do, I do diversify, but you know, it’s, you get to kind of, you know, know, I don’t know how to, how to put this. It builds up, you know, somebody introduces you to somebody else, and then it just builds up, it multiplies, because when you speak to an expert about a specific topic, they just say, Oh, maybe you should speak to this other person. And then the other person, it just keeps building up. So out of one article, I get introduced, maybe to 10 different people. And then when you’re writing about a similar topic, you think, okay, maybe I go back to that person.
Saurabh: And then again, it builds up. Right, right. Do you have any comments or anything to share about IPCC reports? Or have you referred to it in some of your writings?
Sanam: Of course, I refer to it all the time. So I refer to UN reports, IPCC reports, World Bank reports, of course, all the time, all the time. You know, but I do, I get, because as I said, you know, once you get a little bit established, you receive these reports. Yeah. So even before they’re published, you know, I get them. So I kind of know, you know, which report to use for, for what article. And absolutely, I mean, there’s not one article that I’ve written that doesn’t have one of these reports.
Saurabh: So then what voices or perspectives you feel are missing from the current climate change discourses, especially in the region like the Middle East?
Sanam: Yeah, on the ground sources in the Middle East and Iran, I mean, you know, Iran aside, I think coverage on the rest of the Middle East is really low, too. So I have not seen an article about, you know, on the ground, what’s happening in Saudi Arabia, for example, right, or even the UAE, you know, I mean, these are these are countries that are holding extremely important environmental summits.
Saurabh: Right.
Sanam: So let’s say like the one on the certification happening in Saudi and Riyadh in December. And, you know, the top 28 were in the UAE. But I don’t see any news articles coming out of these countries talking about what people on the ground are going through.
Saurabh: It’s odd. Yeah. Yeah.
Sanam: There’s a whole vacuum. Yeah, no. So I mean, if you mean, Iran is hard, but accessing sources in these countries is even harder.I haven’t been able to.
Module 6: Guidance for Future Professionals
Saurabh: Okay. What are the crucial skills or competencies required for individuals aspiring to internet climate journalism? I’m asking this question because a lot of our audience members are young people. There are many people who are pursuing journalism.
Sanam: Well,
passion, as I said, you know, because it’s the only thing you need is passion,
I guess, because everything else just comes and goes, you know, you have to be adamant about what you want to do. And having an area of expertise and interest also, I think is very important. So as I said, because I mean, I don’t know if it was organic or my interest or anything. I became very interested in the environment. And this, you know, my PhD is focused on it. So I’m becoming a little bit of my interest is becoming a little bit focused on this issue. So having an area of interest that you really like, I think is great. And building contacts, you know, I’ve been trying to build contacts with news agencies, editors, journalists, for many, many years now. You know, it’s very important, because once you have a story, it’s very good to know who to pitch it to. And more importantly, if it’s gonna get published, it’s not easy. Yeah. And getting the right stories is another rare thing. Again, it’s very helpful to have contacts, because you know, these experts and people, for example, tell you, oh, you know, maybe you should be writing about this, or people will have their hand or fingers on the pulse. Yeah, you know, one thing you said that you should be passionate about.
Significance of passion and its role in one’s work
Surabh: So let’s say people are passionate, that is probably why they enter into this sector. But other than passion, if there’s certain stuff like you spoke about having networking, so what are the skills that they can develop while they’re studying like some, some skills that can help them to part from having passion? Should I share that? That might be helpful for a lot of young people.
Sanam: Okay, I will. Okay, me, I mean, basically, I am a stalker. So, so
I very strategically found, like editors in my area, on LinkedIn and Twitter and Instagram, and I followed them and I liked whatever they posted, I contacted them,
didn’t get upset if I didn’t get a response, I just carried on, carried on, carried on until I got a response. So I think it’s very good to identify who these people are, who can help you get published. Because the most important thing is getting published, right? You know, I mean, if you know, you can have as much passion as you want, but until you don’t get published, you know, you have to read it and it takes a very long time for that first article to get published. You know, it takes a lot of rejection, a lot of disappointments, a lot of doubt. But one day it will. And then that’s when everything changes. Because once you get published, once your name is out there, then you have a person to go to. So what I did was my first article was published in Al Jazeera, 2020, I think, or 2019, I’m not sure. So I kept going back to that same editor, you know, asking, you know, for, for, for my pitches, and because they know you, you know, more often than not, then they say yes. And then one becomes two, two becomes three, three becomes four. And another thing that really helped me really helped me is, for example, if something newsworthy happens in your country, yes, then that’s the time to pounce, basically. So I mean, as I said, I mean, this very unfortunate thing that happened in Iran with the protest. But, you know, I, basically, when that happened, I, I speak Farsi, I know people on the ground. So I contacted editors from all these places that probably I would have had to work 10 years to get published, you know. And I just, I just was aware of and I contacted them. And luckily, I got published. And that just was a career changer for me. Because my publications went from being maybe five or six to all of a sudden, you know, 10s and 10s. And I used to write four or five times a week. And then, yeah, no, it was, it’s a lot. Yeah, I mean, I, that was such a, I can’t even tell you that time was just a career changing for me. And then afterwards, I got the very lucky opportunity to become a contributor at Forbes. And now I can publish as much as I want, you know. So the thing is, I say just to, you know, follow these people on social media, send as many pictures as possible. And maybe better to write about stories in your country. Because that’s, you know, your value.You speak the language, you know, the people, and then just once you get published, then you start getting published more and more. But that’s the first thing I say, just get published.
