problem solving journalism

What is solutions journalism and why should you care?

By solutions journalism network jun 14, 2022 in specialized topics.

Solutions journalism investigates and explains, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems. While journalists usually define news as “what’s gone wrong,” solutions journalism tries to expand that definition: responses to problems are also newsworthy. By adding rigorous coverage of solutions, journalists can tell the whole story.

Solutions journalism complements and strengthens coverage of problems. Journalists are often frustrated when painstaking investigations of a problem don’t produce change. We expose our city’s failures to save children from lead paint, or to protect high school football players from concussions, or to recover from the closing of a major factory — but, too often, officials simply dismiss these investigations, saying “we’re doing the best we can.”

Now add solutions journalism to the investigation, showing how other cities are solving these problems. That’s profoundly embarrassing to public officials. Excuses won’t cut it. Change happens.

Solutions stories don’t celebrate responses to problems, or advocate for specific ones; they cover them, investigating what was done and what the evidence says worked and didn’t work about it, and why. They report on the limitations of a response.

These stories often start with data showing which places are doing a better job. They’re often structured like puzzles or mysteries that tackle questions like: Where is the high-school dropout rate decreasing? How and why is that happening? What is the school or district or state doing differently that’s leading to a better outcome?

Journalists usually choose to report on successful solutions. But a solutions story can also be about partial success, or failure. If our city is about to launch a new initiative, a solutions story might look at how that program has fared elsewhere: where did it work or not work? What made the difference?

Done well, solutions stories provide valuable insights that help communities with the difficult work of tackling problems like homelessness or climate change, skyrocketing housing prices or low voter turnout. We also know from research that solutions stories can change the tone of public discourse ,  making it  less divisive and more constructive . By revealing what has worked, such stories have led to meaningful change.

The four pillars of solutions journalism

• A solutions story focuses on a  response  to a social problem — and how that response has worked or why it hasn’t.
• The best solutions reporting distills the lessons that makes the response relevant and accessible to others. In other words, it offers insight .
• Solutions journalism looks for  evidence  — data or qualitative results that show effectiveness (or lack thereof). Solutions stories are up front with audiences about that evidence — what it tells us and what it doesn’t. A particularly innovative response can be a good story even without much evidence — but the reporter has to be transparent about the lack, and about why the response is newsworthy anyway.
• Solutions stories reveal a response’s shortcomings. No response is perfect, and some work well for one community but may fail in others. A responsible reporter covers what doesn’t work about it, and places the response in context. Reporting on  limitations , in other words, is essential.

Examples of standout English-language solutions reporting

Visit the Solutions Journalism Story Tracker collection for more examples of solutions reporting.

This article was originally published by the Solutions Journalism Network and is reproduced here with permission.

Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash .

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Journalists’ perceptions of solutions journalism and its place in the field

By Kyser Lough and Karen McIntyre

This paper uses in-depth interviews with 14 journalists to better understand the position  of solutions journalism—rigorous reporting on how people are responding to social  problems—in the field and in journalistic habits. We found that journalists familiar with  solutions journalism accept and align it with investigative reporting, but with the extra  step toward social response. They think it’s broadly topical, but has the same objectivity  concerns journalism is facing. When taking a solutions approach, journalists shift their  thought processes but largely maintain the same reporting habits. Finally, they perceive  management to be the greatest facilitator or impediment to their ability to adopt solutions  journalism.

The nature of journalism is ever-shifting, with trends and themes coming in and out of favor as the institution continues to elaborate on what it means to do reporting. Some themes take hold in the minds of journalists and are adopted into their daily news reporting habits and, subsequently, into the research topics of academics. One such practice is solutions journalism, which is “rigorous reporting on responses to social problems” (Solutions Journalism Network, 2017, n.p.). This type of reporting fits into the contextual function of journalism, which seeks to add information beyond the immediate issue at hand, or to go beyond the “who, what, when, where” that often defines the problem, and focus on “What are people doing about it?” (McIntyre, Dahmen & Abdenour, 2016).

Solution-based reporting is gaining momentum in the industry. A recent survey of U.S. journalists indicated support for contextual journalism functions, including solution-oriented journalism (McIntyre et al., 2016). After learning about solutions journalism, respondents reported favorable attitudes toward it and said they would be most likely to practice this approach compared to other contextual genres (McIntyre et al., 2016). Further, more than 3,000 journalists have received formal training in solutions journalism (Solutions Journalism Network, 2017). And educators are beginning to teach it, seeing interest among millennials striving to make an impact (Loizzo, Watson & Watson, 2017; Solutions Journalism Network, 2017; Thier, 2016).

This type of reporting, by its very nature requiring journalists to consider the impact of their work, has brought to the forefront debate about the role journalists play in a democratic society. Solution-oriented reporting pushes journalists to think about the social responsibility of the press and question whether they consider society’s best interest in their daily thought processes and habits. However, research has yet to examine how journalists feel about this style of reporting. To address this gap, this study, through 14 in-depth interviews, asked journalists familiar with the solutions approach how they perceive this style of reporting and how incorporating this approach has altered their traditional journalistic thoughts and news production habits.

Theoretical Framework

Solutions Journalism

Solutions journalism can be considered to fit into the contextual function of journalism, a more thorough type of journalism that has also been referred to as “interpretative reporting, depth reporting, long-form journalism, explanatory reporting, and analytical reporting” (Fink & Schudson, 2014, p. 5). Drilling down, solutions journalism can also be situated within a similar, but more specific category called constructive journalism, which “involves applying positive psychology techniques to news work in an effort to create more productive, engaging stories while holding true to journalism’s core functions” (McIntyre, 2015, p. 9). McIntyre (2015) describes constructive journalism as a “continuum” and not a dichotomy. This shifts the focus from the “versus” style of reporting (peace vs. conflict, oppressor vs. oppressed) back to an emphasis on comprehensive investigative reporting with an intent to better society.

This study focuses on the solutions journalism component of constructive journalism. However, it is important to acknowledge that there are other forms of journalism that share similar goals, including peace journalism, civic journalism, restorative narrative, and advocacy journalism. Peace journalism promotes peace initiatives versus a perceived media bias toward violence (Yiping, 2011) and focuses heavily on war/peace conflict coverage (Kempf, 2007). Civic journalism promotes democratic participation by giving journalists direct involvement with the population they serve instead of staying a separate entity (Benesch, 1998). Restorative narrative encourages coverage of the recovery and restoration process long after large-impact tragedies (Dahmen, 2016). And advocacy journalism, with its public relations implications, maintains no goal of objectivity and “remains a dirty word for legacy journalists” (Wenzel, Gerson, Moreno, Son, & Morrison Hawkins, 2017, p. 4). Additional similar forms of journalism exist. Although each is distinct, they share a common goal of improving society, which requires the journalist to play a more active role in reporting the story (McIntyre, 2015).

Solutions journalism has a growing appeal in the professional world for its principle of addressing what’s being done to solve a problem rather than reporting solely on the problem itself (Curry, Stroud & McGregor, 2016). The approach has been most clearly defined by the Solutions Journalism Network, an independent nonprofit organization founded in 2013. The Solutions Journalism Network has hosted trainings for journalists in more than 80 newsrooms on how to effectively report solution-focused stories. In reporting on responses to social problems, they call for stories to include specific elements such as evidence of results, insights that can help others, and limitations of the response (Solutions Journalism Network, 2017). These elements, the Network says, are vital to ensuring stories remain comprehensive and critical rather than appear as “fluff” or “good news.”

Still, solutions journalism, or the broader category of constructive journalism, tends to be mistaken for “positive” or “good” news (Sillesen, 2014). Constructive journalism, one opponent said, is only good “if you want a sleepy, complacent society, not if you want active, engaged citizens” (Tullis, 2014 para. 14). However, proponents of solutions journalism would say the approach is just as hard-hitting and questioning as traditional journalism. David Bornstein, CEO and co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, says criticisms of solutions journalism mostly come from people who misunderstand the practice (personal communication, November 30, 2017). That said, Bornstein did acknowledge some limitations of solution-focused news. He said reporters can misapply it by spotlighting people who don’t deserve it or by focusing on do-gooders instead of on ideas or methods. He also said the approach could be overused and thus lose its relevance (personal communication, November 30, 2017).

Despite its growing popularity in the industry, solutions journalism has only been recently explored in academic research. In a systematic, but unpublished, study of solutions journalism, respondents who read solution-oriented stories reported more perceived knowledge about the topic, higher self-efficacy in regard to a potential remedy, and greater intentions to act in support of the cause than those who read conflict-oriented versions of the stories (Curry & Hammonds, 2014). A true experiment comparing a solution-oriented and conflict-oriented news story found that mentioning an effective solution to a social problem in a news story caused readers to feel less negative and to report more favorable attitudes toward the news article and toward solutions to the problem than when no solution or an ineffective solution was mentioned. However, reading about an effective solution did not impact readers’ behavioral intentions or actual behaviors (McIntyre, 2017). Another experiment comparing solutions journalism to shock media found that solutions stories had some, but not overwhelming, benefits over shocking stories (McIntyre & Sobel, 2017a).

Additional studies have examined the photographs published alongside solutions journalism stories. One study found 64% of photos published with solutions stories portrayed a solution, while many of the remaining photos portrayed a conflict (Lough & McIntyre, in press). A follow-up study examined the effects on readers when the message in the photo was incongruent with the message in the text. Readers felt the most positive when the story and photo were congruent, when both represented a solution. However, surprisingly, readers reported more interest in the story and stronger intentions to share the story on social media when the solutions story was paired with a neutral photo (McIntyre, Lough & Manzanares, in press).

Finally, Thier (2016) published a study about solutions journalism pedagogy, concluding that solutions journalism courses inspire students and faculty, and that teaching this approach “is important as disruption continues and need increases to find effective journalism practices” (p. 329). Additionally, students in a Journalism for Social Change Massive Open Online Course self-reported more interested in solutions journalism stories but found them harder to produce (Loizzo, Watson & Watson, 2017).

In his conceptualization of framing, Robert Entman revealed how the field of communication contributes to how information is transferred. While his definition connects to the overall goals of journalism, specific portions align clearly with the goals of solutions journalism:

To select some aspects of perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text , in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation. (Entman, 1993, p. 52, emphasis added)

Solution-related frames have been used as points of analysis in journalism studies (see Adisi, Mohammed, & Ahmad, 2015; Kensicki, 2004; Kim, Carvalho, Davis, & Mullins, 2011). In the definition above, two phrases are emphasized that play particularly well into the ideals of solutions journalism: treatment recommendations and salience.

First, the treatment recommendation. In solutions journalism, the goal of the reporter is to go beyond the problem and find existing treatments (not to generate the ideas him/herself). This is done by critically exploring what those in the public are doing in response to a problem. As mentioned above, research shows how the audience responds to this type of reporting, but there is little understanding of what journalists think about this particular emphasis on treatments/solutions.

Second, Entman’s emphasis on salience ties into the journalistic function of taking the news and disseminating it to the public. Solutions journalism asks the journalist to make the response more salient than it may ordinarily be. By reporting on the response(s), the reporter thereby increases the “probability that receivers will perceive the information, discern meaning and thus process it, and store it in memory” (Entman, 1993 p. 53). But again, while the transfer of salience to the reader is understood, less is known about how the journalists themselves position this process in their daily journalistic thought processes and news production habits.

Another key solutions-related point in the Entman (1993) framing explanation is that the problem definition is included. Indeed, before one can explore the responses in progress one must first clearly understand and explain the problem. Constructive journalism (and its solution-oriented component), again, is not a dichotomy, but a continuum (McIntyre, 2015), and so it is important to provide the full context versus simply only focusing on problem or solution. Therefore, it is important to know how journalists feel about an emphasis on solutions, the transfer of salience to the reader and the problem-solution continuum in a story itself. However, it is also important to understand how these thought processes of solutions journalism are put into practice, and so we must turn to the intersection of thought and the actual news production habits of journalists.

Journalists’ Production Habits

Shoemaker and Reese’s (2013) hierarchy of influences identifies various levels for analysis affecting news production ranging from the individual to institutional systems. Solutions journalism can exist on many of the levels of the hierarchy, which are explored below. Nestled in the hierarchy, one step broader than the individual, is a level focusing on routines, or news production habits. The routines level asks questions of the shared practices of the individual journalists and includes a variety of aspects such as news values and objectivity.

Objectivity has a controversial history in journalism and continues to be debated (Blaagaard, 2013; Ryan, 2001; Wien, 2005). It cannot be untethered from some of the core concepts underpinning the institution, like truth and reality (Wien, 2005). The idea that journalists strive to report the objective truth legitimizes and distinguishes professional journalists from those who don’t share the same commitment. However, Blaagaard (2013) said that niche forms of journalism such as public journalism and citizen journalism—some of which share qualities with solutions journalism—threaten objective reporting “by situating the journalist amidst the society and the story” rather than believing in “the journalist’s objective ability to represent the world ‘as it is’ without affecting it” (p. 1078). Of course, media sociologists would argue that objectivity in its purest form is not possible because journalists are part of society and therefore unable to rid themselves of their own experiences, perceptions and biases (Berkowitz, 1997). This perspective does not de-legitimize journalists, however. Rather, it accepts objectivity as a goal to strive for so long as journalists acknowledge their own limitations. One journalism professor said he wonders if solutions journalism compromises objectivity because reporters “approach a story with the goal of proving that a specific solution is valid” (Dyer, 2015, n.p.). Media scholar Ethan Zuckerman said solutions journalists should stop trying to be strictly objective and that “purposefully motivating readers to act on the issues raised in stories is perfectly respectable—indeed, necessary” (Dyer, 2015, n.p.).

Høyer (2005) presented the news paradigm as a collection of cultural forms surrounding news production habits and how journalists define what’s newsworthy and subsequently report on it. While not attempting to insert solutions journalism as an additional news value or narrative structure into Høyer’s list, it is logical to conclude the practice itself may find a home for analysis at this level.

Past the routines, journalists also identify with certain roles that can play out on the same level. Examples include: the adversary, who is skeptical of government, big business and others in power; the disseminator, who neutrally passes information to the public; the interpreter, who analyzes and interprets information for the public; and the populist mobilizer, who takes a more activist role (Weaver, Beam, Brownlee, Voakes & Wilhoit, 2014). Through study of U.S. journalists, McIntyre, Dahmen and Abdenour (2016) proposed a new role: the contextualist. This role includes a function of social responsibility, where the journalist goes beyond basic information to include context, while considering the well-being of society. The contextualist highly values portraying the world accurately by reporting stories of growth and progress as much as those about corruption and conflict.

While little has been explored academically into routines-level analysis of solutions journalism, some insight exists. The aforementioned survey of U.S. journalists indicated support for a solution-oriented approach and connected various levels of news value and action to the practice (McIntyre et al., 2016). Further, a qualitative study of Rwandan journalists found how solutions and constructive journalism played a role in the press’ role in reconstruction and recovery after the 1994 government-led genocide (McIntyre & Sobel, 2017b). This provides some knowledge into how the thought processes of journalists played into news production habits but leaves room for further exploration.

After defining and positioning solutions journalism within the practice of journalism, exploring it theoretically through framing and at the level of production through the hierarchy of influences, there is still little known about the thought processes of journalists regarding solutions journalism. Thus, the following question is proposed:

RQ1: What do journalists’ perceptions of solutions journalism reveal about its place within journalism itself and within their news production habits?

Prior research on solutions journalism has focused on the audience, with slight attention paid to the journalists themselves. That which has targeted journalists (McIntyre, Dahmen & Abdenour, 2016) has done little to focus specifically on those practicing, or at least aware of, solutions journalism and what they think about it. Thus, the ideal method to gain this is through in-depth interviews that allow the participants to offer description on their thoughts and routines surrounding solutions journalism. In-depth, qualitative interviews allow for a richer understanding of a group through open-ended questions and discussion with participants with the goal of learning from people rather than studying them, ultimately developing contextual research that matters (Spradley, 1979; Tracy, 2013). The target demographic for this study therefore included journalists who were, to some extent, aware of a solution-oriented method of reporting. Contributions from journalists who are not familiar with solutions journalism would only add confusion and perpetuate misconceptions about the practice. To that end, the Solutions Journalism Network served as a useful source for recruiting participants.

In an effort to collect information from those knowledgeable enough to offer insight, subjects were recruited from the Solution Journalism Network’s database of journalists interested in, and/or trained in, solutions journalism. This ensured awareness of the practice without necessarily seeking a particular level of involvement or support. The Solutions Journalism Network has its own list of values and practices, and this paper would contribute nothing if it only contained regurgitations from the organization’s teachings. The authors sought original insight from those who had been incorporating it into their reporting habits. Additionally, it was made clear to each participant that the researchers were unaffiliated with the Solutions Journalism Network, the study was independent and not seeking to promote the practice, and to therefore speak freely.

Under IRB review and approval, participants were recruited via an email sent by staff at the Solutions Journalism Network to members in their network, called The Hub.  At the time of recruitment, the database contained 1,568 self-identified journalists from across the world (S. McCann, personal communication, September 19, 2017), and no geographic restrictions were imposed. The email connected the participants to the researchers, who then scheduled voice interviews via phone or Skype.

From the recruitment email, 25 journalists responded with initial interest, and 14 followed through with an interview. All interviews took place in July and August 2017. The participants were an experienced, educated and diverse group. Together they reported an average of 19.5 years working in the news industry as writers, reporters and editors. One individual was a journalism professor. These journalists worked at various organizations, including small, independent local newsrooms as well as large corporations. Half the sample did freelance work. Most worked in the United States (in eight different states), except for two in India and one in Sweden. They were 43% female and 57% male. All of the journalists reported having earned a bachelor’s degree, and 50% said they held advanced degrees. Six individuals studied journalism as their highest degree; the others earned their highest degree in English, history, psychology, African studies, environmental science, law or education policy.

The semi-structured interviews consisted of questions involving their thoughts on solutions journalism, personal experiences with it and how it fits into journalistic routines, with flexibility for follow-up questions. Some questions were direct, asking them exactly how they feel about solutions journalism, to gauge their opinion. The rest of the interview was devoted to questions that dealt with how they conceptualize solutions journalism and how it actually fit into their day-to-day reporting. Did they use it? If so, under what circumstances? What were the barriers and facilitators to solution-oriented reporting? Interviewees were asked to provide examples and discuss their internal process of creating such a story and how that process differed, if at all, from their traditional reporting process.

Each interview ran for approximately 30 minutes, with the longest lasting one hour. Interviews were audio recorded, and the resulting 467 minutes of audio were transcribed. The researchers read the transcript text, searching for themes, and further analyzed the data using Dedoose, a collaborative software program which assists researchers in qualitative text analysis (Lieber & Weisner, 2013). The researchers applied 17 codes, or themes, to the data 286 times. The analysis by the researchers combined with the aid of computer software allowed for the data to be organized into categories and structured effectively while maintaining the nuance in interpreting the interview conversations.

Analysis of the interviews resulted in a better understanding of how journalists position solutions journalism within journalism itself and within their news production habits. Broadly, it was regarded as an intriguing and growing method of reporting that has obstacles but is a worthwhile pursuit. More specifically, several key findings emerged. Journalists revealed that they position solutions journalism close to investigative journalism. They believe it to be broadly applicable to topics but still complicated when it comes to objectivity. Additionally, the data revealed that journalists approach solutions stories with a different mindset than they approach traditional stories, and they feel that the success of the solutions journalism approach relies on support from management.

Solutions Journalism as a Concept

While it was expected for journalists in this sample to have a positive opinion of solutions journalism, our goal was to draw out details as to where they place it within the institution of journalism, the broader ring of the hierarchy of influences. To that end, their responses helped explain where solutions journalism is situated, what topics are well-suited for solution-oriented reporting and how they think solutions journalism affects the audience.

Situating solutions journalism in the field.

Journalists overwhelmingly compared solutions journalism to investigative journalism. In their minds, solutions reporting parallels investigative reporting in its rigorous nature of deep research into the topic and in its goal of uncovering something. Indeed, this thought mirrors the mission of The Catalyst Journalism Project, a recent initiative based at the University of Oregon, which seeks to bring together investigative and solutions reporting (University of Oregon, 2017). However, these journalists did not believe solutions and investigative journalism were completely similar. Some spoke of solutions journalism as an extension of investigative reporting, or investigative journalism with an extra step. As Journalist B, a reporter for an online local news site in Ohio, described it, “normally, journalists do not take that extra step … to present what other solutions are out there … I think [solutions journalism is] that final, extra step where you say, ‘Here’s something that could work here’” (personal communication, July 9, 2017). While the traditional five Ws of reporting include who, what, when, where and why, a sixth W of “what’s next?” was a common theme in the responses, along with additional emphasis on “why?” and “how?” Journalist K, a freelancer in India, called investigative reporting the watchdog to identify the problems and solutions journalism reporting the guide dog to look at possible solutions. This calls to mind Bro’s (2008) news compass and comparisons between passive, representative watchdog reporting and active, deliberative rescue dog reporting that seeks to “ensure solutions to the problems the news media help bring forward” (p. 316).

I’ve always embraced investigative journalism, and uncovering, and watchdog journalism, but a lot of times I’ll see a piece or read a piece and go, “Okay so, what?” … Not, “What are we supposed to do about it?” We know we’re supposed to fix it, but who’s got an answer for it? (Journalist K, personal communication, August 22, 2017)

While advocacy journalism came up a few times, most journalists used it as an example of what solutions journalism isn’t. “It’s a little troubling to me the idea that I would write a story that says ‘this is a great solution to the problem,’” said Journalist A, a journalism professor in New York, emphasizing that solutions journalism “is not a story about me and what I think. It’s still a story about what’s happening on the ground” (personal communication, August 17, 2017). This aligns with the objectivity messaging of the Solutions Journalism Network and its avoidance of advocating toward a particular solution. However, this stance was not clear to all journalists, as some embraced solutions journalism because of the advocacy elements they felt it would bring their reporting. Journalist G , a news editor at a large corporation in Philadelphia , said: “You might as well advocate for something, right? … Looking for a solution is being an activist” (personal communication, August 17, 2017).

Multiple solutions journalism “imposters” defined by the Solutions Journalism Network were mentioned by participants, notably including stories about speculation, hero worship and a public relations-style favor for a friend. Additionally, Journalist M, the managing editor for a collaborative public media venture in New York, cautioned that it is easy to get excited about solutions journalism and “then just for the sake of covering a solutions angle, you cover something that isn’t really much of a solution and you trumpet this thing that is kind of B.S. or a hoax or whatever” (personal communication, July 24, 2017).

From the participants’ efforts at positioning solutions journalism within the institution of journalism, it appears they think it aligns with the rigorousness of investigative reporting, with the additional step of seeking out what solutions exist for the problem uncovered, or the sixth W—“What’s next?” However, the differing opinions of objectivity showed that practitioners have not yet reached a consensus on solution journalism’s placement in the larger field.

Solutions journalism’s applicability to specific topics.

The positioning of solutions journalism became clearer when talking to the participants about when the practice is best used. In their responses of what topics or areas of coverage they think are best suited for solutions journalism, they continued to position it within the broader field of journalism.

Overall, participants felt that solutions journalism is fairly topic-agnostic. Several journalists who were interviewed reported on specific beats, such as education or business, and said it was possible in their areas. Notably, as one participant spoke about a previous job as an example of where solutions journalism wouldn’t fit, she realized mid-sentence how it would.

I used to work for a major national newspaper that had a big focus on business and finance and it’s hard for me to think about what the solutions approach would be to reporting about the banking industry—and yet even as I’m saying that I’m realizing people who are in industry are constantly thinking about solutions and problem-solving. (Journalist A, personal communication, August 17, 2017)

Though the participants felt that all topics had a potential to be reported on with a solutions focus, there was thought that some topics are more inclined than others. For example, Journalist C, a freelancer and editor for a U.K.-based narrative design studio that helps people tell stories, said it depends on the complexity of the problem (personal communication, July 19, 2017). Others identified specific topics that they thought were better suited. Journalist F, a multimedia broadcast journalist and freelancer in Virginia, said the solutions approach helps to address social and human rights issues specific to Pakistan (where she formerly worked) but also globally (personal communication, August 24, 2017). Only a few spoke strongly about how some topics are best suited for solutions journalism, and universally those topics were issues of human rights, social justice or the environment. While solutions journalism could be applied to most topics, the participants indicated they thought there are times it isn’t practical. This is especially noted in cases of breaking news and what Journalist B, a reporter for an online local news site in Ohio, described as her daily reporting tasks (personal communication, July 9, 2017). The broad topic applicability responses from participants support Entman’s (1993) definition of framing, which also does not take a specific stance on topics or types either and places focus on how the ideas are presented. While some topics may be better suited for solutions journalism than others, the participants believe it’s a method that can apply to all areas of journalism.

Positioning the purpose of solutions journalism.

The positioning of solutions journalism matters little unless the journalists can also position its connection to the audience as well. Participants frequently brought up audience impact and engagement as a way of justifying, supporting and positioning the purpose of solutions journalism. The participants related solutions journalism to current issues of media trust and audience perceptions, saying that they think it has the potential to rebuild lost credibility and interest from their readers, viewers or listeners.

One thing that really struck me and frustrated me while I was in school was that my teachers told us all the time, and my teachers were all working or formerly working journalists, and they’re all like, “People aren’t reading newspapers. It’s harder to get a job. People don’t trust the media.” … If you’re writing with an eye towards solutions, I think it’s much more engaging. The reader can say, “God, that sucks, and what can I do about it,” and the story answers that question. (Journalist G, personal communication, August 17, 2017)

As the participants discussed media trust and how they think solutions journalism plays a role in the future of journalism, questions of objectivity began to emerge. Journalist G, the Philadelphia-based news editor, went on to blur the line between reporting on a solution and taking a stance. Objectivity itself came up a number of times outside of direct questioning by the interviewers, which is a topic that will be explored more thoroughly below as it relates to practice. However, it is important to note that objectivity came up as a blurry area when participants attempted to position solutions journalism within the institution of journalism. This is not unlike how objectivity itself is frequently challenged as a tenet of journalism (Maras, 2013) and shows that threads of opinion run deep, even into other practices of reporting.

In summary, by asking journalists what they think about solutions journalism as it relates to journalism as a whole, three themes emerged that help show how they position the practice. First, they think it is similar to investigative reporting but with an added step of looking for existing solutions. Second, they find it appealing for a broad range of topics but think certain topics are more suited. Finally, they think it has a role in shaping the future of journalism in rebuilding audience interest and trust, though objectivity still can be a gray area.

News Production Habits of Solutions Journalists

The positioning of solutions journalism within the institution is important, but the researchers also set out to see just how these thoughts influence the production habits of the journalists. To that end, the second half of the interview focused on real-life experience with solutions journalism and how their thoughts connected to journalistic habit. Several themes emerged from these conversations, including further considerations of objectivity, how solutions journalism alters existing routines, and what facilitates and impedes journalists’ ability to report using a solutions-based approach. These themes aligned with three levels of the hierarchy of influences (Shoemaker & Reese, 2013), mainly institutional, individual and organizational, respectively, and showed how each has an influence on the ability to practice solutions journalism.

Solutions journalism’s relationship with objectivity.

While most journalists think there is a clear line between advocacy journalism and solutions journalism, the institutional journalistic tenet of objectivity still creates complication in the understanding and practice of solutions journalism. When connecting solutions journalism to practice, participants mostly positioned it away from advocacy journalism or opinion—something the Solutions Journalism Network does in its literature. As referenced above, however, Journalist G had a hard time separating advocacy, at one point saying “you might as well advocate for something, right?” (personal communication, August 17, 2017).

To reconcile the differences, journalists spoke at institutional levels of examples, positioning their work against the tenets of journalism and how they were trained (even if they didn’t have a journalism degree).

Objectivity is very important. I don’t have formal journalistic training but yeah, I’m aware of that much. I think that without objectivity you don’t have journalism whether it’s solutions or not. (Journalist C, personal communication, July 19, 2017)

In bringing their own experience and practices into the picture, they said they think the best way to combat the risks of slipping into opinionating is also through the institutional tenets of journalism. When pressed for specifics past just “remaining balanced,” participants brought up tasks such as rigorous reporting and making sure any claims are made through evidence of data. Journalist A (the journalism professor), in particular, compared advocacy journalism to a “monologue with itself about what is right and wrong” and solutions journalism as a “conversation with the full complexity of the problem,” backed by deep sources and data (personal communication, August 17, 2017).

Of course, in practice it’s not always so easy. Journalist B, the reporter in Ohio, recounted a story where a problem in the community was identified, a solution in other communities was found and reported on, and then suddenly the publisher decided the media outlet should have a hand in implementing the solution in the community (personal communication, July 19, 2017). The reporting worked so well that the publisher him/herself was sold. However, the journalist noted the ethical dilemma of being involved in the implementation, since she wanted to remain objective. While the journalist became known as the person responsible for bringing the solution to the area, she said she avoided much of the public relations aspects of it, such as stepping out of a group photo when the program launched. Even though the media organization decided to pivot toward taking a more active role, the journalist still felt institutional pressure to keep objectivity a priority.

Same habits, revised thought process.

Looking closer at the actual practice of solutions journalism, participants were asked about their processes and habits of reporting and whether it takes a shift at the individual level to report with a focus on solutions. Here, a key finding emerges—it all came down to the thought process. While some participants talked about tangible routine changes, they all generally did things the same—sought sources, data, and information and synthesized it in a critical and questioning way. The questions were geared toward tangible process change yet it was the thought process itself that guided the individual and distinguished solutions reporting from conventional reporting.

In particular, participants said they think more about the “how” of a topic when covering it from a solutions approach. This came into play when discussing how solutions journalism takes the extra step from investigative reporting; participants said they don’t stop at the issue but instead think about how to find what the solutions are. Journalist L, a coordinator for an Oregon chapter of the Solutions Journalism Network, said by having the right mindset going into a story, one can ask the right questions of the sources to start to see where the solutions may lie (personal communication, July 18, 2017).

Journalist B described a tangible process that differed from her typical reporting routine, but even that turned out to be heavily thought-based. To handle the complexity of thought necessary to plan out a solutions story, the journalist uses a mapping exercise to organize her thoughts.

I always take a huge sheet of paper, and I story board it out … It always helps me because if it’s something I know is gonna be deeply investigated, and has a lot of sources, and has a lot of ideas. It helps me, number one to map everything out, to say like, “Okay, here’s the problem, here’s the solution, and then everything in between.” (personal communication, July 19, 2017)

While tangible news production habit changes were mentioned by some, the overwhelming shift at the individual level took place in the mind. Journalists started with a thought process shift toward the “how” of a solution, looking past the issue itself and beginning to understand how to ask questions, seek sources and obtain data. Even when their routines did change tangibly, such as the mapping example above or how some participants said they would need to travel to the other cities where the solutions were taking place, their process always started with a shift in thought.

Support among management.

The final questions asked to the participants dealt with what facilitates and impedes their ability to practice solutions journalism. As the sample included a range of journalists, from freelancers who have to pitch stories to staff reporters who might be assigned stories, answers varied but did settle on one key factor: management. Endorsement by the organization, whether it be an editor, publisher or supervisor, was key to facilitating or impeding the journalists’ ability to report on solutions. This connects heavily to the organizational level of the hierarchy of influences, and supports the model in showing just how influential the organization can be. This was seen in two ways: support and resources.

Support from the organization’s management played a key role in how the journalists said they were able to conduct solutions-based reporting. Several mentioned difficulty pitching their story ideas unless their editor saw solutions journalism as a worthwhile and legitimate pursuit. This can make it harder for the journalist, as they not only have to go through a traditional pitch but also must inform and convince the editor about the value of a solutions approach. Journalist G, a news editor at a large corporation who also does freelance work, said she considers herself lucky to work with open-minded editors that allow her to follow the story as she thinks it should go (personal communication, August 17, 2017). Audience interest in solutions can also serve as a facilitator, as Journalist I, a Colorado-based technical writer, mentioned.

What facilitates doing this? I would say the support of management for sure, the support of the editors, and even maybe the support of the community. Because if the audience, the readers, the community, does express interest in this kind of work, then maybe there’s more reason for the news organization to support that and set aside time for that. (personal communication, August 25, 2017)

On the freelance side, Journalist J said she takes care to investigate the media outlets in India that she pitches to in order to make sure they are organizationally-aligned with the concept of solutions reporting (personal communication, July 21, 2017). This is not something new, as many freelance journalists will craft a pitch to shape the scope of what an outlet is looking for. But it does show similar organizational ties and pressures for making sure a solutions story can be carried out.

However, some participants said they had no trouble getting a solutions story past the editor’s desk as long as the story was done well.

I’ve never had a solutions pitch rejected because it was a solutions story. I haven’t had any negative experiences in that regard personally, but I can believe that it happens. I can picture some old school newspaper editor in my head going, “No, let’s get the bad guys,” kind of thing, but it’s not something that I have any experience [with] negatively. On the contrary, the people that I’ve pitched stories to have generally been pretty positive about the concept. (Journalist C, personal communication, July 19, 2017)

While it’s important to have the support of management, journalists also mentioned other practical resource barriers. Several participants mentioned shrinking newsrooms and shrinking resources as an impediment to solutions journalism. They described it as something still seen as a specialty practice that can only be added once the core reporting work is done, almost as an elective if there is enough time. As funding shrinks, it becomes harder to justify sending a journalist to another city to report on a solution. This, too, goes back to the organization as money may follow the priorities, and if solutions journalism is not a priority then it won’t receive the funding.

Overall, journalists described organizational support as a key component of facilitating solutions-based reporting. It’s not enough for the journalists themselves to think of solutions journalism as a worthwhile pursuit, it takes management having the same thoughts. While having an editor or publisher not on board may not completely block the practice, it certainly creates an obstacle the journalist must overcome.

In summary, by asking journalists what they think about solutions journalism as it relates to their production habits, three themes emerged that help show how thought translates to action. First, at the institutional level, we see that objectivity tenets still create some complication, similar to what Shoemaker and Reese (2013) saw in the outer levels of the hierarchy of influences. Journalists still perform paradigm repair in defending the institution of journalism, even in describing sub-levels of the field. Second, at the individual level, we see how the routines and processes of journalists change primarily at the thought level, in how they plan out coverage and shift their thinking in the questions they ask. The process of framing a solution requires more than just a style of writing, it also takes re-thinking the story and how the reporter will approach it. Finally, at the organizational level we see how critical support from management is in facilitating the practice. In order to raise a solution’s salience, the story must make it to publication, which requires managerial support. The organizational level of the hierarchy of influences describes how often the bottom line impacts how coverage can be carried out, and we see how journalists sometimes find it even harder to pitch stories when they don’t match what the management might see as a necessary pursuit.

This study set out to understand journalists’ thoughts about solutions journalism and how those impressions position it within the institution of journalism and within their news production habits. From our findings, we see that journalists feel excitement about solutions journalism and liken it to investigative reporting but with an extra step. They think most topics are suited for a solutions approach, but those with less complexity are more conducive, as well as topics relating to social issues. Objectivity is still a challenge, as it is in journalism itself, but journalists think it can be addressed through rigorous reporting and strong supporting evidence. In their news production habits, journalists shift their thought processes first, and let that guide their routines while working on a solutions story. Finally, it takes more than just the journalist to facilitate the process: management must be on board and commit the resources necessary.

While the interview pool remained small, saturation in the key findings was found, eliminating the need for additional interviews. Future research should seek to expand this pool, though, in order to attempt to gain deeper insight into some of the findings. Additionally, the fact that the participants were members of the Solutions Journalism Network Hub might mean they were more supportive of the practice than a representative sample of journalists would be. However, as discussed, it was necessary to recruit journalists familiar with solutions journalism, and our recruitment method served that purpose. Interviewing journalists unfamiliar with the practice would not advance its conceptualization and would likely further muddy the concept. Finally, while our study did seek global representation, future work could target specific countries versus a whole-world approach, to be able to compare nations and seek out culture-specific nuances as other comparative journalism studies have done (e.g. Hanitzch et al., 2011; Schmitz Weiss, 2015).

This research extends our knowledge of solutions journalism by turning to the journalists themselves. Our findings support the hierarchy of influences model, in seeing how individual, organizational and institutional factors play into the process of solution-oriented reporting. Further, Entman’s (1993) framing, which has been used as a theoretical foundation for solutions journalism, is supported based on how journalists think about the practice.

Professionally, our findings illustrate the importance of having a cohesive newsroom that is unified in its mission. Without the support of editors and publishers, it will be harder for journalists to carry out a solutions-based approach to reporting. Groups promoting solutions journalism, such as the Solutions Journalism Network, need to target management and the organizational level just as much, if not more, as the reporters themselves. Unfortunately, lack of resources is not a problem unique to solutions journalism, but the Solutions Journalism Network does offer funding for journalists wishing to carry out solutions-based reports, which is a step in the right direction.

Solutions journalism continues to grow as a practice, and while some impediments remain in securing its legitimacy, journalists who have encountered it are enthusiastic and positive about its future.

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Kyser Lough is a PhD student in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin and researches visual communication and solutions journalism. He studies how news images are made, selected and interpreted, as well as the photographers themselves in how they define their field and operate within it. For solutions journalism, he investigates audience effects and the factors surrounding the creation and implementation of content by journalists. Broadly, he seeks to improve our knowledge and research interests of both visual communication and solutions journalism while providing guidance and implications to the professional world.

Karen McIntyre is an assistant professor of multimedia journalism in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her international and interdisciplinary research focuses on the psychological processes and effects of news media. More specifically, she studies constructive journalism, an emerging contextual form of journalism that involves applying positive psychology and other behavioral science techniques to the news process in an effort to create more productive, engaging, and solution-focused news stories.

Solutions Journalism

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Faculty Research Associate

Keith H. Hammonds

Solutions Journalism Network

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Solutions journalism is reporting about responses to entrenched social problems. It examines instances where people, institutions, and communities are working toward solutions. Solutions-­based stories focus not just on what may be working, but how and why it appears to be working, or, alternatively, why it may be stumbling. In engagements with more than 30 newsrooms and hundreds of reporters, producers, and editors across the U.S., the Solutions Journalism Network has identified growing interest in the practice of solutions journalism. But what happens when we put this form of reporting to the test: How do citizens respond?

This report outlines the results of a quasi-experiment conducted by the Solutions Journalism Network and the Center for Media Engagement. 1 The findings demonstrate that solutions-based reporting may be an effective journalistic tool that serves the needs of both audiences and news organizations and that it has the potential to increase reader engagement.

The Problem

Many journalists report compellingly on the world’s problems, but they regularly fail to highlight and explain responses that demonstrate the potential to ameliorate problems, even when those initiatives show strong evidence of effectiveness.

As a result, people are far more aware of what is wrong with society than what is being done to try to improve it. For many issues that receive ongoing news coverage, what’s most absent is not awareness about the problems but awareness about credible efforts to solve those problems. This omission causes many people to feel overwhelmed and to believe that their efforts to engage as citizens may be futile. Research indicates that when journalists regularly raise awareness about problems without showing people what can be done about them, news audiences are more likely to tune out and deny the message or even disengage from public life. 2

Key Findings

The study showed that readers of solutions-­based news articles were significantly more likely than non-­solutions readers to:

• Have a heightened perceived knowledge and sense of efficacy,
• Feel a stronger connection with news organizations,
• Indicate a desire for potential engagement on an issue.

Implications for Newsrooms

These study results suggest that solutions journalism has the potential to address several major concerns confronting today’s newsrooms. These concerns include: (a) readers’ perceptions, real or imagined, that news is overwhelmingly negative, (b) readers’ feeling that the thoroughness of news reporting is on a downward trend; and (c) the decline in news readership. Each of these concerns, along with solutions journalism’s potential to address them, is explored below.

News Negativity. A prevailing mentality among those who attend to the news is the belief that the majority of news is negative. 3 Although some research has noted a few positive aspects of negative news, overall, it is believed that, on balance, it does more harm than good. 4 Negative news is a contributor to news fatigue, or a diminished desire to turn to the news. 5 The pervasive belief is not only that most news is negative, but that it is, in fact, a reporter’s job to cover negative news. In addition, negative news has been shown to inhibit subsequent information recall. 6 In other words, readers of negative news stories are less likely to remember what they have read after encountering negative information.

Today, many news organizations try to balance the negativity of news by including periodic feel-­good reporting, such as profiles of “heroes” or people “making a difference.” This approach reveals an implicit bias held by many journalists: a belief that reporting on efforts to solve social problems is of secondary importance to society – a belief that may not be shared by news audiences. 7 Given the challenge of balancing the tone of coverage, solutions journalism may offer a more serious-minded approach, providing readers with an entry point to engage more deeply with difficult issues.

News Thoroughness. In 2013, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism reported that many people had turned away from a news outlet because of a perceived decline in news quality. 8 Specifically, the study asked people if they thought the quantity of news was in decline or the quality of news was in decline. More than 60% of respondents said that news quality was in decline. It is possible that solutions journalism, by giving people a broader view of the news – namely, reporting on problems and responses to those problems – could help to reverse this downward trend.

Readership Decline . Dovetailing with the perception of declining news thoroughness is the finding that those who believe news quality is in decline are also turning away from the news. The same Pew study referenced above asked people the following question: “Have you stopped turning to a particular news outlet because you felt they were no longer providing you with the news and information you were accustomed to?” 9 Sixty-­five percent of respondents answered “yes.” What this tells us is that if a news outlet is not meeting the needs of the news consumers, these consumers may look elsewhere for their information. Given these study results, we believe that further research is warranted to explore questions about whether solutions journalism has the potential to arrest readership decline – particularly decline associated with news quality – and to drive other changes in audience news consumption, engagement or brand loyalty.

