*EPF208 08/26/2003
U.S. Environmental Reporter Shares Her Skills in Tanzania
(Sensing the rewards of people-to-people exchange) (1520)

By Vicki Silverman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Debbie Salamone, senior reporter for Florida's "Orlando Sentinel" newspaper, traveled to Tanzania in June 2003 to work with young Tanzanian reporters and highlight the contributions good journalism can make in promoting sound environmental practices.

It was her first trip to Africa and first time conducting workshops outside U.S. conferences and newsrooms. It was also, according to Salamone, one of the most rewarding and transforming experiences of her professional career.

Salamone, a longtime Florida resident, joined the "Orlando Sentinel" in 1987, directly after college. "I sort of grew up at the paper and it's been a good fit," she said in a recent interview with the Washington File. The Orlando Sentinel is the 34th largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a total circulation of more than 265,000, with an even greater distribution of its lengthy Sunday edition.

After years of daily, prize-winning reporting on Florida's court system and local politics, Salamone joined the paper's special projects team, a group of several reporters and one editor that produces periodic, in-depth investigative articles.

"We just work on one topic, very important kind of stories that resonate with the whole population. We're pretty much left to ourselves to determine what we'd like to investigate. My interest is in the environment and in 2001 I began working on a series of stories about water, which is really the start of the story of how I came to Tanzania," Salamone said

"Florida had many years of very bad drought. Lakes were disappearing and springs weren't flowing like they used to. I began investigating and reading. I read textbooks and talked to experts, all the things you do as a reporter, and proposed a lengthy series, a 12-part series published on the front pages of our Sunday editions beginning in early 2002," she said.

As a result of these articles, the International Council of Central Florida invited Salamone to address a group of International Visitors coming to Orlando on a program focused on environmental issues, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

"In that audience was a journalist from Tanzania. He was the managing editor of one of the major English-language dailies in Dar es Salaam and he approached the U.S. embassy about the possibility of my coming out to teach environmental reporting. I was just thrilled to do it," Salamone said.

A Practical Approach

In the case of Salamone's work, "teaching" meant traveling with a group of six journalists from Dar es Salaam to view, investigate, photograph and write about a number of environmental sites.

"The first stop was a garbage dump very near Lake Victoria," she recalled. "The idea was that this might be polluting the lake. We went to see the dump and while we were there we all began discussing its possible impact. I said, ����why don't we run over to the nearby village and ask some people about it.' I had done a little research on it ahead of time and realized some people had been complaining of health problems.

So we went over to the village and had a great interview with the village chairman and another interview with a government official in the nearby town of Mwanza, talking about the pollution and the fact that some people were getting sick and whether or not this could be linked to the garbage dump.

They talked about how when the rains come all the garbage flows out into the river that contributes to the lake and this is part of the source of their drinking water. Based on this three-day visit in Mwanza, the reporters were able to write both about the residents' complaints and the government response," Salamone said.

"In between the travel to these environmental sites," she continued, "I was conducting workshops to train not only the reporters traveling with me but also others. I did two days of workshops at the university in Mwanza. It included journalists from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. In Dar es Salaam, college students also joined us and I met with editors from one of the major newspapers, "The Guardian," to talk about environmental journalism.

"It was a good mix of activities because I was able to see many of the environmental issues and use those as examples in my workshops and then the reporters could use the techniques I was teaching as they were reporting on the sites that we were visiting," she said.

Journalism Can Influence Smart Growth

"Among the other sites, we saw mangrove destruction on the beach near Bagamoyo, north of Dar es Salaam. We discussed coastal issues, why this was happening, the lack of regulation and how some groups in the area, with U.S. government and other international support, were trying to educate developers not to destroy the mangroves. They are also doing some replanting in Bagamoyo," Salamone said.

In the process of researching Tanzania's environment in preparation for her trip and workshops, Salamone became aware of the area's unique ecosystems and the depth of interest many environmental experts have in the issues affecting Tanzania.

"I wasn't surprised to see that coastal issues were getting attention. I was surprised to see that they are the very same issues that we face in Florida," she noted.

"That was the beauty for me," Salamone continued, "Tanzania is not as far along in its building development as we are, so these young reporters have a real chance to get in there, right now at a crucial time and report and, hopefully, influence how this development is occurring.

"The editors of the ����Orlando Sentinel' have long paid special attention to environmental reporting. Land use is important in Florida and I just tend to think that almost every story is an environmental story when you are talking about growth and development. You always have to think about who benefits and who looses; that tension is the story," Salamone said.

She added, however, that not every editor or reader is inherently interested in the environment. Stimulating public interest often begins with a tale close to home. Salamone and her Tanzanian colleagues discussed how many environment stories had health implications and how interviews with individuals whose suffering is tied to unregulated pollution often make for compelling reading.

"On the lighter side, we had a delightful visit with an environmental artist who was showing others how to make wonderful baskets out of plastic water bottles. With him we visited the world's first tire house, completely constructed out of old tires, built in order to help people understand that they can recycle a lot of products. The lesson was, first of all, that solid waste is a problem and second, that recycling is really something that is possible, especially in an economy where people need jobs, and the reporters wrote about this," she said.

Lwaga Amon Mwambande, senior correspondent for "The Guardian," recalled Salamone's valuable lessons in how to make statistics and issues come alive and the particular importance of lead paragraphs. As a result, he said, "I'm trying day in and day out to write my stories from the angle of a soft lead."

"She also trained us to write using as many sources as possible -- not just interviewing a single person and rushing to write a story. ... She has a lot of knowledge and experience in journalism and I must say that she has helped most of us," he said.

"This was the most rewarding teaching experience I have ever had," Salamone told the Washington File. "I have done a significant amount of teaching but I have never known a group so enthusiastic and eager for information. One day, I taught for eight straight hours and they were with me every moment. To this day, we are exchanging e-mails and I have already had the opportunity to host other International Visitors, including a new friend from Tanzania, in our newsroom."

Debbie Salamone's two-week program was a collaborative effort of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam ( HYPERLINK "http://usembassy.state.gov/tanzania/" ), which continues to promote concern for Tanzania's environment and sustainable development, and the Bureaus of International Information Programs and Public Affairs at the State Department in Washington, D.C. ( HYPERLINK "http://www.state.gov/r/iip/" ).

More information about the International Visitor Program, which brings professionals to the United States for their first visit, may be obtained at HYPERLINK "http://exchanges.state.gov/education/ivp/"

The Sentinel's 12-part series on water and growth issues affecting Florida residents is available at
HYPERLINK "http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/growth/orl-waterseriesabout020302.story" As an example of reporting that reflects the tension between growth and environmental concerns, Salamone drew attention to the fifth article in the Sentinel's water series, entitled "Paving It Over."

Upon her return from Tanzania, Salamone shared her impressions of Africa with "Orlando Sentinel" readers and plans another article about her people-to-people exchange opportunities.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents