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Powering Climate Knowledge 

A new voice for climate awareness has arrived — Climate Current, a climate change newsletter dedicated to sharing insights, news, and perspectives on one of the most pressing challenges of our time. 

To be published weekly, every Friday, the newsletter aims to be a dynamic platform where information, research and ideas about climate change can be exchanged among scientists, journalists, policymakers, community organisations and concerned citizens.

Climate Current will feature climate and environmental articles designed to inform, educate and encourage action against climate change.

To be published online and mailed to free subscribers, the newsletter seeks to promote greater understanding of how climate change affects our lives, our economies and our environment, with a special focus on local and regional developments. 

By highlighting both the challenges and the solutions emerging across communities, the newsletter hopes to inspire dialogue and collaboration among all stakeholders.

In an era of climate uncertainty, Climate Current aspires to help shape informed public discourse, bridge knowledge gaps and contribute meaningfully to climate change awareness and action. Through accessible reporting, expert commentary and shared experiences, the publication will strive to make complex issues more understandable and actionable.

No false balance reporting 

The newsletter supports the view expressed by several climate change communication scholars who have argued that treating scientific consensus and fringe scepticism as equivalent, misrepresents the evidence and confuses readers.

While we fully accept the journalism norm to present balanced views and offer all sides of a story, we believed that giving contrarian voices disproportionate attention, producing a public discourse that diverges from scientific consensus world be harmful to public understanding and efforts to address climate change.

We urge our readers to follow here to learn about experimental evidence that “false balance” news items (presenting two sides equally when one side is overwhelmingly supported by science) reduce perceived scientific consensus and public belief in climate change. The authors show that weight-of-evidence statements (explicitly noting the majority consensus) can mitigate but not fully eliminate the harmful effects of a false balance. This paper is direct empirical support for the claim that giving sceptics equal airtime confuses society.

 Furthermore, another study titled Manufacturing doubt: Assessing the effects of independent vs industry-sponsored messaging about the harms of fossil fuels, smoking, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages, examined how doubt-sowing messages (both industry-sponsored and independent) influence public perception of harms. The study found that that messaging designed to generate doubt is effective in reducing public concern and support for policy, therefore, supporting the view that amplifying such messages produces harmful confusion. 

Join us as we build a vibrant community of readers and contributors committed to driving climate awareness and sustainable change.

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Dr Enock Sithole

Publisher, Climate Current

Dr Enock Sithole brings more than three decades of experience in journalism, strategic communication and academic teaching and research to his role as Publisher of the Climate Current, a publication dedicated to advancing public understanding and discourse on climate change and environmental sustainability.

He also serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Climate Change Communication (ICCC), which focuses on climate policy, public awareness, and strategic communication of the climate crisis. 


An enthusiastic scholar in the field, Dr Sithole holds a PhD in climate change communication from the University of the Witwatersrand (2023), where his doctoral research explored The Nature of Climate Change Communication in South Africa: Its Past, Political and Socio-Economic Undertones. He also holds a Master of Arts and BA (Honours) degrees in Journalism and Media Studies from the same university.

Before establishing the ICCC, Dr Sithole served as a lecturer at the Wits Centre for Journalism (2017–2023), where he taught Journalism for Communicators, Feature Writing and Advanced Journalism Writing.

His earlier career includes senior leadership roles in major media and communication organisations, including the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), where he was Chief Executive of the News Division, and the Constitutional Assembly, where he led nationwide public communication during the drafting of South Africa’s constitution.

As a veteran journalist and media executive, Dr Sithole has reported extensively on politics, and has published widely on climate change journalism, adaptation policy and environmental justice. 

His leadership in establishing Climate Current reflects his lifelong commitment to bridging science, policy and public understanding, to ensure that Africa’s climate story is told with accuracy, depth and purpose.

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