In the study, a sample of 755 U.S. adults was presented with one of six news articles. The articles reported on three different issues: the effects of traumatic experiences on children in American schools, homelessness in urban America, and a lack of clothing among poor people in India. For each issue, highly similar articles were compared: one that focused exclusively on the problem (non-­solution version), and one that included identical reporting on the problem, but added reporting about a potential response to mitigate that problem (solution version). The addition of solutions content was the only difference between the two articles.

The results of this test indicate that solutions-­based journalism holds promise in at least three areas: heightening audiences’ perceived knowledge and sense of efficacy, strengthening the connection between audiences and news organizations, and catalyzing potential engagement on an issue.

Heightening audiences’ perceived knowledge and sense of efficacy

• Say the article seemed different from typical news articles
• Perceive that they gained more knowledge about the issue in the article
• Indicate that they felt better informed about the issue
• Respond that the article had increased their interest in the issue
• Believe they could contribute to a solution to the issue
• Believe that there are effective ways to address the issue
• Say that the article influenced their opinion about the issue
• Indicate that they felt inspired and/or optimistic after reading the article

Strengthening the connection between audiences and news organizations

Solutions readers were more likely than non-­solutions readers to indicate that they would:

• Read more articles by the person who authored the article they read
• Read more articles from the newspaper in which their article appeared
• Read more articles about the issue
• Talk to friends or family about the issue
• Share the article they read on social media

Catalyzing potential engagement on an issue

Solutions readers were more likely than non-­solutions readers to indicate their desire to:

• Get involved in working toward a solution to the issue
• Donate money to an organization working on the issue

All three shifts, we believe, reflect favorably on audience relationships with news and news organizations. People who think they know more about an issue, share a story with a friend, and/or feel more empowered to act are likely to attach greater value to the news and to feel a stronger attachment to the respective news source. 10

Changes in Perceived Knowledge and Sense of Efficacy

Readers of solutions-­based stories expressed more agreement than readers of non-­solutions stories that the article they read was different than the typical newspaper article. 11 Readers of the solution versions also were more “inspired and/or optimistic after reading the article” than their non-­solutions counterparts. 12

It should be noted that all of the results reported in this study, and displayed in the accompanying charts, indicate statistically significant differences in responses between solutions and non-solutions article readers. In other words, the chances are extremely slim that the differences in responses are merely based on chance.

Changes in Readers’ Connections to News Organizations

Respondents were asked how likely they were to: share the article on social media, read more articles by the unnamed author of the article they read, read more articles in the unnamed newspaper in which the article appeared, and read more articles about the particular issue. 16 In all instances, survey takers who read solutions articles were significantly more likely to indicate their desire to enact these behaviors than those who read non-solutions articles.

Changes in Citizens’ Engagement in Society

Respondents were asked about their likelihood of getting involved in working toward a solution to the issue, donating to an organization working on the issue, and talking to family and friends about the issue. 17 Again, in all cases, those who read solutions articles indicated higher likelihoods than those who read non-­solutions articles.

Readers also were asked the following yes/no question at the end of the survey: “Would you like to learn more about how to get involved in finding solutions to this issue?” As was the case in all other instances in this study, readers of solutions-based articles gave significantly more “yes” responses than those reading non-solutions articles. 18

Background on Solutions Journalism

Solutions journalism is critical reporting that investigates and explains credible responses to social problems. It delves into the how-­to’s of problem-solving, often structuring stories as puzzles or mysteries that investigate questions like: What models are having success reducing the high school dropout rate and how do they actually work?

When done well, the stories can provide valuable insights about how communities may better tackle important problems. As such, solutions journalism can be both highly informative and engaging. News organizations such as The Seattle Times, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the Deseret News, among others, have deployed solutions reporting in an attempt to create a foundation for productive, forward-looking (and less polarizing) community dialogues about vital social issues.

In trying to meet these goals, a solutions journalism story attempts to answer in the affirmative the following ten questions (which serve as a framework, not a set of rules): 19

• Does the story explain the causes of a social problem?
• Does the story present an associated response to that problem?
• Does the story refer to problem-solving and how-to details?
• Is the problem-solving process central to the story’s narrative?
• Does the story present evidence of results linked to the response?
• Does the story explain the limitations of the response?
• Does the story contain an insight or teachable lesson?
• Does the story avoid reading like a puff piece?
• Does the story draw on sources that have ground-level expertise, not just a 30,000-foot understanding?
• Does the story give greater attention to the response than to a leader, innovator, or do-gooder?

A good example of solutions journalism will address many, though not necessarily all, of the above questions. Solutions journalism is a form of explanatory journalism that may serve as a form of watchdog reporting, highlighting effective responses to problems in order to spur reform in areas where people or organizations are failing to respond adequately, particularly when better options are available.

Methodology

A survey-­based quasi-­experimental design was employed to test the effects of solutions journalism. Survey respondents were recruited via the data-­collection company, Survey Sampling International, which administered the online survey to a nationwide sample of 1,500 Americans.

Respondents were invited to read “a recent article that appeared in a U.S. newspaper,” and told that after reading the article they would be asked several questions. Respondents were encouraged to read the article thoroughly, as they were told that they would not be able to return to the text of the article after they finished reading. The articles were from the Fixes section of the New York Times. Upon reading the instructions, respondents saw one of six articles. The articles consisted of three topic pairs, where each pair dealt with a different topic. The topics were: (a) the effects of traumatic experiences on children in American schools; (b) homelessness in urban America; and (c) a lack of clothing among poor people in India. Each pair of articles contained a solutions version and a non-­solutions version. Other than the presence/absence of solutions content, the articles were identical. The text of each article is located in an appendix at the end of this report.

After reading the article, all respondents were asked to respond to an identical series of survey items. Most of the survey items consisted of 5-­point Likert-­type scales, where respondents were given a statement and asked to indicate their level of agreement with the statement (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). One closed-­ended question was asked (“Would you like to learn more about how to get involved in finding solutions to this issue?), as well as one open-­ended item (Did this article influence the way you think about this issue? If so, how?) 20

Respondents then were asked whether or not they believed that the author of the story reported on a solution to each problem. This question was used as a manipulation check, to determine whether or not respondents carefully attended to the experimental stimuli. Of the 1,500 respondents who completed the survey, nearly half failed the manipulation check. Those who failed the manipulation check spent significantly less time with the study (Mann-­Whitney U=188627.50, p<.001).  Data for those who failed the manipulation check were discarded from the statistical analysis. Furthermore, some survey items were counter-­valenced in order to detect any respondents who might select responses in a single column for all items (for example, someone who chooses “strongly agree” for every item). All those who gave identically-valenced responses for the nine Likert-type items were removed from the data (n = 55). Lastly, four respondents selected “under 18” in the age question, and as this survey’s target sample was adults, data for these respondents were discarded. The final sample used for data analysis consisted of 755 respondents.

Of those 755 respondents:

• 64% are female
• The median age range is 45-54 years old
• The median education level completed by the respondents is “some college”
• The median yearly income range is $50,000-$75,000
• 34% self-identify as conservative, 31% self-identify as liberal, and 32% indicate that they are neither/middle of the road
• 79% identify themselves as white, 11% identify as black, 6% identify as Asian, and 5% identify as Hispanic
• 9% identify as self-employed, 45% as employed by someone else, 9% as unemployed, 12% as homemakers, 18% as retired, and 7% as students

See full appendix in the full report.

SUGGESTED CITATION:

Curry, Alexander and Hammonds, Keith H. (2014, June). Solutions journalism. Center for Media Engagement . https://mediaengagement.org/research/solutions-journalism/

• This study qualifies as a quasi-­experiment, as opposed to a full experiment because we include only data from those who did not fail the manipulation check. Those reading a solutions article were more likely to answer the manipulation check correctly than those reading a non-solutions article.  This means that the resulting sample is neither randomly assigned nor randomly selected from the population. To mitigate this concern, we analyzed and controlled for, demographic factors that vary among the conditions. When data analysis is conducted using those who passed and those who failed the manipulation check, (n = 1,443), evidence of significant, albeit more modest, findings remain. In this case, those exposed to a solutions journalism article are significantly more likely than their non-­solutions counterparts to feel that they had gained new knowledge about the topic from reading the article, indicate that they felt inspired and/or optimistic after reading the article, and believe that there are effective ways to address the issue. [ ↩ ]
• Associated Press and the Context-­Based Research Group, A new model for news; Benesh, S. (1998). The rise of solutions journalism. Columbia Journalism Review ; Feinberg, M., & Robb, W. (2010). Apocalypse soon? Dire messages reduce belief in global warming by contradicting just-­world beliefs. Ps y c ho l og i c a l S c i e n c e , 22 (1), 34-­38; Glassner, B., (2004). Narrative techniques of fear-mongering.   So c i a l R es ea r c h : An International Quarterly, 71 (4), 819-­826; Merritt, D. (1998). Pu b li c j ou r na li s m and public life: Why telling the truth is not enough . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; Patterson, T. (2002). Why is the news so negative these days? George Mason University History News Network, http://hnn.us/article/1134,  Pauly, J. J. (2009). Is journalism interested in resolution, or only in conflict? M a r qu e tt e L a w R e v i e w , 93 (1), 7-­23. [ ↩ ]
• See, for instance, Potter, D., & Gantz, W. (2000). Bringing viewers back to local TV news. Civic Catalyst Newsletter, Pew Center for Civic Journalism ; Foerstel, H. N. (2001). From Watergate to Monicagate: Ten controversies in modern journalism and media. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [ ↩ ]
• For example, see: Baumgartner, S. E., & Wirth, W. (2012). Affective priming during the processing of news articles. Media Psychology , 15 (1), 1–18; Grabe, M. E. (2006). Hard wired for negative news? Gender differences in processing broadcast news. Communication Research , 33 (5), 346–369. [ ↩ ]
• Associated Press and the Context-­Based Research Group, A new model for news. [ ↩ ]
• Biswas, R., Riffe, D., & Zillmann, D. (1994). Mood influence on the appeal of bad news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly , 71 (3), 689–696. See also Newhagen, J. E., & Reeves, B. (1992). The evening’s bad news: Effects of compelling negative television news images on memory. Journal of Communication , 42 (2), 25–41. [ ↩ ]
• Associated Press and the Context-­Based Research Group, A new model for news; Benesh, The rise of solutions journalism. [ ↩ ]
• Enda, J., & Mitchell, A. (2014). Americans show signs of leaving a news outlet, citing less information. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The State of the News Media 2013: An Annual Report on American Journalism. Retrieved from http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/special-­‐ reports-­landing-­page/citing-­reduced-­quality-­many-­americans-­ abandon-­news-­outlets/ [ ↩ ]
• Enda & Mitchell, Americans show signs of leaving a news outlet. [ ↩ ]
• Associated Press and the Context-­Based Research Group.  (2008). A new model for news:  Studying the deep structure of young-­adult news consumption. [ ↩ ]
• For most questions, survey takers were asked to indicate their level of agreement with certain statements. For example, one set of questions was put to survey takers as follows: “Based on your overall response to this article, rate your level of agreement with the following statements: The article increased my interest in this topic.” Response options were as follows: Strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree. In four instances, statistical analyses revealed that responses were influenced not only by exposure to the solutions v. non-solutions articles but also by the topic of the articles. Those four instances include responses to the following statements: the article is different than the typical article; there are ways to effectively address the issue; I feel more informed after reading the article; and Likelihood of reading more articles about the issue. For each of these questions, the differences between solutions and non-­solutions articles appear for two issues (trauma, homeless), but not for the third (clothing). While the topic differences affected responses, responses were significantly affected by the presence or absence of the solutions-­based article. The variable Article is Different was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 14.69, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Inspired was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 160.62, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Knowledge was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 8.16, p < .01, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; the variable More Interested was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 11.59, p = .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; and the variable Feel Informed was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 19.01, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The knowledge item was phrased in this way in order to help determine if some respondents were clicking through survey items without reading the statements. This, and one other similarly phrased item, helped us detect 10 respondents who most likely clicked on responses without reading the accompanying statements. As discussed in the methodology section, data from these 10 respondents were not used in the statistical analyses. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Contribute was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 19.13, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; the variable Effective Solutions was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 23.10, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; and the variable Influenced Opinion was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 15.13, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Share Article was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 11.88, p = .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; for the variable Read Article, was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 18.02, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; for the variable Read News, was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 16.94, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; and for the variable Read Issue, was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 17.23, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Involved was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 17.58, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; for the variable Donate, was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 17.98, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race; and for the variable Talk Friends, was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 16.13, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• The variable Learn More was significantly different for solutions vs. non-­solutions journalism F( 1, 717) = 12.91, p < .001, controlling for age, gender, employment, and race. [ ↩ ]
• See the Solutions Journalism Network’s webinar for Poynter’s News University. [ ↩ ]
• Responses to the open-­ended item were analyzed by the Solution Journalism Network’s Rikha Sharma Rani, using a Stanford University-­developed sentiment analysis program called NaSent. Results from NaSent analysis indicated that responses were more positive and less negative for those who read the solutions version of the homelessness and clothing-­in-­India articles, as well as less negative for those who read the solutions version of the trauma article. [ ↩ ]

Solutions Journalism

By Sanne Derks, Andreas Rossbach, Vlad Odobescu and Jacopo Pasotti.

Solutions Journalism seeks to equip readers with in-depth knowledge of a social problem, so that they can tackle it more effectively.

2020 has been a year of tumult: the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down, the murder of George Floyd sparked protests against racism across the West, and devastating forest fires from Australia to Siberia have been a stark reminder of the ongoing climate crisis. These social, environmental and health problems can seem too intractable to fix. This is where solutions-based journalism steps in: it seeks to equip policymakers, community organisers and individuals with in-depth knowledge of a social problem, so that they can tackle it more effectively. In this article, we provide an overview of solutions-based journalism and interview local reporters with experience writing in this format.

Is Solutions Journalism the Solution?

By Andreas Rossbach

The aim of solutions journalism is to spark constructive conversations on how to address social problems. The approach, which was developed by the American non-profit organisation Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), encourages journalists to write about solutions to social problems, and not just to expose those problems.

The Constructive Institute at Aarhus University, whose aim is to reduce the “tabloidization, sensationalism and negativity bias” of the news media, classifies solutions journalism alongside civic journalism, activist journalism, crowd-powered reporting and other forms of journalism as “constructive journalism,” which goes “beyond the problem-based narrative, embracing complexity, and engaging with the community."

The approach has come a long way since it took off a decade ago. In 2010, David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg—the founders of SJN—launched the first of the New York Times “Fixes” series , which looks at potential solutions to real world problems. Since then, dozens more news outlets have launched their own solutions journalism pages. From BBC's World Hacks and Politico’s What Works , to Fast Company's Impact page and the Boston Globe's Things that Work , 44 news outlets today dedicate a beat, vertical, or—sometimes—their entire coverage to rigorous solutions reporting. For example, BBC World Hacks’s stated mission is to provide people “with idas to make the world a better place.” They have reported on a plethora of solutions to world problems, from second-hand shopping malls in Sweden that aim to reduce waste, to life-saving “cervical selfies” in Namibia. In “What works," Politico magazine looks at stories ranging from how a Houston-based health app is preventing flood damage to the Baltimore after-school program teaching the next generation of tech gurus .

What is solutions journalism?

From: Solutionsjournalism.org

According to the Learning Lab created by Solutionsjournalism.org , there are five criteria to apply when writing or producing a solutions-oriented story.

Focuses in-depth on a response to a social problem This does not mean that the causes of the problem cannot be addressed, but it should definitely describe a response.

Examines how the response works in meaningful detail The narrative is driven by problem-solving and explains in detail the answer to a ‘How to’ question.

It focuses on effectiveness, not good intentions, presenting available evidence of results Solutions journalism is about ideas, but is supported, where possible, by solid evidence.

It does not just offer inspiration, but includes insights that others can use It provides the reader with insights into how the world works and how it could be made to work better.

It analyses limitations to solutions There are no perfect solutions. Good solutions journalism is critical on current and proposed solutions and addresses limitations and risks.

What is solutions journalism not?

Solutions journalism is sometimes mistaken for stories that glorify an individual or an individual’s approach to a particular problem. Stories that focus on technical inventions that can help alleviate problems should also not be confused with solutions journalism. Neither should stories that profile a particular organisation, or stories that point towards solutions that do not exist yet. Finally, stories that mainly address problems and throw in a possible solution in the final paragraph cannot be considered solutions stories.

Why is solutions journalism important?

According to researchers , journalism has an in-built ‘negativity bias’ which means that publications disproportionately publish negative material at the expense of positive stories. This is because readers pay more attention to negative than to positive stories, even though it may leave them feeling disempowered, helpless or cynical.

Solutions-journalism seeks to correct this imbalance by critically analysing solutions to the myriad social problems reported in the news, which are often neglected by journalists.

In order to become empowered, people must learn about credible examples of responses to problems. Analysing both the problem as well as the responses gives a more adequate and nuanced view of the issue, since it takes both sides of the story into account. It also increases reader engagement, since people can feel more empowered and less cynical about the problem. Solutions stories are more likely to be shared on social media, and can advance the public discourse.

Tips for pitching a solutions-focused story

We summarized a few tips for pitching a solutions-journalism story to any outlet.

From: https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/what-editors-are-looking-for-in-solutions-pitches-f45b4d3e3b22

• Provide a clear, detailed, time-sensitive answer to ‘Why should readers care’ about this story
• Include lots of evidence—qualitative or quantitative—of the response’s impact
• Acknowledge the response’s limitations, and investigate its replicability
• Include a headline that sells the story’s value and shows its timeliness
• Choose a media outlet that focuses on solutions-journalism or that shows an awareness for them.

Further reading:

https://witness.worldpressphoto.org/why-it-is-time-for-visual-journalism-to-include-a-solutions-focus-5be15aec3afc

https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/what-is-solutions-journalism-c050147bb1eb

https://medium.com/solutions-stories-covering-poverty/solution-journalism-what-it-is-and-is-not-a36bd027fd35

https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/what-editors-are-looking-for-in-solutions-pitches-f45b4d3e3b22

http://www.kyserlough.com/solutionsjournalism.html

Interview expert

“you can have solutions journalism on failures”.

An interview with Nina Fasciaux , manager for Europe & International coordinator for the Solutions Journalism Network . She became a journalist in 2010, after being involved in humanitarian work. From 2011 to 2015, she was the web chief editor of Le Courrier de Russie , a French newspaper in Russia. Now based in France, she is involved in several editorial projects and provides training sessions on solutions journalism and media decoding (how media messages are produced, disseminated, and interpreted).

What makes a good solutions story, in your point of view?

The Solutions Journalism Network has a definition, one that is really easy to understand: solutions journalism is rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. People often misunderstand what solutions journalism is: they think it's more 'fluffy' journalism, positive journalism, or it flirts with advocacy.

We have four criteria to do a good solutions story:

• Explaining how the response that you're investigating works in detail;
• The evidence that it is working;
• The insights (what are the lessons learnt for this response to be replicated or adapted to another context);
• The limits (talk about the limits, the risks, the challenges that implementing this response involves).

What is the difference between constructive journalism and solutions journalism? Maybe solutions journalism is one of the disciplines when you talk about constructive journalism. Is that right?

That’s right. I think constructive journalism is a lot broader, it's future oriented, it has some positive psychology in it and it thinks beyond solutions journalism. But when you do solutions journalism you can use some tools from constructive journalism. To do a good solutions story you need to define first what the problem is. And to define what the problem is, you often have to talk to your community, have the people impacted by this problem define the problem themselves, engage with your audience. These are the kind of tools that you find in constructive journalism as well.

What are the most important things to bear in mind when working on a solutions story, especially in a cross-border project?

To me, cross-border projects involve global problems. So the problem you're looking at solutions for might be global. The biggest challenge—and I think the most important thing to do—is to define precisely what the problem is. You will not have a good solutions story on climate change or on migration—you need to define within those topics what is precisely the problem: is it access to drinkable water? Is it access to clean air? Or on migration: is it how to integrate the people who are in your country or is it how to make sure that they have access to education? This defining process needs to take place at the very beginning. Then the solution is probably partly addressing the problem and it's OK to have a response that only partly works, there is no such thing as a perfect solution. Being aware of those limitations and also being really clear about what the problem is—this is the best way to get a solutions story started.

There's a fine line between solutions journalism and advocacy and activism. Traditionally, journalists put a problem on a plate and let the audience decide what they might do or not about it.

I cannot agree more. I think people often misunderstand solutions journalism. The first mission of solutions journalism is to better inform people by speaking about problems and looking at responses. And I guess the term 'solutions journalism' is not perfectly fitted, because it suggests that you have the right solution. We spend a lot of time during our training and in our newsrooms explaining how to avoid advocacy, how to avoid this kind of journalism that flirts with activism. Another issue is: how to define people not only by the problem they face? You can also actually have a solutions story on failures: they provide lessons for the future.

What I think describes it a bit better is 'solutions oriented journalism', because it provides different puzzle pieces of a solution to the reader.

