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Environmental Journalists Watching Erin Brockovich at the US Embassy (Photo: Yacouba Soro/US Embassy)

Environmental Journalists Watch Erin Brockovich

About 20 environmental journalists drawn from Ivoirian public and private media watched the film entitled “Erin Brockovich” on February 13 at the American Embassy. The film show was a follow-up to the January 17 videoconference program organized by the Embassy to advance and improve media coverage of environmental issues in Côte d’Ivoire.

Erin Brockovich tells the story of a mother of three, who works runs across some files involving real-estate and medical records that implicate a water company. She begins digging into the case, and discovers a systematic cover-up of the industrial poisoning of the town water supply that threatens the health of an entire community.

The projection was followed by a lively debate that offered journalists the opportunity to share lessons on how to investigate environment-related issues. They unanimously recognized that the decision of the American Embassy to show this film was timely, as it coincided with new developments in the toxic waste scandal (the toxic waste was dumped in Abidjan last August).

The film also highlighted the important role the public, and the media in particular, should play in campaigns to save people from environmental hazards, including water pollution, ecological abuse and the destruction of natural resources.