“Dispatch from…”
Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) is a source for journalism on the German and EU energy transition, fostering cross-border cooperation with its 450-member Journalism Network. With a decade of impactful coverage, CLEW focuses on Germany's Energiewende and Europe's move to climate neutrality.
Overview of the project
From September 2023, a different journalist each week from Poland, France, Italy, Brussels and Croatia and Germany (CLEW newsroom) contributed the ‘Dispatch from…’ in our weekly newsletter. The journalists on the ground told colleagues and other readers what stories to watch in the weeks ahead, presented relevant news from the previous month, and shared unique personal highlights from upcoming events and top reads they recommend. Newsletter subscribers as well as our own team thus got a well-rounded view across borders. This way, instead of just creating yet another publication on top of all the existing publications, we have been offering an overview of what is really relevant in those neighbouring countries and across regions in Europe. This included bigger stories such as a preview and summary of the important opposition win in the Polish elections, but also information on the smaller intricacies of European energy and climate policy. Did you know that Slovenia and Croatia jointly own a nuclear power plant?
A product offering a quick overview of current climate/energy news + developments about country xy.
implementation
09/29/2023 - project still in progress
A survey among our readers showed that an overwhelming majority (~90%) finds the dispatch series a useful resource for their work. Leading climate journalism and energy experts commended the series. We saw a notable uptick in new newsletter subscriptions in the months since the launch. The survey among our readers also showed that there is an interest for us to include non-EU countries in our dispatch series, and link what is happening on the continent with other regions in the world. The former requires more resources, and the latter can be implemented quickly.
The success of the ‘Dispatches’ demonstrates how a condensed and well-curated publication format can facilitate the work of energy & climate journalists (and of other professionals in that field), while helping them to filter through the. The aforementioned survey found the ‘Dispatches’ to be ‘an excellent job’, ‘always helpful’, something the readers were ‘very happy’ with, ‘useful and actual’, ‘great for detailed information on developments on the other side of the world’ and ‘quite comprehensive’. Personal conversations with journalist colleagues and our wider expert network also confirmed the interest, with one embassy member wondering when the ‘Dispatch’ from his home country (not on the list yet) would follow.
As a non-profit organisation, Clean Energy Wire CLEW can offer its services free of charge to journalists thanks to its funders, Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation. The team behind Clean Energy Wire also runs the multiple-award-winning German-language climate science communication site klimafakten.de. The annual budget for both projects together is on average 1.29 million euros.
organisation
Clean Energy Wire CLEW produces and facilitates top-quality journalism about the energy transition in Germany and the European Union. Our CLEW Journalism Network with some 450 members fosters cross-border cooperation among reporters covering the move towards a climate-friendly society.
Clean Energy Wire CLEW has a track record in providing impactful and effective journalistic offers that increase awareness and boost quality coverage. Over the past 10 years, CLEW has built a strong reputation for serious, fact-based, yet clearly focused energy transition coverage – with a focus on both Germany’s Energiewende as well as Europe’s move to climate neutrality at large.