Yes. You can have solutions stories about any topic, but they have to be time-sensitive. Sometimes you just have to let the people know that there is a problem and maybe one day you'll have the opportunity to talk about solutions too. But you're right: solutions oriented journalism might suggest a less activist role.

It also comes from the notion that people want to have solutions journalism because they feel like there's this mantra of negative news.

It shouldn't be about being 'more positive', it should be about informing people of a more complete and complex story about one topic..

You have to acknowledge that there are multiple opinions and nuances and the situation is complex. When I travel across Europe to give training to newsrooms, migration is the first topic the journalists refer to. It's always the same story and they are looking for a new lens for this topic. There is a cross-border newsroom called The Local : they have nine newsrooms across Europe and they built a solutions journalism training program for journalists on this particular topic : how can you bring the solutions journalism to the migration beat?

Best practices

Here you can find some links to best practices. First of all, there is the Solutions Story Tracker, that collects all kinds of solutions stories:

https://storytracker.solutionsjournalism.org/welcome

An example in The Guardian on how a program for women suffering physical and sexual assault in Tajikistan has had remarkable results: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2018/oct/19/more-valued-than-before-women-tajikistan-new-lease-of-life-in-pictures

Another story in The Guardian reports on a new cure for sleeping sickness in the Congo: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/16/congo-drc-sleeping-sickness-upside-tropical-disease-ntd

Here is a story on how Honduras brought its homicide numbers down: https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/how-the-worlds-most-murderous-country-halved-its-killings-in-five-years/89430/

Interviews with journalists

Interview with solutions-focused journalist Jacopo Pasotti

What makes a story a solutions story in your point of view?

A solution story is not just a "positive story", or a "happy end" story. Especially when dealing with long term processes such as climate change, there is no clear end in a story. As a reporter I am reporting about a point in time, the future is still full of uncertainties. A solutions story, in my opinion, presents a problem, presents challenges, talks about failures, but it shows a case where a solution was proposed or found, at least to deal with a part of the problem. In my stories I do not aim to show a victory against odds, that would be an easy and cheap way to tell a story. I want to show cases of humans who did something, who took action, made decisions and found a solution. Solutions, as I said, are probably just a step, not definitive. When you deal with environmental journalism, as I do, it's hard to believe there is such a thing as a definitive solution.

What things are the most important to consider when working on solutions stories, especially in a cross-border project?

When you think you found a solutions story, you should carefully check that your enthusiasm for that story will not introduce a bias. For a bias I mean idealizing the solution and minimizing the odds. It's quite normal to believe that “Wow, this particular community of fishermen in Madagascar has found a new way to make a living after overfishing along their coasts. They learned aquaculture techniques and now sell farmed products to a processing industry that distributes products in Europe.” But are they really building a resilient community or are they just living a gold-rush that exposes them to a volatile market? Those techniques will require buying medications to prevent epidemics in their cultures, this will create a dependency from another industry, and require more cash. Will the community be able to cope with this in the long term? These are uncertainties that should be discussed in your piece.

What can solutions journalism contribute to cross-border journalism?

There are cultural and educational differences among different countries and these enrich the conversation and broaden the perspectives in a team. When I have collaborated with local journalists from the area I am reporting on, the results have always been really outstanding, since they can provide a perspective I wouldn't be able to, coming from abroad.

Interview: Solutions-focused photojournalist Sanne Derks

Stories that not only show the suffering and devastating consequences of an event or phenomenon, but also take a look at solutions and the power of people to deal in a constructive way with what is happening to them. It gives a more nuanced view of what is happening, showing both the negative impact and the positive outcomes.

What things are most important to consider when working on solutions stories, especially in a cross-border project?

Make sure that everybody is on the same page, in terms of editors and team-mates. I wrote a story on the gendered impact of climate change in a Bolivian indigenous community. The editors who had given me the green light to write it expected women to be more adversely impacted by climate change than men. However, in the field I learned that, unexpectedly, women were empowered in several ways, since they were seen as the major victims of climate change and thus they were given more funding opportunities and offered more capacity-building workshops to enable them to speak up for themselves. When I wrote the article, the editors at first refused to publish it, since it did not fit their expectations and they did not want to publish a positive story on climate change.

What are the questions/potential problems one should think about when planning solution projects?

You should balance your research and data very well. You shouldn’t try to focus on a solution at all costs whilst ignoring its potential negative implications. That will make you frame your story in a certain way, and might run the risk of denying the underlying problem.

It is interesting to look at certain phenomena across borders and different cultures. It provides a broader range of best-practise examples, and allows us to see how communities elsewhere deal with similar problems.

Which topics are in your opinion best-suited for cross-border solutions projects?

I think stories focusing on the agency of people to deal with something that has significant consequences in people’s lives are the best.

Are there any samples from your work you can point to as good examples?

Yes, I did a few stories on climate change resilience:

https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-is-making-us-stronger-resilient-bolivian-women-adapt-to-global-warming/a-43524082 https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/bolivia-indigenous-women-cope-climate-change-180222075556932.html

Or in Spanish on climate change resilience in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil: https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/02/planeta_futuro/1575303960_851863.html

How can local journalism benefit from cross-border solution journalism?

The stories can be connected to larger problems, that have consequences in different ways in different parts of the world. The reverse is also true, that local problems can have consequences elsewhere. By putting the stories in a broader perspective, local journalism can make a bigger impact, since it can be connected to similar stories around the world.

Back to Basics: Ethical Dilemmas in Cross-Border Investigations

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Guest Essay

If We Can Report on the Problem, We Can Report on the Solution

By David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg

Mr. Bornstein and Ms. Rosenberg are journalists and the creators of Fixes, an Opinion series highlighting solutions to social problems that ran from 2010 to 2021.

After 11 years and roughly 600 columns, this is our last.

The goal of Fixes was to highlight efforts to solve problems and the insights those efforts held for society. So, for our last column, we’re interviewing each other about some of the things we learned along the way.

David Bornstein : Tina, in a decade reporting on solutions, what’s the most important thing you learned?

Tina Rosenberg : This is a strange lesson for a column about new ideas and innovation, but I learned that they’re overrated. The world (mostly) doesn’t need new inventions. It needs better distribution of what’s already out there.

Some of my favorite columns were about how to take old ideas or existing products and get them to new people. As one of our columns put it, “ Ideas Help No One on a Shelf. Take Them to the World .” There are proven health strategies, for example, that never went anywhere until some folks dusted them off and decided to spread them. It’s not glamorous to copy another idea. But those copycats are making a big difference.

David : I totally agree. The opportunity to learn from other places is hugely undertapped.

I mean, in the United States alone, there are over 3,000 counties. The chance that any one of them is struggling with big problems — mental health, addiction, climate change, diabetes, Covid-19, you name it — is pretty much 100 percent. But the odds that any place is actually using one of the most effective approaches to deal with its problems is quite low.

As you know, I used to be a computer programmer, and I’m still a stats nerd. With so many issues, there are “positive deviants” — say, 2 percent or 3 percent of actors who are getting significantly better results than the norm. Finding those outliers, figuring out what they’re doing that’s different, and sharing the knowledge can really help. I saw this in my reporting on childhood trauma , chronic homelessness and hospital safety , to name a few areas.

The other big lesson is simply that people genuinely like to be helpful. I was surprised how often stories we did about hard or disturbing issues — bullying , poverty , foster care or depression for instance — showed up on The Times’s lists of the most popular or most emailed articles. Readers shared those stories with others, including with family and friends directly affected by those problems. Many of the groups I reported on also told me that after a particular story came out they were contacted by people from other organizations, foundations or government offices who asked to learn more or make a visit. Journalists are often compared to watchdogs, but I began to see that we were sometimes acting like bees, helping to cross-pollinate ideas.

Tina : That connects to another lesson. So many creative solutions rely on people who are otherwise treated by public systems as powerless or even impediments. Our column headlined “ Teaching Parents to Help Stop the ‘Summer Slide ’” was about Springboard Collaborative, a Philadelphia-based organization that shows parents of all education levels — even those who can’t read — how to be effective reading teachers for their children. Schools in low-income communities often treat families as liabilities. They’re actually assets.

There were other columns that showed the impact of nonexperts, like one titled “ Building for Real With Digital Blocks ,” about a program that teaches people Minecraft so they can help plan neighborhood projects. Another, headlined “ Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout ?,” showed that the person most persuasive in bringing a voter to the polls is a friend who’s not involved in politics. OK, David, let’s talk about journalism. What did you learn from reporting on solutions for 11 years?

David : That you find what you’re looking for. If journalists go out looking for harmful actors, we’ll find them. On the other hand, if we go out looking for helpful actors — people who are, in good faith, trying to solve problems — we’ll find them, too. A lot of them. At one point I had a spreadsheet with 800 story ideas.

It made me think: As journalists, what should we be looking for? What information does society most need to do better against big problems?

Tina : We journalists have been conditioned to believe that “news” actually means “bad news,” and that you can’t talk about solutions without falling into public relations. Back in 2015, I wrote about the Ebola vaccine’s startlingly rapid development . Everyone knew about the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. But I was shocked by the number of readers who had no idea there was a successful vaccine. There’s a successful treatment for Ebola now, too — how many people know about that? Here’s a lesson: if we report on the epidemic, we should report on the cure.

David : I do think that, today in particular, people need journalism — not feel-good news, but rigorous reporting — that helps them see pathways to a better future. The news can be so overwhelming. More and more people are avoiding it. We need to balance news about problems and possibilities so that people can engage with reality with some sense of agency. Otherwise, they tune out, or deny it, or fall prey to misinformation.

Tina : Right. We should make clear that this brand of solutions journalism has grown immensely since we began in 2010. There are now many, many places to read, watch and listen to stories about solutions like the ones we covered. There’s the Solutions Story Tracker , a searchable database with more than 12,000 published articles, from the Times and more than 1,500 other newsrooms. It’s from the Solutions Journalism Network , which we co-founded along with Courtney Martin, another Fixes contributor.

And Times readers who appreciate Fixes’ solutions approach should keep an eye out for the launch of Headway in the next few weeks. A new initiative from the Times newsroom, Headway will investigate the planet’s most significant challenges through the lens of progress — or the obstacles to progress. Headway is intended to start a public conversation about what humankind is doing to address the types of issues we’ve been covering in this column. We’ll be part of the conversation there. Come join us.

You can read previous Fixes columns here .

David Bornstein (@dnbornstein) and Tina Rosenberg (@tirosenberg) are co-creators of Fixes and co-founders of the Solutions Journalism Network. Mr. Bornstein is the author of “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.” Ms. Rosenberg is a former member of The Times’s editorial board and a writer for The Times Magazine. She is the author of “Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram .

Engaging Communities Through Solutions Journalism

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Substantive local news is a rare commodity in many communities across the United States. In areas with high levels of violence, crime, and poverty, a history of stigmatization can further compound this absence. Often the only local news available is negative.

This report explores potential impacts of local solutions journalism, particularly for underrepresented and stigmatized communities. Solutions journalism explores responses to systemic social problems—critically examining problem solving efforts that have the potential to scale.

Proponents of this genre of journalism believe these types of stories offer a pathway to engaging audiences. Preliminary research suggests readers of solutions-oriented stories are more likely to share articles and seek related information.

However, little research has explored solutions journalism at the local level or in stigmatized communities. This study attempts to address that gap. In follow-up to a community-based media project in South Los Angeles, six focus groups with forty-eight African-American and Latino residents examined how participants responded to the solutions journalism format.

The study’s findings illustrate how residents navigate and critically interpret mainstream local coverage, often using alternative digital sources to cross-check stories and seek other information. Its results also suggest that these residents would respond positively to solutions journalism—though participants’ enthusiasm may be tempered by larger concerns regarding structural inequalities. Focus group participants said they would be more likely to seek out news and share stories if solutions journalism were more common, and many noted that our sample stories helped them envision a way to become personally involved in community problem solving.

PDFs and printed copies of this report are available on the  Tow Center’s Gitbook page .

Introduction

Why So Much “Bad News”?

“In local news the only thing they report on are bad things, only negative things …They are not showing us how to change the community.”

“What I have to do is just block myself away from that. Shut the news up because it ain’t nothing but an ignorant box anyway.” -South Los Angeles focus group participants

In a journalistic environment where the mantra “if it bleeds, it leads” continues to resonate—and is amplified ever more by the clickbait web—there is a professional bias in favor of reporting on violence, crime, police brutality, and other negative tropes. But how do audiences process and react to stories about their communities presented within negative frames? How would stories that address these systemic problems—while also exploring their solutions—impact readers?

Looking at research about how audiences process negative information helps to contextualize negative journalism frames. Political science studies have found that negative stories largely have a greater influence on audiences’ perceptions of candidates and voting behavior. 2 Readers are more likely to click a hyperlink to a negative political story than a link with a positive headline. 3

Several studies in psychology complement findings of a “negativity bias,” which suggests that people devote more attention to processing negative information, 4 are more likely to think it’s true, 5 and to remember it. 6 Researchers argue that the strength of bad over good makes evolutionary sense and that humans are actually hardwired to be more psycho-physiologically aroused by negative news. 7

However, bad news is only influential when people are willing to consume it. A 2008 study of young people’s media habits by the Associated Press found that many complained about the negativity of news. They reported turning to satirical “fake news” outlets like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as an antidote to their “news fatigue.” 8

Negative framing has also demonstrated itself to be a risky strategy in the realm of political, humanitarian, and social change campaigns. Research on the impact of negative political messages shows mixed results. While some defend the efficacy of negative messaging, 9 others have found that negative messages cause audiences to stop seeking information. 10 In the field of humanitarian campaigns, researchers document compassion fatigue—when messages trigger a sense of hopelessness—or even a boomerang effect—when audiences resent being subjected to messages that evoke guilt. 11 Boomerang effects have also been associated with climate change communication, where dire messages about global warming appear to make people more skeptical about the phenomenon. 12 In health communication, audiences that consumed media which framed health issues negatively were found to have lower perceptions of their own efficacy or behavioral intent around seeking preventative care. 13

The outcome is ambiguous. Negative storytelling may be highly salient to audiences, but what audiences do with this information depends on a more complex web of factors.

Can News Be Good?

If humans are biased toward negativity, it follows that journalists are more likely to construct and curate negative news stories. Journalism often centers on documenting the problematic and acting as a watchdog, particularly the field’s “fourth estate” responsibility to keep citizens informed and hold government accountable. 14 While some journalists question traditional concepts of objectivity, news norms throughout the ages have remained relatively fixed. What is determined to be news generally does not include the “normal,” the “good day,” or positive stability. 15

Journalists, for good reason, can be resistant to efforts that deliberately showcase “good news” stories. Positive human-interest stories are often derogatorily labeled as puff pieces. These are tolerated—but are not regarded as serious journalism. Positive stories are frequently scrutinized as the potential outcomes of public relations initiatives 16 or advocacy journalism, which remains “a dirty word for legacy journalists.” 17 A series of movements, however, have come to fore in an attempt to push journalism toward not only highlighting problems but promoting solutions.

Peace Journalism

A group of scholars and journalists emerged in the 1960s and 1970s to challenge the conventions of news construction, and its reliance on negative references and conflict as a news value. Sociologist Johan Galtung, the driving force behind the movement, advocated for the practice of “peace journalism,” as opposed to the status quo that he called “war journalism.” 18 Galtung called for a shift in framing toward a model more akin to health reporting—where journalists are encouraged to explore causes and strategies for prevention of disease. 19 While peace journalism as a genre has many qualities in line with traditional ideas of responsible reporting, it does in some cases contain interventionist elements—for example, encouraging stories with an agreement-orientation versus only focusing on points of difference. 20 Critics of peace journalism suggest it subverts fundamental tenets of objectivity and places undue responsibility on journalists for correcting global ills. 21 But proponents of this and other strains of advocacy journalism say that objectivity is actually an obstacle which prevents journalism from playing a more constructive role in public life. 22

Civic or Public Journalism

In the 1990s another movement emerged that sought to place journalism as an active player in the functioning of democracy. Civic journalism (or public journalism) advocated a “bottom-up framing of the news,” which prioritized non-elite sources setting a “citizens’ agenda.” 23 One of its founding theorists, Jay Rosen, called upon journalists to:

address people as citizens, potential participants in public affairs, rather than victims or spectators; help the political community act upon, rather than just learn about, its problems; improve the climate of public discussion, rather than simply watching it deteriorate; make public life go well, so that it earns its claim on our attention. 24

This movement renewed a historical journalistic debate between Walter Lipmann and John Dewey over whether the journalist was just an observer, or rather an engaged actor who could shape public discourse. Civic journalism took the latter approach, arguing that reporters had a responsibility to craft their coverage so that the communities they represent engage with issues that impact them. A number of news outlets undertook civic/public journalism initiatives, and researchers noted cases that achieved success in sourcing greater numbers of non-elite and more diverse sources. Still, integrating civic/public practices into the mainstream of journalism remained a challenge. 25

Solutions Journalism

Solutions journalism builds on some of the concepts developed in peace and civic/public journalism. The Solutions Journalism Network, which was created in 2013 and has become a leading player in advancing the approach, defines solutions journalism as “rigorous and compelling reporting on responses to social problems.” 26 Solutions journalism stories—which can cover a range of local, national, and international issues—are not advocacy pieces or “good news” stories. Nevertheless, they are in sync with calls from journalism scholars like Herbert Gans that we broaden definitions of “newsworthiness” to include “solutions for the country’s problems—advanced by people outside the mainstream.” 27

The strongest solutions journalism stories use the rigor of investigative reporting to explore systemic, underlying reasons for social ills, and then critically examine efforts to address them. These are not stories about a problem that tack on a quick ending note as an afterthought about what could be done. Neither do they follow the formula identified by Gaye Tuchman, wherein media outlets present a solution as a way to “soothe the news consumers even as they reify social forces” by ensuring the public that “legitimated experts and authorities are doing everything they can.” 28

In recent years, a number of media organizations have adopted regular segments that either explicitly set out to create a platform for solutions journalism, or (at least) to highlight social entrepreneurship and problem solving efforts. 1 The Solutions Journalism Network has championed this genre, spearheading collaborations with mainstream outlets, including The Boston Globe , the Detroit Free Press , 29 and The Seattle Times . 30

Solutions journalism is also a potential revenue generator—offering something fresh for negative-news fatigued eyes hungry for positive innovation. The executive director of J-Lab, Jan Schaffer, who was previously a leader in the civic journalism movement, 31 suggests that solutions-oriented stories can engage audiences and offer possible new business models:

If one shifts the periscope from new business models for journalism to new journalism models for news, I see the convergence of several trends that are beginning to provoke a new conversation about whether journalists can—and should—craft a more deliberate suite of tools that inspire movement and action. And if these tools were effective, would citizens begin to pay as much for news as they pay to go to, say, a TED conference? 32

The Solutions Journalism Network believes solutions journalism can sell: “People are likely to pay for news that helps them understand how the world works.” 33

At the heart of solutions-oriented journalism is an assumption that a solutions news frame will encourage greater audience engagement. J-Lab’s Schaffer points to examples of community participation in stories that focused on the redesign of streetscapes in Milwaukee and efforts to aid preschool enrollment in Chicago. 34 The Knight Foundation posed the question: “The real challenge is, how do we move people from informed to engaged?” It thinks solutions-oriented journalism may offer the answer. 35 Solutions Journalism Network co-founder David Bornstein sees journalism as “a feedback mechanism to help society self-correct” and believes that knowing about the problem alone is unlikely to generate corrective action. “People need to know what they can do—and how,” he said. 36

There has been limited empirical research into how audiences respond to solutions journalism. Preliminary research conducted by the Solution Journalism Network and the University of Texas at Austin’s Engaging News Project revealed that readers of solutions-oriented stories felt more informed, and were more likely to share what they read and seek more information. 37 However, there is a lack of research on how solutions journalism can be applied at the level of local and ethnic media—a level at which community members learn about issues closest to home and have the greatest chance of affecting change.

Why Local News Matters

Local-level news is the focus of this study, primarily because communication theory suggests it is critical to the maintenance of healthy communities. A lack of media discourse reflecting the concerns of local residents poses barriers not only to residents’ access to information, but also to their sense of community belonging and engagement. 38 According to communication infrastructure theory, strong communities have strong storytelling networks—that is, residents, local and ethnic media, and community organizations are connected to each other and share an understanding about what is happening in their area. Researchers have found that residents’ connection to a shared storytelling network can predict higher levels of belonging, collective efficacy, and civic participation. 39 However, in communities like South Los Angeles, these networks become problematic when the link between organizations and media is weak, the networks are ethnically bounded, or the content of the stories circulating is overwhelmingly negative. 40 Residents who connect to such storytelling networks tend to be less engaged and lack a sense of belonging.

This study aims to contribute to the development of a model for healthier local storytelling networks. It responds to concerns about a dearth of constructive local coverage around both community problems and systematic efforts to address these challenges. The project explores how audiences process stories that have both been developed with input from community organizations and employ a solutions-oriented lens, as well as how the same audiences process local coverage of similar issues that use more traditional formats.