Saurabh: That’s very entrepreneurial advice.
Sanam: no, I mean it. And as I said, you know, I had, I was very lucky to have these people in my life who helped me a lot to get published. And, you know, maybe collaborating with somebody who’s already published, already established will also help you. I did work very hard, but I was, you know, also very lucky for my support system. Oh yeah, not persistent, stalker. And you’re also, I think this is one of the things that you shared is the ability to handle rejection.
Saurabh: That’s very big. Yeah.
Sanam: I mean, it’s so, yeah. I mean, the first time you start saying, oh, you get upset the first time, but then you’re like, you know, whatever. Now I get rejected so many times. Still, you know, now I have a thick skin, you know, I don’t take it personally, but in the beginning you take it personally because you try so much and it’s hard, you know, but these people are busy. Yeah. It’s not personal, you know, it’s not personal. It’s just, you know, news is, it’s a very hard industry to get into, you know, it’s really hard to get into. That’s why I’m saying you need all these tools to help you. You need passion, you need connections, you need a support system and yes, persistence to the level of, you know, being annoying.
Saurabh: So based on your experience in environmental journalism, we would like to learn a bit more about what you think where the world is heading towards and what’s your overall perspective, what should be done?
Sanam: That’s something I really can’t answer where the world is going. I’m really not sure in terms of the environment, but if history is any indication, things are getting worse. That’s true. You know, I mean, world, you know, recorded the hottest days ever this year, water is becoming scarcer, you know, people are dealing with, you know, forced migration, conflict, water level rise in many countries, everything, you know, so, so, so, but, but I, I mean, hopefully what I mean, hopefully all this, you know, media coverage and all these conferences and all these things are going to one day end in some policy change because until policy doesn’t change, none of these things are going to actually be implemented. So governments need to implement these policies, you know, drastically. And I think, I don’t, I don’t know, I don’t see that happening to be honest.
Saurabh: Any books or, I mean, any books or resources that you would like to recommend for the aspiring journalism students? Books on environmental journalism? Or just journalism as such?
Sanam: So, I don’t really, I mean, for my PhD, of course, I had to read a lot of books. But that’s like research, right? I, as I said, I read a lot of reports. I read a lot of articles, what I mainly learned from is other news articles.
Saurabh: Okay.
Sanam: You know, from places like the Guardian, you know, on environment, I really like their coverage of Guardian. And then again, UN reports. Yeah, I mean, it depends, depends what area. I mean, I think each area has its own publications that you should be searching for. But books, books, not so much. But yeah, I mean, the newest reports are always very helpful to kind of understand the states, the state of the environment. And these places, these organizations have publications coming all the time. One of the challenges we ourselves as an environmental organization have faced is lack of data, because whenever we want to go for search or something, it’s always US based data, or right now, they always use always read things like this much happens every year in the US. So basically, it’s mostly US based data.
Saurabh: So do you also encounter such kinds of challenges while reporting environmental issues?
Sanam: Absolutely. That’s what I said in the beginning with Iran. Yes, it’s really hard. So I have to rely on data that was published like a zillion years ago. So yeah, it’s problematic. But again, academics, for example, if you’re from a certain country, if you go search the academics that are from your country, and studying universities abroad, they usually have a lot of, you know, data. So for example, me in Iran, I talked to people who teach at universities in the US or in the UK, and because of their area of expertise, they had to actually access this data. Right. So they have it, you know, so in their research papers, they have it. So when I’m writing about, let’s say, water issues in Iran, I go look at these academics who’ve written their PhDs on this subject. And they’ve had to have this data, right. So, you know, and it’s peer reviewed, and it’s trustworthy. So you can find a lot of data there, you know, not just basically on government websites, and social media, for me, when I’m writing a story, the first thing I do is I, you know, put the hashtag on, like, let’s say, Twitter or Instagram, and then all this information comes. So and then you can, you can, you can sit through it and see which one is actually trustworthy, which one isn’t. And then you get to actually see who has commented on it. And, you know, maybe you can find a lot of information there.
