Dr. Merle van Berkum

Senior Researcher

• Climate communication
• Climate journalism with a focus on countries on the African continent as well as Germany and the UK
• Media development cooperation
• Postcolonial theory
• International journalism

• 2023: Research Fellow at the Erich Brost Institute, Dortmund
• 2023: Project management for the public relations work of the German-African Youth Organization, Engagement Global, on behalf of the BMZ
• 2023: Graduate Teaching Assistant for Politics and Current Affairs, Department of Journalism, City, University of London
• 2020-2023: PhD (without corrections) with Prof. Suzanne Franks and Dr. Glenda Cooper, Department of Journalism, City, University of London; “Global Issue, Global Coverage? How climate change is reported in African countries and countries in the Global North with regard to national issues and international relations."
• 2020-2023: Freelance editor, Westdeutscher Rundfunk
• 2018-2020: Student assistant at the UNICEF Germany press office
• 2018-2020: Master's degree, Intercultural Communication and Education, University of Cologne and School of Oriental and African Studies London; Master's thesis: “Storytelling as a tool of journalistic reporting using the example of climate change.”
• 2015-2018: Bachelor's degree, 2-subject Bachelor's degree in Media Studies and English Studies, University of Bonn and University of Florida

• van Berkum, Merle (2023). Global Issue, Global Coverage? How climate change is reported in African countries and countries in the Global North with regard to national issues and international relations. London: University of London.
• van Berkum, Merle (2023): International relations framing in national reporting on climate change: A frame analysis of climate coverage in countries allocated to the Global South and the Global North. Environment, Science and Risk Communication Working Group (ESR). IAMCR, Lyon, Frankreich.