Research questions include:

• How do South LA residents process media coverage of their communities?
• How do South LA residents process stories that use a solutions-oriented journalistic format?

Our project builds upon research the Metamorphosis Project 41 has been doing on the communication needs of residents in South LA and other diverse communities since 1998. It follows an attempt by the Metamorphosis Project to strengthen the South LA storytelling network in two ways. First, the project brought community organizations together with local and ethnic media for a series of workshops, which helped all the participants to overcome communications barriers that have plagued the story “pitching” process by giving them a shared language and greater understanding of their intersecting community interests. Second, the workshops facilitated the production of a series of stories leading up to the fiftieth anniversary of the Watts riots (“Watts Revisited”) and ensured that these stories were solutions-oriented.

To understand how South LA audiences responded to the stories that came out of this collaboration and how residents would process the solutions journalism format more broadly, a series of six focus group discussions centered around a story 2 …adapted from the “Watts Revisited” collaboration. 42 Two versions of the story were edited to offer examples of either A) a solutions-oriented story or B) a non-solutions version of the same story. 3 … While both stories examined the issue of vacant lots and the lack of outdoor spaces where children can play in South LA, only the solutions version looked at efforts to transform vacant lots into parks (see the Appendix for sample text).

Focus group participants, recruited with the assistance of community organizations, included a total of forty-eight African-American and Latino South LA adults (twenty-three women, twenty-five men; ages twenty-one to fifty-nine) who had lived in the area for a minimum of two years and reported at least occasionally reading news articles. Participants were assigned to groups clustered by ethnicity and language—three African-American groups (English-language) and three Latino groups (one Spanish-language and two English-language, in accordance with participants’ language preferences). Moderators for each group were Los Angeles natives and shared the participants’ ethnic background.

Upon arrival, participants in four of the six groups read the solutions version of the story before beginning the discussion. The other two control groups first read the non-solutions version. After volunteering their own media practices and attitudes toward how outlets cover South LA, the groups discussed the stories they read. After this, they were given the alternate version of the story to read and discuss, before being introduced to and invited to reflect upon the concept of solutions journalism. All focus groups were videotaped and transcribed. Transcripts were then thematically coded and analyzed.

Research Findings

Preliminary analysis of our findings offers insights into how residents of a stigmatized community navigate and interpret local coverage, and the opportunities and limitations of solutions journalism to engage these audiences.

Coping with Media Stigmatization

While many U.S. residents are distrustful of the media, 4 the cynicism of South LA residents is grounded in a history of media portrayals that depict the high-poverty area as rife with violence, crime, and civil unrest. Focus group participants revealed how this media coverage impacts their interpretation of the news they consume.

Overall, participants expressed dissatisfaction with how South LA is covered. 5 … Many pointed to a disconnect between media portrayals and their experiences. As one woman explained, “You’re looking like, well, dang isn’t there anything positive in South LA? I know there’s a lot going on positive over here. Why are we not seeing that on the news? Why do we always see the bad stuff?” 43

This is not to say there was no interest in or value placed on negative news. Several participants spoke of using news about crime or violence to judge if there were particular parts of their neighborhood they should avoid due to safety concerns. For example, one woman referenced an incident in the summer of 2015 when threats and rumors circulated on social media and mainstream news about “one hundred days and one hundred nights” of retaliatory gang violence. “I appreciate that you’re informing me about that situation so I know,” she said. News reports warned her that some of the neighborhoods she frequented might have been affected by violence: “It stopped me from walking into an ambush. I stopped going, and that way I didn’t have to put myself in harm’s way.” 44

However, many mentioned a gap between their observed experience and what is reported. A few cited examples of what they viewed as newsworthy events, both positive (e.g., a festival) and negative (e.g., a shooting), that they had witnessed firsthand but which never made the news. Some attributed this disconnect to the commercial priorities of media, while others were openly suspicious of the media’s motives. As one man said, “They keep you out of focus on what’s really going on.” 45 Many lamented news’s emphasis on entertainment, though some acknowledged continuing to consume this type of content anyway. Participants were critical of news media’s (and particularly television news’s) “circus”-like quality, its lack of investigation or follow-up coverage, or attempts to hold responsible parties accountable.

For these residents, dissatisfaction with local news is about more than a lack of quality coverage. Several participants spoke of local media as harmful, and as a contributor to racialized representations. One man explained:

It’s a lot of weight coming from negative exposure to media …It can have a heavy, negative mental or psychological effect on you. You have stuff going on in your own life, but then you hear about something bad that’s happening and it’s not even related to you. It can make it feel even worse. 46

Others spoke of how the negative coverage stigmatizes residents to outsiders: “It makes us look like mostly criminals live around South LA,” said a twenty-year-old Latino participant. 47 Another focus group member referenced watching television with his grandmother: “I’ll hear her say things like, ‘Lord, have mercy’ … I see the pain that she feels for people she doesn’t even know.” A young African-American man said while watching TV he felt moved by the racialized nature of news coverage:

I get filled with a bunch of emotions when I see the biased opinion of the media—when, say, a white guy goes out and starts shooting at places, they probably wouldn’t even show his picture. But if it was an African-American male, he would be blasted all over the media as an infamous person. 48

Several participants lamented the lack of articulate community members representing them in the news. A fifty-six-year-old man recounted an incident where a reporter was looking for someone to react to an event in a park. “He picked out the cat that’s been sleeping on the bench all day to describe what just happened. And I’m standing right there. I’m fresh, I’m pressed … I’m literate,” he said, adding that the media perpetuates negative representations by “picking the worst grape” of the bunch. 49 Others suggested this phenomenon is worsened by those reporters covering South LA, who tend to be outsiders to the area; they’re reportedly distant from the community, don’t take issues seriously, and at times even exacerbate local tensions by appearing to favor one group over another.

One participant felt that, as a young African-American man, some news personalities are disrespectful to people like himself. He said he tried to avoid news reported by journalists whom he felt “would dismiss me on the same topic.” He cited an example of television news he was watching about violence between African-American and Latino gangs. At the end of the story, the reporter, who was Latina, “made a comment that was, like, really offensive … something about leaving a ‘black eye on the community,’ ” he said. Given the reporter’s own ethnic background, he interpreted this as a racial slur and suggested insensitive comments by journalists could “create barriers.” 50

Accounting for the problematic nature of local media coverage, residents have developed various strategies for finding out about the happenings in their communities. While some said their distrust causes them to limit their news intake and thus minimize the “stress” of negative coverage, others spoke of seeking out alternative sources. A few mentioned alternative weeklies and ethnic newspapers, particularly as ways to connect to positive community events. Several described how the Internet allows them to access a greater array of sources, which are largely seen as more trustworthy than local television news. For example, one woman said she avoided television because she thought it was too “sensationalist”:

I know that if I go [onto] the Internet I will find more veracity. I will not run only into one agency, but I will find many. For example, my brothers send me links and tell me, “Go here and go there.” So then I go … find a different opinion from the other news—that news is manipulated to interest the people. 51

For her, the Internet also offers a way for trusted, interpersonal connections to mediate news sources—vetting them and giving them more authority. For many, interpersonal sources accessed both through face-to-face interaction and social media were considered the most reliable methods for learning about local information and verifying other sources. Those participants who consume legacy media described doing so with oppositional readings. For example, one man spoke of laughing through television broadcasts viewed as incomplete or disingenuous—and then calling his friends or family to find out what was “really” going on. 52

Critical Optimism and Solutions Journalism

In contrast to general perceptions of media coverage, most respondents expressed appreciation for the solutions-oriented story introduced in the focus group. A number of participants said the article about abandoned lots and efforts to transform them into parks made them think about how they themselves could get involved with the issue. “What came to my mind is how I could volunteer,” said one person. 53 Others looked beyond the particular case presented to other possibilities for community action: “You can look forward to changing something yourself if you have the same goal in mind.” 54

Those groups that were first asked to read the non-solutions version of the story—which only discussed challenges presented by vacant lots and did not include efforts to address the problem—often, unprompted, suggested the story would have been better had it included solutions. Several volunteered prompts for how they would tell the story differently by including ideas for how to develop the lots to serve community needs. Meanwhile, some participants pointed out that even the non-solutions version of the story was more valuable than the “typical” South LA news piece[6] focused on crime and social ills, because at least it incorporated articulate voices from community members affected by the issue. According to these participants, the non-solutions version of the story did not function as an average baseline of typical coverage. While they welcomed solutions journalism, they acknowledged that even negative coverage would be an improvement over the status quo if it were more in-depth and inclusive of community perspectives.

Solutions journalism’s problem solving orientation resonated with what several participants offered as the ideal role of news. They suggested that the purpose of news should be to go beyond traditional notions of journalistic objectivity. Some said news has a responsibility to facilitate positive community change and civic engagement. One participant noted that “news needs to be an actual participant in what’s happening rather than just reporting on it …it needs to be a part of the change.” 55 A few expressed seemingly contradictory ideas. For example, one group reached a consensus that it was the job of the media to do no more than “tell the truth”—while at the same time the media also had a responsibility to “make us aware and give us a solution.” 56 Participants reflected many of the controversies and contradictions embedded within strands of journalism. Overall, though, their ideas regarding a journalist’s role resonated more with solutions journalism, civic journalism, and peace journalism camps than with traditional schools of objective journalism.

While there was enthusiasm for the particular solutions-oriented story discussed and the larger concept of solutions journalism, we also heard reservations. Residents were quick to situate solutions offered in the context of the larger scope and scale of systemic challenges facing South Los Angeles. As one fifty-six-year-old man pointed out, “That’s just, like, one story … Where we come from, that’s like a drop in the bucket.” 57

A critical concern was that solutions-oriented stories must be careful not to neglect a detailed exploration of the problem or to suggest there is not a continued need to press for action. “If all of it is positive, it kind of glossed over the problem,” said a fifty-nine-year old Latino participant. “It kind of also gives you a feeling of ‘oh, no problem … it’s taking care of itself.’ ” 58 This concern resonates with Tuchman’s critical assessment of positive story elements—or the assurance that authorities are doing “everything they can” as a way of undercutting action or discontent from audiences. 59 The participant cautioned that stories need to offer a mix of both positive potential solutions and analysis of more negative social problems:

You gotta be able to handle bad news. You can’t be like, “Oh, I don’t want to hear that because I might get depressed.” It’s not realistic to expect everything to be sunshine and lollipops in life. Anybody who’s grown up around here should know that already, but you gotta get the information out no matter what the impact is. 60

Residents also had ideas about how solutions journalism could go further to critically challenge assumptions about South LA. After reading just one story, a selection of participants did not feel its impact would be sufficient as a standalone model. Instead, they suggested including more follow-up coverage and integrating community input.

Despite seeing a need for improvement, most panelists suggested they would be more likely to read or watch solutions-oriented stories if given the opportunity. They also said they would discuss solutions journalism stories with friends and families: “It offers more of a platform not to just discuss it, but … to tell them of how we can get involved to try to change it or trying to make something different.” 61 Some even suggested that solutions journalism, and efforts to solicit community input on solutions, could help to strengthen connections in otherwise fragmented communities. “It would actually bring the community … back together.” 62

Recommendations and Conclusions

This series of discussions offers an opportunity to learn from residents in an underprivileged area whose voices are rarely heard reflecting constructively on how their own community’s story is told. Those interviewed gave advice for how the media could better cover their South LA neighborhood and reflected on their particular media preferences and practices. From these conversations, we can offer the following recommendations for media outlets, as well as those organizations working with media:

• Adopting the Metamorphosis Project model of strengthening “storytelling networks” between community organizations, local/ethnic media, and residents is a primary way to develop local, community-based solutions journalism. These network connections are critical to long-term impacts on civic engagement and local involvement.
• Expanding engagement opportunities for resident involvement in various stages of story development and dissemination is one method for strengthening this model. Residents and organizations should be given opportunities to learn how to connect with media. Community foundations should invest in workshops that train community members around the best ways to communicate with journalists, and journalists to effectively listen to communities. This should create critical feedback loops that are cultivated over the long term.
• In underserved communities of color where audiences feel neglected and even harmed by traditional media coverage, solutions journalism offers a pathway to rebuild constructive and mutually beneficial relationships of greater trust. Even while looking for positive outcomes, reporters should take care to include thorough analysis of social problems as part of their coverage.
• Journalists seeking local sources in traditionally stigmatized communities should consider whom they ask to speak for that community, and, when appropriate, seek articulate and knowledgeable representatives. Reporters should be careful that while pursuing “characters” for a story they do not uncritically reproduce negative stereotypes.
• Local solutions journalism requires an investment in local reporting resources to enable follow-up coverage and the development of lasting relationships with communities beyond one-time stories. In addition, to cultivate trust within underrepresented areas, media must seek to develop reporters who come from the communities they report on—or, at minimum, enable reporters to embed themselves within communities in a way that allows them to be responsive to local sensitivities and concerns regarding representation.

Complementing these recommendations, additional research on local solutions journalism could further our understanding of the format’s potential. Future research might benefit from comparing the cumulative consumption of media diets that have either a greater number of solutions-oriented stories or more traditional stories in a longitudinal study. Such research may include a second control group—making for a total of three types of stories:

• solutions-oriented;
• a non-solutions, problem-oriented, or “bad news” story; and
• a “good news” story that highlights exceptional individuals doing positive things, usually without critical analysis or discussion of systemic change.

This would allow for an exploration of the hypothesis that readers of both “bad” and “good” news stories are likely to become or remain disengaged when they come away with a sense that there is nothing to be done. This research would require care to insure significant variance between good news and solutions-oriented stories, and additional resources to hold more focus groups. Lastly, the research could include study of local television and Internet sources to assess the broader potential for local solutions journalism, and potentially the circulation and validation of stories within social networks.

Studies such as the current one could be duplicated in multiple areas of the same city (for example, in a more affluent area such as West LA) to see how residents from different ethnic and class backgrounds respond to stories which are in close proximity but concern the “other.” Research might explore how residents react given that they are likely implicated in the power dynamics of the story (public resources may have historically been diverted to their neighborhoods; they may have greater resources to contribute to problem solving, etc.).

Finally, researchers should take care not to assume that questions developed for studies of national or international news can be applied without substantial adaptation to local contexts where audiences have firsthand experience with subject matter, and place-specific histories and power relationships with media.

Solutions-oriented journalism does not offer a magic bullet for engaging audiences as either media consumers or civic actors. We believe, however, that particularly in communities with a long history of overwhelmingly negative coverage stories featuring community perspectives that take a critical look at responses to social problems offer an opportunity to strengthen connections between residents, media, and community organizations. At the end of our discussion sessions, participants asked us how they could learn more about the issues raised in these stories. Many wanted to get involved. We hope our study showcases a few insights for media, other researchers, and community organizations as they explore how local news can become a more constructive actor in engaged and informed communities.

The following has been adapted from Deepa Fernandes’s story “Groups Work to Turn South LA Lots into Children’s Playgrounds,” broadcast on KPCC on April 30, 2015. The story was edited for length, and names of community members involved in the original piece have been changed. What follows was presented to focus group participants as an example of a solutions journalism story.

Sample Solutions Story

Empty space in South Los Angeles

For decades, an odd-shaped lot on King Boulevard in South Los Angeles sat vacant. Though fenced off from trespassers, trash collected inside its borders and the weeds grew brown and brittle. The property is one of thousands of parcels landowners have abandoned or left vacant, some in the wake of the Watt riots of summer 1965. Almost 3,000 lots sit vacant in South L. A. In comparison, West L.A. has 134 vacant lots and the Wilshire Miracle Mile district has 310 vacant lots.

Some community organizers are turning these abandoned spaces into play areas for young children and their families. Organizers Loretta Coleman and Alex Rosario met up recently at one of their projects: Serenity Park located next to railway tracks in Watts, where moms and dads can exercise on outdoor fitness equipment while their children enjoy state-of-the-art play structures. Coleman and Rosario want to see a similar metamorphosis at the King Boulevard lot. Last December, organizers turned it into a pop-up soccer field, with a concert stage in one corner and a kiddy play area in another. These day-long takeovers have been a hit with local residents, and fired up a growing movement to reclaim vacant lots for community betterment.

Tanya Kielser manages projects for The Public Land Alliance, the land conservation nonprofit that Watts residents sought out to help tackle the lack of park space in their communities. Kielser said Watts is a classic case of a “park-poor neighborhood.” “In an ideal world, everyone would have a park within a 10-minute walk of their home,” Kielser said.

“Within a half mile of the Watts Serenity Park, there were zero acres of park space per thousand people,” Kielser said. “The minimum standard for park acreage is four acres per 1,000 people.” Working with the community, Kielser and her team identified a suitable vacant plot and tracked down the owner. They got the plot appraised, wrote a state grant and bought the land for $875,000. Six years, and almost $5 million later, the blighted lot was transformed into Serenity Park.

On a recent morning, Marian Carter and her two toddlers were out enjoying Serenity Park. Carter lives in the Nickerson Gardens, a sprawling public housing complex nearby. “From our side of the community, from like Compton Avenue and Central, this is the nicest thing we have,” she said. Carter said she visits Serenity Park every single day. She works out on the fitness equipment while her children, Brianna, 3, and Kayla, 1, bounce between the swings and the sand pits. It’s a gated park and small enough that Carter can see her kids playing as she exercises. “I even tell my friends, I’m not going to 24 Hour Fitness. I’m not going to Bally’s. I’m going to the park in the neighborhood. It’s absolutely free and the kids can play closed in,” she said.

Research behind outdoor play

A growing body of scientific literature suggests that children like Brianna and Kayla will benefit from exposure to the outdoors.

Researcher and writer Richard Louv catalogues evidence in his book “Last Child in the Woods.” Louv said the literature finds an “impact on ADD, on obesity, on creativity, on the ability to learn, on cognitive functioning, on mental health in particular” in children who did not have regular outdoor play. “I think children, no matter where they live, have a human right to the positive benefits of experiences in nature,” Louv said.

Those benefits, he said, include a healthier immune system from playing in—and ostensibly ingesting—dirt. There has even been research that shows bacteria or infectious diseases, commonly shared between toddlers and preschoolers, are lessened when children are outdoors more.

Playing outdoors generally means children are more physically active. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 90 to 120 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity for preschoolers during their typical eight-hour day in child care. The American Association of Pediatrics promotes this CDC guideline and preschools are expected to follow. But in South Los Angeles, few children attend preschool or child care, which means many children under 5 hang out at home given the dearth of parks.

Karen Deaver, former executive director of the Children’s Environmental Center, warns that in addition to physical health, a lack of unstructured outdoor play may have a negative effect on children’s development. “Nature provides all kinds of materials that are not uniform in size which fires up different parts of the brain,” she said.

Two decades ago, Deaver said, parents didn’t question the need to send a child outside to play, and run out their excess energy. “We know now that it’s much more than blowing off steam. It’s absolutely crucial for development because we know now that the children who are not getting those experiences are not doing as well and are not as ready for school,” she said. “Having outdoor experiences is on par with having food, water, shelter and safety,” Deaver said. Organizers say concerns like these add to the urgency of redeveloping vacant lots in South Los Angeles—so more children and families can benefit from spaces like Serenity Park.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the Tow Center for Digital Journalism—and, in particular, Claire Wardle and Pete Brown—for the support and thoughtful feedback. The project would not have been possible without the collaboration of Dr. Sandra Ball-Rokeach and the researchers of the Metamorphosis Project at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, who devoted considerable time and resources to conducting focus groups. Thanks also to our South Los Angeles community partners, including the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, Community Services Unlimited, Esperanza Community Housing, All Peoples Community Center, Community Health Councils, Community Coalition, and Trust South LA. Thanks to our media partners, including KPCC, Hoy, La Opinión, the Los Angeles Sentinel, Southwest Wave , and Intersections South LA. Finally, thanks to the Solutions Journalism Network for sharing input on its research to date and our project design.

i Some of these would fall short of strict definitions of solutions-oriented journalism (i.e., they may occasionally mix in good news stories focused on exceptional individuals rather than systemic change): https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference ; https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/ ; https://www.wbez.org/series/global-activism ; https://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/whats-working/.

ii The original story from which we adapted our sample solutions-oriented story: https://www.scpr.org/news/2015/04/30/50927/groups-work-to-turn-south-la-lots-into-children-s/

iii This A/B story model was adapted from the Solutions Journalism Network and Engaging News model. Thanks to both the SJN and Engaging News staff members for offering input on sample stories as we attempted to ensure the stories met a similar standard apart from the solution versus non-solution formatting styles.

iv A November 2015 Pew survey found that 65 percent of respondents believed the national news media has a negative effect on the United States: https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/beyond-distrust-how-americans-view-their-government/ .

v Names of all focus group participants have been changed.