Saurabh: Okay. So what percentage of your journalism, like, since you write about environmental stories, roughly, what is the kind of percentage where you’re working online and off the site versus physically being present in a particular location?
Sanam: Well, for now, it’s basically 99% online, because, you know, as I said, my situation is a little bit specific right now, because of this dissertation and a PhD. So the only article I wrote when I went to an event was Stockholm, you know, two weeks ago, but hopefully that’s going to change. Because if I manage to get a full time job, then I’m going to be in a newsroom, hopefully going to be able to go to these places. But as far as Iran is concerned, it’s always going to be online.
Saurabh: Yeah.
Sanam: You know, what I’m saying is that because of social media, there’s a lot of ongoing information, which is coming because people have mobile phones.
Saurabh: So a lot of time on news, news, TV news shows, they’re using clips that are coming from somebody’s mobile phone. So that also changed.
Sanam: Oh, no. Well, we’re not really allowed to do that. You know, I mean, you have to verify. Okay, I’m not I don’t use. I don’t use any social media posts unless it’s belonging to an account of somebody that is established. You know, I don’t just go out like a video from a random person.
Saurabh: But that’s a big trend on a lot of news channels.
Sanam: Yeah, but I mean, I’m not sure mainstream, I think they have to verify the places that I’ve worked for. Right. Fact checking was a very big issue. I mean, nothing was published without fact checking.
Saurabh: Looking at what excites you the most about the future of climate journalism?
Sanam: I mean, for me, it’s just being able to spend 100% of my time on it. You know, I am right now. Yeah, I mean, I’m really excited about all these conferences coming up. I’m going to be writing multiple pieces on COP29 and then the decertification conference in Saudi for the next few months. And for me, the most exciting thing is just finding stories, finding stories that are less covered. So for example, I wrote this story a couple of months ago in January about cloud stealing. Sorry, you know, so cloud stealing, cloud stealing. I mean, you know, you come across these stories. And you know, some stories just are so much fun to write. And so basically, I mean, cloud stealing is not a thing. It’s actually like, you know, part of this whole weather manipulation, cloud seeding thing. But you know, it’s snappy. I wrote about it. It got so many clicks. It was trending like crazy on Forbes. And, you know, there’s from time to time you get to write these stories that, you know, are just fun. And you get a lot of attention, you get a lot of discussion going on. So from time to time, aside from stories that are, you know, I’m not gonna say like, you know, routine. Yeah, you get to write about something like the emoji one, like this cloud one. I like to do that. So, so, so I’m not sure what my next one is going to be. But hopefully, once I finish this degree, what excites me is to just wake up and do this 24 /7.
Saurabh: Sanam, this is very interesting. We learned a lot about journalism, the challenges, especially the challenges part and how you work in these challenges. There’s a lot of interesting insights. Any parting words for the young journalists, the students who are aspiring to become climate journalists?
Sanam:
Don’t give up. It’s basically what I say, yeah, because as I said, life happens, there’s all these obstacles in the way.
And you can’t control them. So just don’t give up. And go out of the way, the way you do. Um, to a certain extent, you have to be careful, you know, you have to be careful, because you have to follow. I mean, I follow all the rules in my journalism, and it’s very important to keep the ethics, right, and the balance and, you know, not get swayed by, you know, one narrative than the other, you know, you always have to keep your balance and as a journalist, you know, I when I when I write a story, I take myself out of it. And I try to just write it in my head as like, you know, as if I’m watching something. And of course, our voice is very important. And it comes through because of the sources that you pick because of the titles that you pick, because, you know, the information that you choose to write, but it’s very important to get the voices that are, you know, that that basically don’t have a voice and give a very accurate depiction of what is going on. Yeah, but I mean, balance, balance, no truth.
Saurabh: Truth.
Sanam: Yeah. I recently watched the movie, my favorite movie. It’s called Almost Famous. It’s about this. It’s about this 15 year old kid who wrote an article for Rolling Stone.
Saurabh: Okay.
Sanam: And his mentor tells him one thing, which I you know, I remember when I first first time I watched this movie, it said be truthful and unmerciful. Yeah. So that’s the truth.
Saurabh: So it was really amazing talking to you, a very inspiring story about how you enter into journalism and how you’ve been doing it despite all the odds that you have faced in your region in your personal life as well. So thank you so much.
Sanam: Thank you. Let’s see where it ends up. And we look forward to having more discussion and learning more from you.
Saraubh: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
