To innovate and change, people need to know two things: what is broken, and how it can be fixed. The media does a good job in covering the first step, most hard news is about problems. It is time for journalists to cover the other end of the story. Not just risks, but opportunities, not just problems, but solutions too. What should we know about "solution journalism"? (This post is a summary of everything you can read on the webpage of the founders.)
Here is first of all a very short video explainer on this way of reporting.
What is solution journalism?
"Solutions journalism is critical and clear-eyed reporting that investigates and explains credible responses to social problems."
How much is it different from the usual storytelling?
"Solutions journalism, like all journalism, is about great story telling. Like any good stories, they have characters who are grappling with challenges, experimenting, succeeding, failing, learning. What’s different is that the narrative is driven by the problem solving and the conflict is located in the inherent difficulty in solving a problem, not merely in the (often simplistic) he-said-she-said argument that may surround it."
What is it not?
It shouldn’t be confused with the “civic journalism” or “public journalism” movements. It is simply a journalistic practice, or craft, that aims to tell whole stories (problems and responses).
"Solutions journalism is critical and clear-eyed reporting that investigates and explains credible responses to social problems."
- it shows examples where people are working toward solutions, focusing not just on what may be working, but how and why it appears to be working (based on evidence), or, alternatively, why it may be stumbling.
- it delves deep 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 dropout rate and how do they actually work?
- it can be both highly informing and engaging, providing a reporting foundation for productive, forward looking (and less polarizing) community dialogues about vital social issues.
How much is it different from the usual storytelling?
"Solutions journalism, like all journalism, is about great story telling. Like any good stories, they have characters who are grappling with challenges, experimenting, succeeding, failing, learning. What’s different is that the narrative is driven by the problem solving and the conflict is located in the inherent difficulty in solving a problem, not merely in the (often simplistic) he-said-she-said argument that may surround it."
- it reports on responses that are working or not. We can learn just as much from a failure as a success. The key is to look at the whole picture, the problem and the response (journalism often stops short of the latter).
- it is expressly not about advocating for or proposing particular models, organizations or ideas. Journalists pursuing solutions stories are bringing their journalistic tools to bear on reporting, examining, and writing without a specific agenda (save for the self-evident agenda that society should have the facts, as best as they can be ascertained, about how efforts to address problems are faring). The reporters who care most about the problems they cover should also care deeply about helping society to become knowledgeable about how to solve them. That means swinging the spotlight far and wide and focusing on data and evidence.
What is it not?
It shouldn’t be confused with the “civic journalism” or “public journalism” movements. It is simply a journalistic practice, or craft, that aims to tell whole stories (problems and responses).
- it not not “good news.” “Good news” stories tend to celebrate individuals and inspirational acts. They often focus on the kindness of strangers, present the protagonist as hero, and use little external evidence in the reporting.
Here is a quick checklist of solution journalism:
Solution journalism "impostors"
Here are seven examples of solutions journalism imposters - so reporting which is NOT solution journalism
Hero worship: These are stories that glorify an individual, often at the expense of talking about the idea the individual exemplifies. Instead of talking about the merits of an organization an individual started, the piece will gush about the person’s decision to leave a high-paying job to save the world.
Silver bullet: These stories are often seen in tech and innovation outlets. They sometimes claim a new gadget to be a ‘lifesaver,’ which we know is rarely true. Also, a note: Money is sometimes considered a silver bullet.
Favor for a friend: You can sometimes distinguish this imposter because the sole or predominant voice is that of the organization being profiled. Like the silver bullet story, it also doesn’t have much in the way of a ‘to be sure’ paragraph (i.e. what the caveats to effectiveness clearly are).
Think tank: Opinion journalism can be good sojo if it contains real reporting about existing solutions and isn’t just proposing things that don’t yet exist. As for think tank journalism, this term refers to journalism that proposes things that don’t yet exist. If the article covers examples that do exist, it can be perfectly good sojo.
The afterthought: This is one paragraph (or less) at the end of a traditional problem story that gives lip service to efforts at solving it. The solutions aren’t considered with any real seriousness, but rather thrown in as an afterthought.
Instant activist: A lot of people think, when seeing the phrase solutions journalism, that we’re promoting pieces that ask the reader to click a button at the end and give $5 to a cause. This is something you’ll often see on websites like change.org or the more recent RYOT. They offer an emotional plea and then ask for support for a specific cause, as a means to “solve” the issue. Nick Kristof sometimes does this as well – and he acknowledges that he sometimes blurs the line between being a journalist and activist. We recognize the importance of highlighting issues and raising money, but that’s not the goal of the type of journalism we’re trying to promote. Rather, we’re trying to encourage journalists to tell the whole story so as to more faithfully represent society.
Hero worship: These are stories that glorify an individual, often at the expense of talking about the idea the individual exemplifies. Instead of talking about the merits of an organization an individual started, the piece will gush about the person’s decision to leave a high-paying job to save the world.
Silver bullet: These stories are often seen in tech and innovation outlets. They sometimes claim a new gadget to be a ‘lifesaver,’ which we know is rarely true. Also, a note: Money is sometimes considered a silver bullet.
Favor for a friend: You can sometimes distinguish this imposter because the sole or predominant voice is that of the organization being profiled. Like the silver bullet story, it also doesn’t have much in the way of a ‘to be sure’ paragraph (i.e. what the caveats to effectiveness clearly are).
Think tank: Opinion journalism can be good sojo if it contains real reporting about existing solutions and isn’t just proposing things that don’t yet exist. As for think tank journalism, this term refers to journalism that proposes things that don’t yet exist. If the article covers examples that do exist, it can be perfectly good sojo.
The afterthought: This is one paragraph (or less) at the end of a traditional problem story that gives lip service to efforts at solving it. The solutions aren’t considered with any real seriousness, but rather thrown in as an afterthought.
Instant activist: A lot of people think, when seeing the phrase solutions journalism, that we’re promoting pieces that ask the reader to click a button at the end and give $5 to a cause. This is something you’ll often see on websites like change.org or the more recent RYOT. They offer an emotional plea and then ask for support for a specific cause, as a means to “solve” the issue. Nick Kristof sometimes does this as well – and he acknowledges that he sometimes blurs the line between being a journalist and activist. We recognize the importance of highlighting issues and raising money, but that’s not the goal of the type of journalism we’re trying to promote. Rather, we’re trying to encourage journalists to tell the whole story so as to more faithfully represent society.
Do you want to learn more on questions like
Then go to the FAQ site!
- what’s the difference between solutions journalism and good news?
- what do editors need to consider differently when assigning solutions stories?
- or how would you coach a journalist to come to this next level of reporting, to start asking the “how” in addition to the five Ws?
Then go to the FAQ site!
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