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Expert Commentary

Committee of Concerned Journalists: The principles of journalism

In 1997 the Committee of Concerned Journalists began a national conversation to identify the principles that underlie journalism.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Leighton Walter Kille, The Journalist's Resource November 26, 2009

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In 1997 the Carnegie-Knight Task Force, then administered by the Project for Excellence in Journalism , began a national conversation to identify and clarify the principles that underlie journalism.  After four years of research, including 20 public forums around the country, a national survey of journalists and more, the group released a Statement of Shared Purpose that identified nine principles. These became the basis for The Elements of Journalism , a book by PEJ director Tom Rosenstiel and CCJ chairman and PEJ senior counselor Bill Kovach.

Here are those principles, as outlined in the original Statement of Shared Purpose.

Statement of Purpose

The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society. This encompasses myriad roles — helping define community; creating common language and common knowledge; identifying a community’s goals, heros and villains; and pushing people beyond complacency. This purpose also involves other requirements, such as being entertaining, serving as watchdog and offering voice to the voiceless.

Over time journalists have developed nine core principles to meet the task. They comprise what might be described as the theory of journalism:

1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth

Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can — and must — pursue it in a practical sense. This “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for now, subject to further investigation. Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of expanding voices, accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else is built — context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate. The truth, over time, emerges from this forum. As citizens encounter an ever greater flow of data, they have more need — not less — for identifiable sources dedicated to verifying that information and putting it in context.

2. Its first loyalty is to citizens

While news organizations answer to many constituencies, including advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favor. This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization’s credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not slanted for friends or advertisers. Commitment to citizens also means journalism should present a representative picture of all constituent groups in society. Ignoring certain citizens has the effect of disenfranchising them. The theory underlying the modern news industry has been the belief that credibility builds a broad and loyal audience, and that economic success follows in turn. In that regard, the business people in a news organization also must nurture — not exploit — their allegiance to the audience ahead of other considerations.

3. Its essence is a discipline of verification

Journalists rely on a professional discipline for verifying information. When the concept of objectivity originally evolved, it did not imply that journalists are free of bias. It called, rather, for a consistent method of testing information — a transparent approach to evidence — precisely so that personal and cultural biases would not undermine the accuracy of their work. The method is objective, not the journalist. Seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment, all signal such standards. This discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment. But the need for professional method is not always fully recognized or refined. While journalism has developed various techniques for determining facts, for instance, it has done less to develop a system for testing the reliability of journalistic interpretation.

4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover

Independence is an underlying requirement of journalism, a cornerstone of its reliability. Independence of spirit and mind, rather than neutrality, is the principle journalists must keep in focus. While editorialists and commentators are not neutral, the source of their credibility is still their accuracy, intellectual fairness and ability to inform — not their devotion to a certain group or outcome. In our independence, however, we must avoid any tendency to stray into arrogance, elitism, isolation or nihilism.

5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power

Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose power and position most affect citizens. The Founders recognized this to be a rampart against despotism when they ensured an independent press; courts have affirmed it; citizens rely on it. As journalists, we have an obligation to protect this watchdog freedom by not demeaning it in frivolous use or exploiting it for commercial gain.

6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise

The news media are the common carriers of public discussion, and this responsibility forms a basis for our special privileges. This discussion serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It also should strive to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate. Accuracy and truthfulness require that as framers of the public discussion we not neglect the points of common ground where problem solving occurs.

7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant

Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather an audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but need. In short, it must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. The effectiveness of a piece of journalism is measured both by how much a work engages its audience and enlightens it. This means journalists must continually ask what information has most value to citizens and in what form. While journalism should reach beyond such topics as government and public safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and false significance ultimately engenders a trivial society.

8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional

Keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are also cornerstones of truthfulness. Journalism is a form of cartography: it creates a map for citizens to navigate society. Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative all make a less reliable map. The map also should include news of all our communities, not just those with attractive demographics. This is best achieved by newsrooms with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. The map is only an analogy; proportion and comprehensiveness are subjective, yet their elusiveness does not lessen their significance.

9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience

Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility — a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues, whether in the newsroom or the executive suite. News organizations do well to nurture this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their minds. This stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to understand and accurately cover an increasingly diverse society. It is this diversity of minds and voices, not just numbers, that matters.

10. Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news

This principle was added to the original nine principles when The Elements of Journalism was revised in April 2007.

This article is based on one from Pew Research Center ‘s Project for Excellence in Journalism . 

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How to teach your students the solutions journalism framework

Give them a leg up with this evidence-based, rigorously researched accountability reporting.

I thought I understood solutions journalism . I’ve read a lot about it, have seen a few presentations about it, and not one, but two of my brilliant former J-school students (Mikhael Simmonds and Allen Arthur) work for the Solutions Journalism Network . However, after attending the Solutions Journalism Educators Academy recently, I realized that my simplistic concept of sojo — “Don’t stop at reporting on the problems, report the solutions too,” —  didn’t come close to a true appreciation of sojo’s concepts and value.

The academy, an initiative of The Catalyst Journalism Project at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, reinforced for me the fact that you never deeply understand things as well as when you have to teach them to someone else. 

My immersive experience in how to teach solutions journalism taught me that sojo is an invigorating type of rigorous reporting that journalists can offer to audiences in support of democracy. 

It’s also obvious to me now that solutions journalism’s story formula can help journalism students overcome many common problems we educators help them grapple with: focusing on a story instead of a topic, interviewing with confidence, understanding the importance of news research, and how and where to use the research in their stories.

Three Oregon professors —   Nicole Dahmen , Brent Walth and Kathryn Thier — led the virtual two-day Educators Academy. This team has built and shares an impressive amount of resources for teaching sojo (lessons, syllabi, events, activities, assignments) incorporating the vast resources that the Solutions Journalism Network provides. Dahmen, Walth and Thier shared the Four Pillars of SoJo: Response, Evidence, Insight, Limitations with my cohort of educators.

Within these pillars and other insights that the professors shared are some keys that can help our students master some of the toughest reporting challenges.

Focus your story on the response 

Within the first half hour, I understood the most critical feature of sojo: Focus your story on a response to a societal problem, and the slice of the problem this solution aims to address .

Solutions journalism is “rigorous reporting on evidence-based responses to societal problems.” Within sojo, you still report on the problem, your reporting holds people accountable and you still confront “uncomfortable truths,” yet your story is focused on problem-solving, community building, what responses work, which aren’t working, and where change has been possible. Local audiences also want to see and hear stories about solutions to problems .

Finding stories becomes more targeted, too. Think of a large societal problem, like homelessness. Then search for disruptors, organizations and entrepreneurs that are responding with a solution to a particular aspect of the problem, like the difficulty of getting an accurate count of people experiencing homelessness .

Researching and confident interviewing — where’s the evidence?

The evidence pillar of sojo can reinforce for students that they need to rigorously research and interview people (the innovators, the beneficiaries of the innovation and experts) to get to the data and anecdotal evidence that explains and supports your findings on whether this innovation is working. “Built for Zero is working with 83 communities across the U.S. With the disciplined data format, five cities have ended chronic homelessness, 12 have ended veteran homelessness, and three have ended both.”

The academy also introduced us to the “appreciative inquiry” style of interviewing , which is “relational vs. transactional, focuses on what is possible; sourcing is from within the community, focused on listening to the community, and on finding solutions from the community.” Students can overcome interview anxiety and gain confidence by focusing their interviews on questions like, “Tell me how this works. Why do you do what you do? Why is your program important? What is possible?” Our sojo academy professors told us that “interviewing for solutions is much easier than interviewing for problems.”

Interview subjects are taken off guard by the future-focused questions, and by “looping” (revisiting an important interview question) for clearer, more incisive answers and trust-building .

Sojo’s insight pillar answers an essential question students have: Where do you use your research in the story? Along with presenting detailed evidence about the response and its effectiveness, a good solutions journalism story should give insight into the challenges, struggles and lessons learned. As well as looking at the evidence and insights on how well the response is performing, your sojo story should include evidence and insight into a response that is working (if this one isn’t).

Limitations

A good sojo story uses evidence from research and interviews to address the limitations of the response. One of the most important limitations to identify is how “portable” the response is. Can an effective response in one city be implemented in other cities?

‘Objectivity is the process, not the outcome.’

I highly recommend that you apply for the 2022 Solutions Journalism Educators Academy, and engage with the Solutions Journalism Network . Now I have a deep understanding of solutions journalism, which is not advocacy journalism.

Sojo is rigorously reported and evidence-based. It focuses on responses designed to tackle “slices” of the most enduring and compelling problems society faces. Sojo has characters, but does not focus on heroes and villains. I believe that sojo, focused on what is working and what the future may hold, is a profound and inspiring record we have to offer to our students, our audiences and to humanity.

I remember a quote from Walth’s presentation on investigative reporting and sojo (which complement each other separately and in that order, rather than tackling an investigation and sojo in the same article): “Objectivity is the process, not the outcome,” which I think will resonate with our students and the communities to whom we reveal the truth.

The four pillars of a good sojo story also happen to give students a scaffolding that will help them grasp some of the most essential elements of all good journalism: finding a story’s focus; interviewing with confidence; researching a story rigorously to provide context, detail and history; and using research and interviews to support findings with evidence.

PolitiFact launches Spanish-language website to serve more than 40 million U.S. Spanish-speakers

PolitiFact en Español is also active on WhatsApp, TikTok and Instagram to sort out political and social media claims

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They said they wouldn’t get caught up in the horse race coverage this year. But some new polls have the media buzzing.

Jay-Z didn’t bribe country radio stations to play Beyoncé’s songs. This claim started as satire

The first two singles from ‘Cowboy Carter’ landed on Billboard’s country charts. Some social posts claimed they didn’t get there on their own merit.

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Experts believe the worm was Taenia solium, or a pork tapeworm larva. This worm does not ‘eat’ brain tissue. ​

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Story Craft

January 6, 2023, if journalism is part of the problem, can it be part of the solution, it is not enough for stories to expose problems to societal problems; they should explore how people tackle those problems.

By Lauren Kessler

Tagged with

Sigmund via Unsplash

That’s Molly Ivins writing in “You Got to Dance With Them That Brung You.” Who doesn’t love Molly Ivins?

(That is a rhetorical question.)

Ivins was writing about politics, which she did for years with bracing intelligence liberally spiced with snark. (Political-leaning pun intended.) But she could have been making an argument for what is called solutions journalism or constructive journalism. I believe it is the kind of work we should all be doing. I believe it is the work we must be doing.

Here’s how the non-profit Solutions Journalism Network defines this approach: “…rigorous, evidence-based reporting on the responses to social problems” the mission of which is “to transform journalism so that all people have access to news that helps them envision and build a more equitable world.” You will probably agree that Molly’s version has a bit more bite to it.

Solutions Journalism may not be a household/newsroom word, but it is not a new concept. In 2010, New York Times journalists  David Bornstein  and  Tina Rosenberg  launched a column called “Fixes” that focused on solutions to problems — from affordable housing to unhealthy food in prisons —and explored whether the efforts to mitigate these problems were working. In 2013 they helped establish the Solutions Journalism Network to further this approach. In the years that followed, news outlets around the country began to publish solutions-oriented stories.

But shrinking newsrooms, vanishing news outlets and the resource-heavy burden of thoughtful, in-depth reporting like this leads me to want to reinforce the case for solutions journalism and to shout it from the (virtual) hilltops.

Limits to making people care

We live in such perilous times, enmeshed in what seem to be unsolvable problems, brought to our knees by daily tragedies, deafened by rancorous rhetoric. If there ever was a time for journalists to step up — really step up — it is now. We need to consider not just what we write about but how we write about it, how we frame it. I think the key to reporting on any persistent difficult issue facing us now and beyond is reframing how we talk about it in order to truly engage and empower our audiences.

The old approach was MAKE THEM AWARE! Tell people how bad things are, and things will change. This is often a narrative of statistics, those jaw-dropping numbers that show the impact of what we are doing to the planet, how many people are sleeping on the streets, how many opioid overdoses, how many mass shootings.

The statistics represent people. But statistics are very easy to distance oneself from. And the bigger the number, the harder it is for people to understand and relate. Here’s an example: Internet users generate about   2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day. What does that mean? How do we wrap our minds around it? Does it matter? Should it matter?

We’re learning that statistics don’t move people.

Plus: We’re learning that statistics don’t move people. As a Forbes magazine article so cleverly put it: Why Storytelling Beats Statistics, But Only 100% Of The Time .

We have tried the make-them-aware approach by presenting readers with numbers, assaulting them with scary research and overloading them with disturbing comments from experts. If they just knew , we think. But it is increasingly obvious that this doesn’t work. Everyone who wants to know already knows. Those who don’t know (or don’t trust the “messenger”) cannot be reached or persuaded otherwise.

The next approach journalism tried was MAKE PEOPLE CARE!! Show readers that others (individuals, families, communities, etc.) are being affected by an issue or abuse, and they will care and things will change. How did we do that? Through heart-wrenching stories of disaster. We basically batter readers with trauma through words and images and sound. We also have now a generation of research that shows how this approach does not work.

In a previous essay for Storyboard, I wrote about the work of decision scientist Paul Slovic who pioneered the study of what he calls “psychic numbing” and what others of us call “compassion exhaustion.” This is actually a protective psychological response embedded in humans: How much can we care and cry and feel pain about the stories of others? It turns out there is a limit. Nonprofits have long specialized in this kind of messaging — but many of those they are trying to reach have been numbed by it. It’s not that they don’t care; it’s that there’s a limit to how much one can care.

So what can we do?

Stories can empower people

Enter solutions journalism. We need to be showing our audience — those who are already aware, those who maybe started off caring but have become psychically numb — that there are people, communities, tribes, organizations, etc. out there working on, experimenting with, learning from both successful and not-so-successful attempts to tackle the problems we all face. This is storytelling that EMPOWERS PEOPLE.

This kind of storytelling is nuanced. It is, obviously, about “solutions” and alternatives. But beneath, or maybe beyond, all that, it is about resilience and empowerment. Our audiences need to see that as individuals, as members of their families, as organizations and communities, they have power  — and they can wield that power.

Our audiences need to see that as individuals, as members of their families, as organizations and communities, they have power — and they can wield that power.

Readers see this when we write about solutions, when they see others exerting their power. Blasting people with dire statistics and traumatic stories actually robs them of a feeling of agency or self-efficacy. Reframing the way we tell stories can give back a sense of power and engagement.

Does this solutions approach smack of advocacy? Yes. Sort of. But what it advocates is for societal engagement — engagement with engagement with issues, involvement in community and commitment to facing and mitigating the problems that plague us. It does not advocate a political, philosophical or religious position. The “cause” it promotes is citizenship.

Also important to understand: Solutions-framed journalism is not what is criticized or dismissed as happy news or feel-good journalism. There is room for these cheerful stories, and plenty of serious publications are paying heed. Talking Heads cofounder David Byrne launched a website called “Reasons to be Cheerful,” filled with good-news content. “It often seems like the world is going straight to hell,” he told Rolling Stone . “Hell, I wake up in the morning, I look at the paper, and…often I’m depressed all day.” Columbia Journalism Review, in covering this happy landscape , reports that Mother Jones has a newsletter focusing on positive news; the Washington Post has one filled with “inspiring” stories.

But solutions journalism stories are not heart-warming, smiley-face tales of success. They are complex, up-and-down narratives of efforts made, challenges faced, dead ends encountered, bridges burned, bridges built, persistence (maybe) rewarded, lessons learned.

Lighting a path forward

A year ago, The New York Times launched an inventive, interactive twist to Solutions Journalism, an initiative called “Headway.” Its mission: “Exploring the world’s challenges through the lens of progress.” The first project to come from that initiative was “Hindsight,” a collection of stories that explore what people in the past expected the future would bring, what actually happened and what we might learn from this. It is not a simple take on philosopher George Santayana’s famous quip that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. It is far more subtle. The stories aim to help define progress, “how we measure it and how we make it,” according to the project’s launch letter by editor Matthew Thompson: “We don’t expect to find simple answers. But the pursuit itself may light the paths to our best futures.”

That, it seems to me, is one of the most empowering statements that can be made.

From Denmark comes a similar approach, the Constructive Institute: Journalism for Tomorrow , a “global hub for people who believe that journalism might be part of the problem in the trust meltdown in our democracies” – and that it (we) need to be part of the solution. Here’s how the Institute frames the approach:

We may have forgotten, or perhaps we never realized, that our best efforts to chronicle what in my J-school days we used to call the trifecta — crime, upheaval and disaster — often undermines community efforts to problem-solve. We are, in fact, part of the problem when we, with the best intentions, overwhelm and numb our readers, when our work contributes to their feeling that all is lost, that nothing can be done, that as David Byrne put it, “the world is going to hell.”

Solutions journalism is not the solution to disempowerment, disengagement, distrust and apathy on the part of too many Americans. There is no single solution.

But it is one path. And a noble role of journalism is to illuminate that path.

Lauren Kessler ’s two most recent books, “Grip of Time: When Prison is Your Life” and “Free: Two Years, Six Lives, and the Long Journey Home,” take readers into the worlds of incarceration and reentry. She continues to correspond with and edit the work of the men in the prison writing group she founded in 2016.

Solving the World’s Most Pressing Problems

This website was created through a partnership between the Skoll Foundation and the Solutions Insights Lab , an initiative of the Solutions Journalism Network , informed by our shared interest in identifying and interrogating what’s working — and what’s not — in the field of social innovation and supporting research and dialogue to advance problem-solving knowledge.

The website and database are regularly used by journalists, philanthropists, policy makers and change agents to learn more about promising responses to the world’s most pressing problems so that they can support, collaborate with, and shine a light on these ideas and models.

This website includes two types of stories: reported stories on Skoll Awardees and grantees that have been found in the Solutions Journalism Network’s Solutions Story Tracker ®, and structured interviews conducted with representatives from organizations that have received support from the Skoll Foundation over the past 20 years. The interviews represent a starting point to draw out practical insights from a wide range of individuals and organizations that have been working to address a myriad of social challenges.

Each interview seeks to surface the following elements:

Focuses on a response to a social problem — and on how that response has worked, or why it hasn't

Shows what can be learned from a response and why it matters

Provides data or qualitative results that indicate effectiveness (or lack thereof)

limitations

Places responses in context; doesn't shy away from revealing shortcomings

the result: "What's Working"

A website where you can search across sectors, regions and key topics to learn about efforts to solve social problems. The goal is to engage, inspire and empower people to better address social challenges.

Get the Latest

The Solutions Insights Lab uncovers insights, themes and patterns that can inspire and inform social change organizations. Working with notable organizations from around the globe, the Lab is a resource for social entrepreneurs, investors, nonprofits, NGOs and more.

To get the latest news about the Solutions Insights Lab, sign up for the newsletter and connect on LinkedIn .

What is solutions journalism, and why is it part of The Land’s mission? 

You may have come across the term “solutions journalism” on The Land’s website —  in a note at the bottom of a story from the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative ( like this one ), or even in our mission statement. “Through in-depth solutions journalism, we aim to foster accountability, inform the community, and inspire people to take action,” our mission reads. 

But what is solutions journalism? And why is it important to our work at The Land?

The Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) defines solutions journalism as “rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.” Rather than only telling stories about problems in the community, solutions journalism involves telling stories about how people are responding to problems and whether or not their efforts are working. 

Why solutions journalism matters 

News stories often focus on problems, and in many cases, journalists will report on the same issues over and over again. But if we only cover problems without reporting on how community members, organizations, and leaders are responding to those problems, we’re not telling the full story. 

The need for solutions journalism goes beyond telling stories more comprehensively. Constant coverage of problems and everything that’s going wrong can make people feel powerless rather than informed. It can lead to people avoiding the news rather than engaging with it. Even some journalists, whose job it is to report the news, have opted to quit watching and reading the news. 

The three ingredients too often missing from today’s news coverage are hope, agency, and dignity, one such journalist, Amanda Ripley, wrote in an opinion piece for The Washington Post titled “I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product?” She quotes SJN co-founder David Bornstein and his calls for journalism that helps people understand both problems and potential solutions.

Ripley is not the only one who has called for journalism to adopt a theory of change that does more than point out problems. In an article for the Columbia Journalism Review titled “Journalism is a public good. Let the public make it,” Darryl Holliday, the co-founder of the civic media lab City Bureau , asks questions about who journalism is for and what role it plays. Aside from exposing corruption and holding those with power accountable, Holliday writes, journalism can strengthen democracy by equipping people to take action and improve their communities.

“The number of times a user landed on an online news report isn’t enough; a free press framed as a public good should be measured by the ability of people to engage in the ongoing processes for positive change in their communities,” Holliday writes. 

News stories that are about the people affected by an issue, but not for them, portray people as victims and charity cases who lack agency, Holliday writes. But by telling stories about how the community is responding to problems, solutions journalism challenges these narratives. 

Solutions stories can be stories of hope, showing the progress that a community has made in solving a problem. They can be stories of agency that show people taking action to make their community better. And they can be stories of dignity, representing people who are affected by an issue with empathy and care. 

“Done well, solutions stories provide valuable insights that help communities with the difficult work of tackling problems like homelessness or climate change, skyrocketing housing prices or low voter turnout,” an SJN blog post titled “Solutions Journalism: What is it and why should I care? ” reads.

