Solutions Journalism Medium

Solutions journalism is an approach to news reporting that focuses on the responses to social issues as well as the problems themselves. Solutions stories, anchored in credible evidence, explain how and why responses are working, or not working. The goal of this journalistic approach is to present people with a truer, more complete view of these issues, helping to drive more effective citizenship. Solutions journalism is rigorous, evidence-based reporting on the responses to social problems. Solutions stories can take many forms, but they share several key characteristics. They identify the root causes of a social problem; prominently highlight a response, or responses, to that problem; present evidence of the impact of that response; and explain how and why the response is...

When possible, solutions stories also present an insight that helps people better understand how complex systems work, and how they can be improved. Proponents of solutions journalism distinguish the approach from so-called "good news" reporting, which can be characterized by a superficial presentation of a response without careful analysis or examination of whether the response is effective. Solutions stories assess responses that are working today, as opposed to untested theories—and they tend to place more emphasis on the innovation than on a person or institution responsible for that innovation. Solutions journalism supporters believe that it provides important feedback that allows society to see credible possibilities and respond more successfully to emerging challenges. Compelling reporting about responses to social problems, they say, can strengthen society by increasing the circulation of knowledge necessary for citizens to engage powerfully with issues in their communities, and for communities, leaders, innovators,... Simply reporting on problems, some research shows, can reduce citizens' sense of efficacy, leading them to disengage from public life.

In a 2008 study, the Associated Press found that young people were tired of news, which they perceived as being negative and lacking resolution.[1] This resulted in "news fatigue", in which people tended to... Solutions journalism is rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems, which includes these key elements: Founded in 2013 by the award-winning journalists David Bornstein, Tina Rosenberg and Courtney Martin, the Solutions Journalism Network includes: The Solutions Story Tracker® is the largest collection of solutions journalism: 17,200 stories produced by 9,700 journalists and 2,140 news outlets from 98 countries. The stories cover responses in 199 countries, in 18 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

The Solutions Journalism Network offers newsletters for journalists, educators and everyone interested in how people are responding to problems. Journalists in our global network use solutions journalism to strengthen community efficacy, challenge false and harmful stereotypes, build trust and civic engagement, depolarize public discourse and build new sources of revenue. A Michigan State University School of Journalism team led by Dr. Serena Miller researched Solutions Journalism including its benefits and challenges. A journalism Master’s student at Michigan State University. Interested in science and climate change issues.

A journalism Master’s student at Michigan State University. Interested in science and climate change issues. Mich. State professor o/Journalism Innovations. Teach social, tech, & visual comm, quant methods, & theory. Research media sociology, digital media, & methods.

Mich. State professor o/Journalism Innovations. Teach social, tech, & visual comm, quant methods, & theory. Research media sociology, digital media, & methods. Solutions journalism is rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems, which includes these key elements: 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. 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.

We gathered in 2023 to celebrate a decade of solutions journalism, impact, insights, and the people who have made this possible. People, including journalists, often assume solutions journalism stories advocate for a particular solution by highlighting particular solutions to social problems. The name, solutions journalism, can mislead journalists and other professionals. Solutions journalism proponents, however, educate people about the rigors of solutions journalism. They state that solutions journalism requires those same verification techniques employed in traditional reporting. The primary difference is that the journalists investigate the solution to a greater degree than the problem.

We sought to analyze news stories to more precisely understand how journalists interpret solutions journalism. Only two peer-reviewed studies have applied the content analysis method to the topic of solutions journalism despite much research stating that solutions content has an impact on people’s feelings, moods and behavior. One study investigated the characteristics of investigative reporting and solutions journalism including to what extent the two overlapped with each other in terms of attributes. Another study investigated how well the picture in solutions stories depicted the solution covered in a news story. In a 2019 study comparing 69 investigative reporting and 73 solutions journalism U.S. news articles, researchers from the University of Oregon found that the two approaches shared relatively few characteristics with each other.

They defined investigative journalism as reporting on the problem and holding people and organizations in power accountable. Investigative journalists review past behaviors to find out what went wrong and who is responsible for the wrongdoing. Here are four criteria to apply when writing or producing a solutions journalism story. These criteria inspire us, and are the foundation of how we define solutions journalism in practice and for the Solutions Story Tracker®. These criteria can be applied with flexibility for diverse narrative styles and story formats. Even with flexibility, each solutions story should contain all four pillars to some degree.

If the story doesn’t describe a response, it’s not solutions journalism. That response should be explained in the context of the problem it’s trying to address, and the story should delve into how it works. The narrative is driven by the problem-solving and the tension is located in the inherent difficulty in solving a problem. Documenting the causes of that problem will clarify the opportunity for a solution to create leverage and impact. What makes solutions journalism compelling is the discovery—the journey that brings the reader or viewer to an insight about how the world works and, perhaps, how it could be made to work better. 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. Traditional news media reporting tends to spotlight problems and conflict in society. Journalists have begun to wonder if it is possible to report news without overwhelming audiences with negative and depressing stories.

In 2010, New York Times journalists David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg launched a column called “Fixes” that highlighted solutions to problems and whether they worked for the community that implemented the solution. This column became a precursor to a new form of journalism called solutions journalism. Solutions journalism is an approach to journalism that focuses on reporting on the existing responses to societal problems. Journalists approach solutions journalism stories by examining what is being done to solve an issue. The profession of journalism needs more than the watchdog role, otherwise it is incomplete, according to David Bornstein. Solutions journalism is meant to complement other approaches to journalism including the watchdog, or investigative, reporting role of journalism.

The practice “seek[s] to rebalance the news, so that every day people are exposed to stories that help them understand problems and challenges, and stories that show potential ways to respond” according to the... In an effort to restore trust in journalists, solutions journalism engages the public by showing them how communities are responding to their problems by exposing people to different solutions including downfalls and challenges associated... The Solutions Journalism Network’s stated that the approach “offers a more comprehensive and representative view of the world, and it circulates timely knowledge to help society self-correct, spotlighting adaptive responses that people and communities... Solutions journalism stems from a culmination of several journalistic experiments that reflect a never-ending goal of the profession trying to figure out how to engage audiences with the news.

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