‘Poverty porn,’ Obama & Inuit health: Arctic week in review

Greenpeace activist dressed like a polar bear in Prague, Czech Republic on October 13, 2014. (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images)
Greenpeace activist dressed like a polar bear in Prague, Czech Republic on October 13, 2014. (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images)
On this week’s news round-up, we bring you some of your most read stories on Eye on the Arctic this week.

– In #SavetheArctic…from Greenpeace Northern expert and Eye on the Arctic blogger Heather Exner-Pirot looks at Greenpeace’s Arctic campaign, arguing its ‘poverty porn’ approach to the issue isn’t just ineffective, but may also be diverting resources and attention away from the real challenges facing the region.

-With the United States only a few months away from assuming chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Canada, President Barack Obama issues an executive order calling for better coordination of Arctic policy. But Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski says the order focuses too much on climate change at the expense of development and indigenous issues.

– And in science news, a recent study identifies a gene in the Canadian Inuit population that makes it difficult for the body to digest sugar.

Friday Feature Interview: Arctic Frontiers
Journalist Irene Quaile. (Courtesy Irene Quaile)

Also big news this week: The Arctic Frontiers conference took place in Tromso, Norway. The conference attracted everyone form scientists and business leaders to circumpolar heads of state.

In this week’s Friday Feature Interview, we talk to Irene Quaile, a journalist specializing in climate and environment who covered the conference for Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

She’s also the author of Deutsche Welle’s Ice-Blog which frequently appears on Eye on the Arctic.

This week, I spoke with Quaile about the conference and what it can tell us about the Arctic business and climate challenges to come:

That’s all the news from us this week. We’ll be back on Monday with more stories and newsmakers from across the North!

Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

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