Solutions journalism is also about accountability. A crucial part of solutions journalism is finding evidence that shows whether or not a response to a problem is working, and where it’s falling short. Solutions stories can also focus on how communities in other places are responding to a problem, which takes away the ability of those in power to make excuses for their lack of action.

Solutions journalism and The Land 

The Land’s tagline is “community-powered journalism for a better Cleveland.” Community is at the core of what we do, and we care about our city and want to make it stronger. We’re often reminded that Cleveland is one of the poorest big cities. But Clevelanders and their experiences, challenges, and triumphs are not just statistics. At The Land, we do in-depth reporting not just on the problems that our city faces, but on the ways community members, leaders, and organizations are responding to these problems. 

The goal is for our in-depth reporting to equip community members with thorough, accurate, and accessible information that helps them understand problems and possible solutions so that they can take action. To foster accountability, we examine the effectiveness of responses to solutions and how they are impacting the lives of Clevelanders. 

What does this look like in practice? The Land is a member of the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative (NEO SoJo ), a group of 18+ news outlets in the region that produce and share solutions stories. The Land’s stories span a variety of topics, including health equity, community and economic development, city government, and sustainability. As The Land’s Report for America corps member, I cover jobs and economic development, including solutions stories within these topics. The Land also has a network of freelancers who often write solutions stories, and our community journalism program trains Cleveland residents to report stories about their neighborhoods.

Not every story published in The Land is a solutions story, but each story we publish focuses on issues that affect Cleveland residents. This includes the steps Clevelanders are taking to make their communities stronger, such as a community hub carrying on the legacy of Black-owned bookstores in Glenville, a church gifting its property to a growing community center, and a nonprofit incubator transforming a farm-to-jar company into a way to support urban farmers and entrepreneurs in East Cleveland. (Read more about how we choose which stories to cover here .) 

By focusing our reporting on solutions rather than just problems, The Land strives to tell the whole story in our efforts to inform the community. Through reporting that helps readers understand complex problems and responses to them, we aim to hold those in power accountable and equip people with the resources they need to take action, rather than portraying community members as lacking agency and making readers feel powerless. 

The elements of solutions journalism

Solutions journalism has four key elements, according to SJN: 

1. Response

First, solutions stories focus on a response to a problem. Community members, organizations, and leaders, or a combination of all of these, may be the ones leading the response. A solutions story covers how they’re responding to a problem and if it’s working.

When working on a solutions story, reporters talk to the people leading the response to a problem, and those who are affected by the problem. They then identify the most important and relevant lessons that the audience can learn from the response and communicate these lessons in an accessible way.  

3. Evidence

Solutions stories report on evidence showing whether or not a response is working. This means they include data or qualitative results that show how effective a response has been. If there’s a lack of evidence, the reporter must be transparent about why that is and why the story is still worth telling.  

4. Limitations

Lastly, solutions stories include the limitations of a response, or where a response is falling short. Even if a reporter determines that a response to a problem is “working” and making progress, there will still be shortcomings to report as well. 

What solutions journalism is not 

There are many misconceptions about solutions journalism, so it’s also important to understand the types of stories that may look like solutions journalism, but actually are not — what SJN calls “solutions journalism impostors.” Solutions journalism is not just fluff, PR, or “cheerleader journalism,” and it’s not advocacy either.

Solutions stories don’t gloss over the limitations and barriers of a response to a problem. Rather than praising a singular response to a problem or an innovative individual as a “silver bullet” solution or a hero, solutions stories also report on the structural issues that contribute to the problems in the first place. 

Solutions journalism does not mean reporters come up with their own ideas for solutions and write articles urging leaders and residents to implement them. Nor do solutions stories advocate for one response to a problem over another. Instead, journalists report on responses to problems in the community, including investigating how effective these responses have been and how they have fallen short. 

What questions, thoughts, or ideas do you have about solutions journalism? Do you know of any responses to problems that we should report on? We want to hear from you — reach out at any time.

Examples of solutions stories in The Land 

Check out these solutions stories in The Land, which are included in SJN’s Solutions Story Tracker , a searchable, curated database of solutions journalism:

– More money needed to seed growth of refugees’ businesses

By Aja Hannah | May 19, 2022

– What can Cleveland learn from Philadelphia’s ambitious experiment in water billing?

By Conor Morris | May 2, 2022

– How Cleveland is salvaging old buildings to create a new circular economy

By Marc Lefkowitz | February 1, 2022 

– Why bother? Greater Cleveland’s youth rise to the task of local civic engagement

By Michael Indriolo | October 5, 2021

– It takes a village: Community Yahoos help Slavic Village cope with Covid-19 pandemic

By Lee Chilcote | January 19, 2021

Reading and listening recommendations 

Do you want to learn more about solutions journalism? Here are some recommendations for further reading and listening:

– “How grassroots journalism can strengthen democracy”

-A recording of a Twitter Spaces conversation SJN hosted earlier this month featuring J. Brian Charles , deputy editor at Baltimore Beat , a Black-led nonprofit news outlet, and Ashton Lattimore , editor-in-chief of Prism Reports , a nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color

– “What is Solutions Journalism? ¿Qué es el periodismo de soluciones?”

-A bilingual Spanish-English podcast episode about solutions journalism from El Colectivo 506 , a community news organization that reports on solutions in rural Costa Rica.  

– “Putting solutions journalism to the test: a six-episode podcast”  

– Laura Dulce Romero , a fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, interviewed eight researchers and colleagues who do work related to solutions journalism for this six-part podcast. The first three episodes are available now, with more episodes coming out on Mondays until Oct. 24.

-SJN newsletters 

– “The Snack Table,” a biweekly roundup of fun solutions journalism-related tweets and other newsletters to check out

-A selection of newsletters for anyone looking to do, teach, and read solutions journalism

– SJN’s guide to solutions journalism on Instagram

-A collection of Instagram posts from SJN about solutions journalism, including how to do it and why it’s important.

– A Twitter thread about the importance of solutions journalism from Solutions Now Africa , a solutions-focused newsroom based in Uganda 

– SJN’s Learning Lab

-Guides and toolkits on how to produce solutions journalism 

Keep our local journalism accessible to all

Reader support is crucial as we continue to shed light on underreported neighborhoods in Cleveland. Will you become a monthly member to help us continue to produce news by, for, and with the community?

P.S. Did you like this story? Take our reader survey!

Mandy Kraynak

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10.5: Solutions Journalism

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Introduction

If you have ever heard the journalistic quip, "If it bleeds, it leads," you know that news headlines and stories are often dominated by negative stories about topics like violence, crime, and corruption. After all, professional journalists' system of news values tends to prioritize stories that deviate from the norm, and that deviation regularly comes in the form of violations (e.g., murders or kickback schemes). Moreover, news audiences are attracted to negative news across many beats. For example, when it comes to politics, people are more likely to click on negative news headlines. In fact, scholars have long documented a "negativity bias," through which people pay more attention and devote more mental effort to consuming negative information.

However, negative news can have a draining impact on audiences. People regularly complain about negativity in journalism, and often report negativity as a key reason for news avoidance. (This is despite the fact they are more likely to consume negative stories when they do consume news.) Moreover, such news can leave audiences feeling powerless or hopeless, which in turn can lead to their withdrawal from democratic processes and discussions about civic affairs.

To combat this, some journalists have sought to re-calibrate journalism toward a solutions-oriented approach. Through solutions journalism, reporters cover a wide variety of social issues facing citizens in a way that hones in on and emphasizes the potential responses, or solutions, to those issues . The resulting stories aim to provide deeply reported, in-depth information about a particular issue and make clear to audiences what possible means of solving that issue have been, or may be, applied.

Solutions journalism advocates believe that pairing problems with their potential responses in rigorous, evidence-based reporting helps provide audiences with a more complete and dynamic understanding of the issues that shape and influence their communities. Moreover, advocates believe that it can empower citizens by helping them clearly see how they might take part in combating those issues or being part of 'positive' change. In short, solutions journalists seek to make their audiences more informed and efficacious citizens.

Solutions Journalism in Practice

Solutions journalism stories cover a variety of social ills and injustices, but they are united by their shared focus on a solution’s effectiveness, limitations, and resulting lessons. For example, reporters have applied solutions journalism practices to cover how teachers were improving classroom discipline practices; how Los Angeles community leaders were fostering more inclusive activism; how New York social justice experts were opening doors for prison reform; how a range of communities were working to reduce violent crimes; and how medical leaders were improving access to health care. As evidenced by these examples, solutions journalism is ideally suited for local news because it is easier to connect audiences to concrete resources within their communities to address problems they likely encounter locally.

According to the Solutions Journalism Network, solutions journalists tend to engage in four critical acts when producing journalism:

• They center the story on a response (or potential solution) to an important issue, and they cover that response clearly by providing all the critical information and detail that audiences need to know in order to understand how the response works (or doesn’t).
• In covering a response, they emphasize its actual effectiveness (or lack thereof), rather than what the response was intended to achieve. Clarifying the response’s effectiveness requires providing audiences with understandable evidence.
• They make audiences aware of the response’s potential limitations and break down the boundaries and scope of that response to the problem.
• Finally, solutions journalists include insights about the problem that is illuminated by a response in a way that can be useful to their audiences and seekers of alternative (or follow-up) solutions.

Another way of remembering these four key acts is to remind oneself to tell the "WHOLE story" through this mnemonic device:

• W — What response does the story address?
• H — How does the response work?
• O — Offer insight.
• L — Include limitations.
• E — Evidence of impact.

Solutions-oriented stories are thus not merely stories about a problem that end with a quick paragraph about ways people are thinking of solving that problem. The would-be solution(s) are the very core of the story. Notably, the solution(s) don’t have to be a perfect or even largely effective responses to an issue. Occasionally, the response might be ineffective or only partially effective. However, by sharing insights about the potential response, solutions journalism can help audiences learn from both failed and successful responses.

Although solutions journalism focuses on potential responses to systemic challenges — a strategy that can help to engage audiences who feel overwhelmed by typically negative news — such stories are not necessarily positive ("happy news") pieces. Instead, they find specific newsworthiness in the examination and coverage of solutions for the problems that citizens face, especially when those solutions arise outside of traditional social structures. Put another way, they are designed to offer a pathway forward, and thus a form of hope, for seemingly intractable issues.

Benefits to Solutions Journalism

Proponents of solutions journalism believe that this approach to news construction makes readers more engaged with news about issues facing their communities. Additionally, research suggests that people who consume solutions-oriented journalism are more likely to share the stories they read and seek out additional information about the problems being covered. Put another way, solutions journalism can advance both professional and economic objectives, as well-informed and highly motivated audiences can both partake in democratic processes and become more likely to consume an outlet’s future news products.

Unsurprisingly, a large number of mainstream and alternative journalistic outlets (e.g., The Boston Globe , The Seattle Times , and The Chicago Reporter ) have adopted solutions journalism practices in their news coverage in recent years. Moreover, non-profit groups like the Solutions Journalism Network have helped to popularize the practice in recent years by offering educational resources and training for individual journalists, journalistic outlets, and journalism educators.

Key Takeaways

• Solutions journalism stories present responses to important social problems through evidence-based reporting that makes clear the extent of a response’s effectiveness, what its limitations are, and what insights can be gained from that response.
• Solutions journalism stories are driven by the need to engage and inform communities, not to give them "happy news." They are critical and detailed examinations of a potential solution, not soft news pieces glorifying a social actor or problem response.
• Research shows that solutions-oriented journalism can engage readers, make them more informed, increase their likelihood of sharing news, and drive them to seek out additional information about the issue being covered.

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The Rise and Role of Solutions Journalism in Addressing Social Problems

Jour­nal­ists have the abil­i­ty to cat­alyze change, give a voice to the voice­less and expose the faults and fail­ings of our pub­lic systems.

And one way that they can make the most of this pow­er­ful mega­phone, accord­ing to David Born­stein, is to adopt a solu­tions-based approach.

Born­stein is a vet­er­an jour­nal­ist and pub­lished author. He is also a cofounder of the Solu­tions Jour­nal­ism Net­work — a non­prof­it ded­i­cat­ed to advanc­ing solu­tions jour­nal­ism, which is a spin-free, fluff-free style of news report­ing that cen­ters on respons­es to social problems.

Casey’s Lisa Hamil­ton recent­ly spoke to Born­stein about the rise of solu­tions jour­nal­ism, how it can help hold insti­tu­tions account­able and how it can enhance the work of media out­lets across the country.

A huge thank you to Born­stein talk­ing to us — and for pro­mot­ing news report­ing that explores how indi­vid­u­als, com­mu­ni­ties and gov­ern­ments are respond­ing to and resolv­ing some of society’s tough­est challenges.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What solu­tions jour­nal­ism means.
• How solu­tions jour­nal­ism can shape — and enhance — news report­ing today.
• The ben­e­fits of social entrepreneurship. 
• Exam­ples of solu­tions jour­nal­ism in action.

Con­ver­sa­tion Clips With David Bornstein

In David Bornstein’s own words…

“ There’s many ways of look­ing at what’s going wrong in the coun­try, and we hear about that every day. The inter­est­ing ques­tion is, how are we respond­ing bet­ter to the prob­lems across the country?”

“ Unless you are aware of the poten­tial solu­tions around the coun­try, you real­ly can’t hold insti­tu­tions to account.”

“ In some cas­es, what you find is, that peo­ple dis­cov­er that their com­mu­ni­ties have hid­den strengths and assets.”

“ We have to keep on mak­ing it clear that just report­ing on the response does not mean that you’re a bad jour­nal­ist or that you’ve fall­en into advo­ca­cy. In fact, if you don’t do it, you’re almost by def­i­n­i­tion giv­ing peo­ple a very biased view of the world — one that’s exces­sive­ly cyn­i­cal and like­ly to lead them to tune out or dis­en­gage from pub­lic life more than lead them to reen­gage in pub­lic life.”

Links and Show Notes

• Solu­tions Jour­nal­ism Network
• Fix­es col­umn in The New York Times
• How Amer­i­ca is Putting Itself Back Togeth­er in The Atlantic 
• Wel­com­ing America
• Man­ag­ing Clin­i­cal Knowl­edge for Health Care Improve­ment in the Year­book of Med­ical Informatics
• Solu­tions Sto­ry Tracker ™

About the Podcast

Cas­ey­Cast is a month­ly pod­cast pro­duced by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion and host­ed by its vice pres­i­dent of exter­nal affairs, Lisa Hamil­ton. Each episode fea­tures Hamil­ton talk­ing with a new expert about how we can build a brighter future for kids, fam­i­lies and communities.

Find Cas­ey­Cast on Your Favorite Pod­cast Service

• Apple Pod­casts
• Sound­Cloud

Enjoy the Episode?

We sure hope so! Go to Apple Pod­casts to sub­scribe to the series or leave a rat­ing or review.

View Transcript

Lisa Hamilton: Welcome to CaseyCast, the Annie E. Casey Foundation podcast. CaseyCast is a monthly conversation focusing on how all of us can work together to build a brighter future for kids, families, and communities. I'm Lisa Hamilton Vice President of External Affairs at the foundation, and I'm so glad you've joined us for a hopefully inspiring and interesting conversation today.

The Casey Foundation focuses on giving kids what they need. Strong families, vibrant communities, and financial stability. In these efforts, the foundation is fortunate to work with innovators who develop, test and implement solutions to help kids thrive. Each month, we'll bring you an in-depth conversation with one of these experts, right here on CaseyCast.

In the United States, few institutions have the power to catalyze change like the media. Journalists help give voice to the voiceless, hold leaders accountable, and highlight when things are broken in our public systems and society. Journalists also have a unique opportunity to share solutions in creating change.

Today's guest, David Bornstein, works in newsrooms across the nation, to help the media focus on how individuals and governments respond to problems.

David is a writer and reporter, and the co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network. In addition to running the network, he also authors the Fixes Column in The New York Times. It's my pleasure to welcome David to the podcast.

David Bornestein : Hey Lisa.

Hamilton: Well, I'd like to start with a pretty basic question. What is solutions journalism?

Bornstein : Very simple. It's a journalism practice that stresses the importance of reporting on responses to social problems. How people are responding to the problems and the results that they're getting, and trying to elevate what we can learn from those responses. It's not a hero worship or advocacy for particular ideas, it's really just looking at the creative activity in society that's in response to problems, and what's going on, and what the results are, and the insights that can be conveyed from those stories.

Hamilton: What led you to spearhead this movement for solutions-focused journalism? Why did it resonate so strongly with you?

Bornstein : Well, like a lot of journalists, I've been a reporter for 25 years. It struck me that the news really does cover predominantly problems and pathologies. It gives a very distorted view. Over the course of my career, I've come to focus more… I started very traditionally focusing on the normal reporting of issues of the day, which was mainly problems. Over the past 25 years, I've found that the stories that I found most powerful, had the most interesting ideas, were how people were trying to tackle these problems. You end up having a very distorted view of the world. It struck me that this is the real failing in journalism.

My colleagues and I have thought this for a while, but it's really the crisis in the news business today. The fact that journalism is going through this profound transformation that has created the opportunity to change it in a fundamental way.

Hamilton: We do see a competing narrative about what is going on in the country today. Sometimes, a sense of optimism and sometimes this narrative of decline. Based on what you are doing through solutions journalism, the solutions you're hearing about, does it give you a reason to feel hopeful?

Bornstein : There's always reasons for hope. We use a phrase, what we call “hope with teeth.” Which is a credible sense of hope. There's many ways of looking at what's going wrong in the country, and we hear about that every day. You can talk about the economic problems, the problems that relate to health, or violence, or the school system, or the politics, and in some cases, it's very troubling. Our politics is deeply troubling right now.

The interesting thing is I mean, the question is, how are we responding better to the problems across the country? How are communities trying to rebuild economic opportunity for groups that haven't had it or have had it, and lost it. How is the health system getting better? In what ways is it? Is it safer? Is it less safe than it used to be? What dimensions of education are on the rise, particularly around preschool and things like that? You find that there's a lot of reasons to be hopeful for certain areas, and at the same time, unless you are aware of the potential solutions around the country, you really can't hold institutions to account.

You can't say our cities should be doing better, or our schools should be doing better, because people always say… people always give you excuses. "Well, we're doing the best we can", and so forth or they blame the victim. Whatever gets them off the hook, but if you're able to show, "Well, wait a minute. There's another city, there's another school system, there's another hospital system that is out-performing you, and they're doing so with no more money than you have", it holds people accountable to a higher bar and it creates both a sense of inspiration that it's possible to do better, but at the same time it creates a sense of real hard pressure that you cannot expect less.

Hamilton: As you do this work, where do you see the source of these solutions coming from? We might imagine it would be the research community or public sector leaders. Who's coming up with these solutions?

Bornstein : It's really across the board. As journalists, we use many different kinds of sources to identify these stories. We get a lot from academic research and from groups that are in the business of marshalling evidence and data, to help you spot trends. There are organizations that are in the business of investing in solutions like foundations or places like policy shops that are in the business of evaluating them. They're all great sources of ideas.

Very often it's people in communities themselves saying, "Something important is happening in our community. Something important is happening in our school system, or our hospital system", or something like that. Like a good journalist should have a whole variety of sources ranging from high level people running institutions all the way down to people in the community who have their eyes on the ground. There's just a lot of activity. There's people creating organizations. What we call social entrepreneurs. There's new changes coming in the business sector in terms of better responses to a variety of issues. Especially environmental issues. Public policy changes are some times part of it, although sometime public policy doesn't need it. Sometimes, actually, it comes in at a later stage after something has been demonstrated effectively from a non-profit organization. Really there's many paths.

Hamilton: You've written extensively on social entrepreneurship. Can you say a little about how you think that work contributes to the kinds of solutions that you seek to lift up?

Bornstein : I think that there's a large spread in the world today, of what I call, the spread of agency. It's a major trend. Just because of higher levels of education, the internet, the exchange of information, the fact that money flows more quickly and the young people are able to hear about and organize themselves… Not necessarily young people, but anybody… you have a lot of these kind of self-appointed, freelance change agents who are out there saying, "I'm going to go change the world. I'm going to start an organization or I'm going to get together and start a group and advocate for something."

The field of social entrepreneurship has really taken off over the past 30 years because of these trends. It's injected a lot of creative energy and problem solving from news sources into the nonprofit sector particularly, but in some cases into the business sector and government. What I now realize is that it's really just one piece of a lot of adaptive changes that are happening in social change. I think the biggest thing that the social entrepreneurship movement has contributed, is just this idea that it's possible to have a career that is basically a career of impact. You don't have to decide to park your ideals when you get your job, because you need to make money to have a house, and to send your kids to college.

Hamilton: You described social entrepreneurs as sort of one source of the solution, but you also mentioned impacted communities themselves. As we started this podcast, one of the things I noted is we often hope that journalism will give voice to the voiceless. Wondering on the sort of other range of the origin of solutions, how you're finding folks who are in communities, coming up with solutions and how your work is giving them a different way to give voice to both the challenges and solutions they are developing.

