CHALLENGES FACED BY CAMEROON NEWSPAPER JOURNALISTS IN REPORTING CLIMATE INFORMATION SERVICES.

Climate change has become not only a topical issue but also a major threat to the entire world. While there is an ongoing global effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, the media’s provision of Climate Change Information Services stands out as a bailout for this ongoing and impending climate catastrophe. This study examines the challenges faced by Cameroon newspaper journalists in providing climate information services. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews using an interview guide with editors of the various newspapers that were consulted for this study. The study used two theories: the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory by Everett (1962) and the gate keeping theory by Kurt Lewin (1943). The findings revealed that newspaper journalists in Cameroon face several challenges. These include lack of funding, translation and interpretation of scientific and climatic data, access to climate change experts, training in climate change reporting, and no specialization of reporters in beats like the provision of climate information services. Based on these findings, this study recommends that newspaper organs be provided with the necessary funding to enable frequent reporting on CIS; news material from meteorological services should be accessible in English, French, and even pidgin to ease exploitation.