Bornstein : Yeah, we're specifically working with news organizations. Some of them are quite big, but some of them are pretty small and they have a strong community focus. The question in these projects is to find ideas that are already within the community. In some cases, to find ideas that are coming from a community that's similar to your community, that could be helpful in solving a local problem or a happening.

You see people, for example in Minneapolis, in the Star Tribune , they're doing a series that's looking at how the Somali community is developing its own responses to the recruitment, sort of the radicalization of youth, which has been a problem in that community. That's been widely reported through a problem lens, because of and it's created a lot of tensions in parts of Minnesota. They're looking at the homegrown solutions within the community.

Similarly we have a project with a bunch of small news organizations in New Mexico and Colorado, and they're looking at what are the solutions that are coming from these small rural communities. These would be things like economic opportunity, environment, water management, dealing with drug use, and so forth. In some cases, what you find is, that people discover that their communities have hidden strengths and assets.

It turns out, through looking at the reporting of some of the other news organizations… this happens to be a collaborative reporting project… they're able to find that there are interesting models that could be applicable to their community, but they're a 100 miles away.

We find quite a lot. We've seen Milwaukee look at Houston's policing system for mental health. We've seen how Cleveland has looked at the way Rochester reduced lead paint exposure for children. This idea, we've seen how Seattle papers looked at how schools in Chicago have done parent engagement to give parents more of a say in the running of the public schools. This idea of hearing about ideas from another part of the country, that might be 5 or 10 years ahead of you on a particular issue, so that you don't have to start without a blueprint.

Hamilton: That's great. It sounds like an interesting approach to scale. In some sense, non-profits are always trying to figure out how to take solutions to scale, and here's a really important way that journalism can help to do that. It's great to hear that you're seeing that cross-pollinization happen.

Bornstein : It's exciting, because there's this study that was done by the Institute of Medicine about 15 years ago… more than that, 2001… where they said they found that it took 17 years on average, for evidence from randomized control trials about better processes in medicine, to reach half of medical practice. The curve of adaptation, or the curve of innovation, is pretty slow. How do you speed that up? How do you make sure that good ideas, wherever they are, get into the water supply and can be given a fair hearing in other communities? I think the news media. There's obviously trade journals, there's conferences, there's all sorts of ways to do that, but I think the news media can play a very powerful role there as well.

Hamilton: That's great. I don't think there's a challenge any more difficult for our country to deal with than the issue of racial inequity. I'm wondering if you have written about, or heard of solutions to help communities grapple with this persistent challenge?

Bornstein : Yeah, I would say there's a lot of the stories that our news partners have looked at, have touched on that, but from many different angles. You have a whole dimension of reporting, looking at how we can help children grow up and be health. This might be making sure that the preschool programs are really working with children who are getting the best kindergarten preparation sort of thing. At the education-level, there's making sure that the on-ramps to opportunity are strong from day one. Even going back to parenting programs and so forth.

Then we could look at issues like, "what really creates economic mobility later on?" There's a lot of interesting programs that are looking at, for example, making sure that the community college systems really work to give people a leg up. I don't know if this is an exact statistic, but something like half of the students in our college system, start their college in the community college system. I might be overstating that, but it's a lot. Oftentimes, we've had lots and lots of data that shows that persistence is very low. Largely students end up having to take courses that they don't get credit for, and it costs them money, and they get very discouraged with this remediation. A lot of people are really trying to improve that system, so that really is an on-ramp to higher education, or to a better job prospects and so forth. That's one example.

Then there's a lot of examples of how communities are creating new economic opportunities, that are sort of under the radar. There was a pretty great article that James Fallos did in the Atlantic recently, where he flew around the country in a plane. He found example after example after example of city that was reconstituting it's economic livelihood in some way or another. Those kinds of stories are really great, and we have people who are looking to report on those stories as well, among our news partners. Those kinds of things.

There's an organization, for example, called Welcoming America, which does this… very well for immigrant groups where they actually create welcoming committees, or they show cities how to create welcoming committees. The basic issue is that diversity is hard. If you actually mean to intentionally create bridges so that people can learn that their fellow-citizens are… that they can learn who they really are, rather than getting these stereotypes or these caricatures that the media portrays them through this lens of pathology.

Hamilton: That's great. Well, it's great to hear that their journalists are taking up this challenge seriously. Not just of what solutions work, but how do you describe communities, how do you build bridges to other communities is really fantastic to hear. I'm curious how the journalism community has received this notion of solutions journalism. How are news organizations and journalists taking this up?

Bornstein : We've grown a lot. It's been sort of… I have to say, the response has been far more enthusiastic than we expected. We though we would get a lot of the sense of this, and we would have a couple of partners, but every year it's just grown much faster. We thought we probably have about 40 news organizations that have come to us over the transom in just in the last couple of months.

I think the response has been generally very positive. There are some people who, we still have to convince and we say, "This is serious journalism. We're not talking about fluffy hero stories or PR or anything that journalists should legitimately be concerned about. We're talking about rigorous reporting." We have to keep on making it clear that just reporting on the response does not mean that you're a bad journalist or that you've fallen into advocacy. You can do this very well, and in fact, if you don't do it, you're almost by definition giving people a very biased view of the world. One that's excessively cynical and is likely to lead them to tune out, or disengage from public life more likely than it's going to lead them to reengage in public life.

In some ways, the argument that we make to journalists is that, you are actually creating an idea of the world, a fiction of the world, that is both demonstrably false, excessively negative, and is leading people to actually it's undercutting democracy. It's causing people to want to tune out, and to focus more on private things than on public things. To be excessively fearful to in voting ways that they might not vote if they actually know what the country was really like.

Hamilton: How does network go about supporting journalists and news organizations to do this work?

Bornstein : We go into news organizations only if we're invited. The editor and chief, the editor, the reporters have to want. We do it initially an orientation where we say, "This is what Solutions Journalism is." We explain the basic idea of it, the approach. What's different about these stories? How do you find them? How do you report them? How do you make sure that you don't over-claim or fall into some of the trap? Then we work with them over sometimes a period of months, even sometimes up to a year, as they develop longer term projects that are usually around their editorial goals.

Then over time, we kind of try to help them build it into their muscle memory so that, after a project is completed, they kind of get this. It's now something that they want to do on a repeat basis. We've seen that in most cases, that… we call it an engagement continuum, that most of the time when organizations are done working with us after the initial sort of engagement which might be several months as I said or longer… they typically have kind of gotten this as a new habit and they're thinking about how to apply it to other kinds of stories.

Then we move on to another newsroom. What we do is we've created this online network. We call it The Hub. Where journalists can sign up, and it's kind of staying the conversation and connect with other journalists or editors who are doing this. We have about 2,200 people who have signed up since May. More than 400 of them are editors. Then we populate that website with all sorts of tools. Editor tool kits, tool kits that you cover education. We have 1,500 stories that are all cataloged from new organizations around the world so you can see, this is the kind of journalism that others are doing. If you're interested in prison, you type in prison on our story tracker, you'll probably get 80 or 90 stories that look at how American communities… mainly American communities… are responding to the need today, to reform the prison system, the justice system.

It's both a great way to learn, hear ideas from what other journalists are doing, get ideas for your own reporting. Find out about research. Then, over time, we plan on adding more and more tools to help journalists do this work.

Hamilton: Interesting. Well, it's great to hear that people are responding positively and for you to have that many people join your hub so quickly, certainly indicates there's a demand for this approach. I'm wondering, what does success look like for you? How do you imagine the media will be different in the future if we focus more on solutions?

Bornstein : Once people begin to get a view of reality that's more what we call "the whole story", that's more comprehensive, and more faithful to reality, people will begin to see that, in fact, this view of the country that you get, this distorted image, really it's like a photoshopped image of a landscape where people have arbitrarily taken out 90% of the trees. It's not what we're looking at and we call America when you watch CNN or almost any news organization, is really a very biased and distorted image.

Once people begin getting the whole story, and they see how much creative problem solving is out there, I think it's going to affect people in a lot of ways. It will make our policy better. It will probably leave more people into careers where they want to join up with the creative ideas that they see happening, because people genuinely love solving problems. I think it will probably lead people to vote and participate in ways that are more in line with their optimism and their yearning to build a better society, and less in line with their fears and their anxieties.

Hamilton: I think that's certainly an exciting vision for what, not just journalism looks like in the future, but what our country looks like in the future. Thank you so much for what you are doing to promote this new approach to journalism, and we look forward to seeing how the future of Solutions Journalism unfolds. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Bornestein : Thanks for the opportunity, Lisa.

Hamilton: Great, and I want to thank our listeners for joining as well. If you enjoyed today's conversation, rate our podcast on iTunes to help others find us. To learn more about podcast and find notes for today's show, visit us online at www.aecf.org/podcast and follow the Casey Foundation on Twitter @aecfnews. Until next time, I wish all of America's kids, and all of you, a bright future.

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Kansas City has a problem with illegal street racing. Solving it is complicated.

City ordinances outlaw watching or participating in street racing or “sideshows” where drivers engage in illegal stunts. But the issue persists.

The Kansas City Police Department rolled out its summertime Entertainment District Plan the first weekend of May, which means increased police presence in high-traffic entertainment areas like Westport and the Plaza.

The plan is partially in response to rampant street racing and '"sideshows," which are motorized stunt exhibitions on public streets.

KCPD is unable to pursue vehicles for traffic violations, such as sideshow participation, unless the driver is suspected of a violent felony.

“I’m not making excuses for why we can't do something, I’m really not, but that is the long and the short of it,” traffic division operations Sgt. Grant Ruark said on Up To Date. “I mean, if they don't stop, we can't pursue.”

In April, a joint operation involving police in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, resulted in dozens of arrests and citations of sideshow participants. KCPD disabled 39 cars with stop sticks and towed three others.

Among those arrested was one of "the ringleaders," Ruark said.

"Unfortunately for him, he hit the stop sticks that we deployed as he was leaving the area and the helicopter was able to follow him to the point where his car finally just gave out and we were right behind him at about two miles an hour.”

Ruark said the Kansas City Council is looking into new measures to combat illegal street racing and sideshows.

• Grant Ruark, traffic division operations sergeant at the Kansas City Police Department

Learning from the first 6 years of solutions journalism research

Kyser lough collects it all in one place.

Kyser Lough

The Whole Story

Since 2018, I have maintained a public bibliography of research on solutions journalism and constructive journalism as a resource for both my own research and that of others who were interested in learning more or doing their own projects.

I’m one of several scholars who study solutions journalism and have published peer-reviewed research on solutions visual journalism , the process of solutions journalism and more . Recently, Dr. Karen McIntyre and I did a systematic review of the existing research on solutions journalism to understand the lessons from early years of study and suggest possible future directions for the field. Readers interested in the full study, as published in 2021 in the peer-reviewed academic journal Journalism , may request a copy at [email protected]. (Also, for any of the studies linked below, you can usually just email the author and ask for a copy of the study.)

I remember the lightbulb moment when we realized the research had grown enough that we should take a moment to assess it all and prepare for the next wave. We did this through a systematic analysis, a form of research that allows us to draw conclusions about the state of the research by examining the existing scholarly literature.

So, we collected as many studies as we could find and ended up analyzing 94 peer-reviewed journal articles, theses and dissertations on solutions journalism and/or constructive journalism, which tries to give stories more context to avoid the negativity bias often present in the media. We found 73 peer-reviewed studies and 21 theses and dissertations published on solutions journalism or constructive journalism from 2011 through 2020, an incredible amount for those early years. Solutions journalism as a research topic appeared in 2015 with Karen’s dissertation , followed in 2016 by the first published peer-reviewed study on solutions journalism by Kathryn Thier . These studies do everything from analyze specific topics , locations or types of solutions journalism to explore the process of how solutions journalism is perceived by its creators or received by the audience .

Here’s an overview of what we found:

The research needs to keep focusing on internationalization.

While the authors of the 94 studies came from 19 countries, there still is room for more to be done across the globe. For example, even though the research has focused on 23 countries, 35% of the studies were based in North America and 29% were based in (primarily Western) Europe. Some scholars have begun looking at other parts of the global majority like countries in Asia and Africa , but we hope to see those numbers grow in the future and include other areas of the world such as South America and Oceania.

One limitation to mention here: We initially used English keywords for our searches, but research on solutions journalism is international. So, we broadened our search with non-English keywords (e.g. 솔루션 저널리즘, Le journalisme de solutions) and asked the authors to help explain their studies to us so we could include them.

There is still confusion between solutions journalism and constructive journalism.

Most of the time, solutions journalism was situated as one component of a constructive approach, but even so, the definitions varied. A surprising 11.1% of the studies defined solutions journalism and constructive journalism as the same thing, which we know is inaccurate. We hope this conflation is reduced in the future, because there are aspects of each practice that can be individually studied in the research.

We’ve learned a lot about audience effects, but the subject needs more study.

Most of the current research focuses on the process of solutions journalism, the presentation of solutions journalism and the audience effects of solutions journalism. The first two areas represent the bulk of the research, which is why there should be more emphasis on effects, a complex subject, in the future.

The effects of solutions journalism on readers were a key topic of study even before the publication of journal articles, especially in the early reports from the Center for Media Engagement . Since then, several published studies have looked at the effects of solutions and/or constructive journalism. We know solutions journalism evokes positive audience emotion , however, many of the studies’ other results need further testing to be confident about how solutions journalism affects perceived efficacy , behavioral intentions , actual behavior and more. This prompted Dr. McIntyre to lead a follow-up study on just the effects studies, which we hope to be able to share soon.

We need more theory and theory-building.

Of course, we also have to talk about theory, because that’s what forms the foundation of these academic studies. Without a strong theoretical base, our work becomes simply a report instead of an addition to the collective knowledge of journalism studies. Surprisingly, despite the number of studies and the years this has been studied, we couldn’t find a clear leading theoretical framework, suggesting there is room for theory-building. Scholars have mostly used framing, positive psychology, social responsibility and normative roles as their guides. We suggest future studies adopt Peter Bro’s Journalistic Compass and its four classical roles of journalism (sheepdog, watchdog, rescue dog, hunting dog) as a guiding conceptual framework because of how the model situates solutions journalism and other similar approaches within the wider field of journalism.

I’m happy that so many scholars are studying solutions journalism so that we can continue to answer the big questions surrounding it. If you’re one of those scholars, a student looking for a great thesis topic or a professional interested in learning more, I encourage you to reach out to me or one of the many, many scholars studying this.

Kyser Lough, Ph.D. , is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Georgia . You can reach him at [email protected] and @KyserL on Twitter .

Written by Kyser Lough

Asst. Prof of Journalism at the University of Georgia. Research: photojournalism & solutions journalism. Music/sports photog

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Camp Randall commencement 2024: Golden day, golden speaker, golden memories  

Graduates stand and celebrate as their degrees are conferred. Photo: Althea Dotzour

On an Instagram-perfect day, the University of Wisconsin–Madison celebrated commencement for thousands of 2024 spring graduates at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday, with former Badger hockey legend Meghan Duggan sharing lessons learned during her ascent to Olympic gold.  

“To be back in Madison, to be back in iconic Camp Randall Stadium, to celebrate you and all that you have achieved, know this: For me, it is the honor of a lifetime,” said Duggan, who scaled the heights of her sport, winning Olympic gold in women’s hockey as captain of Team USA in 2018.  

The crowd, including graduates, was estimated at just over 50,000, one of the largest in commencement history. Hundreds more watched by livestream from around the country and the world.  

The Camp Randall ceremony was part of a weekend of commencement festivities. In total, 8,586 students earned degrees. Friday evening at the Kohl Center , diplomas were conferred to all doctoral, MFA and medical professional degree candidates. Saturday’s ceremony celebrated bachelor’s, master’s and law degree candidates.    

A welcome do-over  

Hannah Beck arrived at Camp Randall Saturday hoping that her college commencement would be better than her high school graduation. Granted, it was a low bar.  

Like most members of the “COVID class of 2020,” Beck missed out on an in-person high school graduation ceremony. She was handed her diploma and the contents of her locker through a car window in her school’s parking lot.  

Saturday was different — and so much better.  

See video of the commencement speeches: Chancellor Mnookin Meghan Duggan Gracie Nelson

“When we walked in here, the sunlight hit us, and it felt so right,” said Beck, of suburban Chicago, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communication arts. “We put in a lot of hard work. We needed this moment.”  

Many in this year’s graduating class felt the universe owed them one.  

“This is my first graduation ceremony since eighth grade,” said Claire Biegalski, a journalism major from suburban Chicago. “And the weather is beautiful, which is the cherry on top.”  

Hailey Frantz, a psychology major from Tomah, Wisconsin, brought her high school tassels with her — “for closure.”

Gracie Nelson, senior class president, shared her thoughts about the eventful four years of college for the graduates. Photo: Bryce Richter

Student speaker Gracie Nelson , senior class president, reminded graduates that, in the past four years, they had lived through COVID dorms, eight Taylor Swift albums, and three Badger football coaches. She emphasized that “it is not our resumes or the titles we hold that define us, but the depth of our humanity.”  

“As we embark on new journeys, let us continue to champion empathy, kindness, and solidarity,” Nelson said. “Let’s allow the bonds we’ve formed at UW–Madison to serve as a foundation for building a more compassionate and equitable world.”  

‘Make good decisions’  

Duggan, the director of player development for the New Jersey Devils, shared what she described as brilliant advice from UW women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson. At the start of every season, instead of going through a laundry list of rules for players, Johnson simply said, “Make good decisions.”  

Keynote speaker and former UW women’s hockey player Meghan Duggan encouraged the graduates to learn from their failures. Photo: Bryce Richter

“Coach Johnson did not give us explicit instructions,” Duggan said. “Instead, he invited us to consider — and be accountable for — what actually makes a decision ‘good.’ He was trusting us to navigate any uncertainty with our own values and instincts as a guide.”  

Tapping experiences from her life, Duggan offered three pieces of advice to graduates: Be your authentic self, focus on forming solid relationships and understand that winners fail all the time.  

Before winning Olympic gold, Duggan and Team USA took home two silvers. She’s proud of those medals, too, she said, but at the time, there was disappointment and tears. After the second loss, she thought her chance at gold was over. But then, offered the team captain position again, she and her teammates recommitted to learning from their mistakes.  

“Failure is not final unless you choose not to learn from it,” Duggan said. “Since some measure of failure is inevitable in each of the journeys you’re about to take, I hope you react by learning what you’re willing to do to find your own version of success.”  

Near the end of her remarks, Duggan tossed out more nuggets of wisdom, some serious, some whimsical, including: dance at weddings; visit your grandparents; floss your teeth; order that extra plate of French fries for the table; be thoughtful, generous, and kind; and always remember that integrity is your only true currency.  

“Go out and discover who you are and what you stand for,” she concluded.  

Deeply engaged class  

In her remarks, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin noted the celebratory nature of the event but also acknowledged the heaviness.  

Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin praised graduates for being deeply engaged in solving problems in the world. Photo: Bryce Richter

“For many in the campus community, there is pain and grief over the devastating destruction, injustice, and loss of life in Gaza and Israel,” Mnookin said. “Some of you have had to navigate this final year of your degree amid anguishing worry about friends and relatives there. Please know that you are not alone at this difficult — very difficult — time.”  

Mnookin praised graduates for succeeding academically and being deeply engaged in solving problems in the world, in the proud tradition of the Wisconsin Idea.  

“That’s how the Class of 2024 helped to make UW–Madison — for the first time in a number of years — the No. 1 university in the nation for Peace Corps volunteers,” she said.  

Mnookin said the class was particularly good at changing the question — asking something new that invites people to explore possibilities they might never have thought of.  

“You and I can’t know today what questions each of you will ask in your lives and careers,” she said. “But I can tell you this: The questions that challenge what we are certain we already know to be true are often the ones that drive extraordinary innovation.”   

‘Not ready to leave’  

Sanjana Prabhakar, of Mumbai, India, said she had been nervous in 2022 to leave her parents and her homeland to pursue a master’s degree in biotechnology at UW–Madison. She had never been to the United States before — or purchased a winter coat.

“In just two years, Madison became my home,” said Prabhakar, who was given the special honor Saturday of carrying the flag for the Graduate School.  

For Victoria Moda, four years just wasn’t enough.  

“I’m so sad — I’m really not ready to leave,” said Moda, of Methuen, Massachusetts, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological systems engineering. “I don’t think ‘Freshman Me’ would believe everything I’ve been able to do here.”  

She’s returning to New England post-graduation but will forever remain a Badger.  

“I’ll be back here any chance I get.”

Fireworks burst overhead while graduate Ryan Nash, receiving a Master of Music Performance, sings the National Anthem. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

Seen in silhouettes, graduates file in to Camp Randall Stadium before the ceremony. Photo by: Jeff Miller

Flag bearers make their way down the aisle towards the stage during the academic processional. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Graduates wave to their family members before the ceremony. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

UW Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin speaks during UW–Madison's spring commencement ceremony. Photo by: Bryce Richter

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