With a few simple questions and just a little extra effort, reporters and editors can quickly improve the quality and value of their work and raise the profile and credibility of their news organization.
And if done correctly, and regularly, this new method of reporting stories can lead to positive changes in our communities and the lives of residents.
The concept is called “solutions journalism,” and it was defined and launched by the appropriately named Solutions Journalism Network. This new form of journalism seeks to look for and cover topics of great importance by examining responses to problems, seeking out and defining solutions, and sharing with readers what is working in our society and why.
As a recent devotee to SJ, let me say upfront: this method is not about choosing only upbeat topics to report on or softening your reporting in any way.
That said, implementing SJ does result in more positive reporting and a slight shift away from only presenting negative information on problems, challenges, or tragedies. I think we can all agree that in today’s media world, particularly amid a pandemic and ongoing political and social division, the reporting, presenting, and consuming of news can be a pretty big downer and that if there was ever a time for a new, more uplifting approach, it is now.
The group’s mission is to “spread the practice of solutions journalism: rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. We seek 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.”
The “response” element of that statement is critical. SJ seeks to drill in on problems and issues just like traditional reporting but adds an element that examines how problems can be solved or addressed to improve life and society.
The process will lead reporters to do a bit more research, make a few more phone calls, and add material to stories that might have been overlooked in the past. SJ does not require much more work but does require a new way of thinking about the approach to stories and the reporting on issues.
South Dakota News Watch, the non-profit journalism organization where I work, has recently received a pair of small grants from the SJN and undergone training in how SJ can be used. We’ve also embarked on efforts to implement SJ in our work.
Some stories have been born with an SJ focus in place right from the start. For instance, News Watch set out this fall to examine how the pandemic was affecting education on Native American reservations. The result was a newsy in-depth main bar on how limited internet coverage, a lack of access to computers and other socio-economic challenges were inhibiting teaching and learning.
But we went further, and with SJ top of mind, produced a sidebar drilling in on one remote reservation that used federal grant money, assistance from a non-profit, and ingenuity by local leaders to create its own local internet system to reach families for remote learning.
Somewhat to my surprise, the SJ piece fared extremely well in audience metrics. The piece received many positive comments on Facebook and attracted a new audience we hadn’t tapped into before.
News Watch has also taken an SJ approach to many stories in a more subtle way that has raised the importance and value of our work. In a story about flaws in COVID-19 contact tracing, we sought out and found some places where tracing had been effective and explained why. In a piece about pandemic electoral challenges, we highlighted innovative methods for holding a fair, safe in-person vote (one county with tight office space bought a surplus military tent and added lights and heat to provide for socially distanced early voting and ballot processing.) In a story on how isolation was causing a mental and physical decline in nursing home residents, we revealed how one home had used plastic, wood, and shoulder-length agricultural insemination gloves to create a COVID-safe “hugging window” for residents and visitors. Some of that reporting may have happened anyway, but our involvement with SJN has led us to make a hunt for solutions part of every story discussion and reporting effort.
To get started now, ask some of the following questions: Where else is this problem happening, and has anyone made progress? What responses to this problem have worked, where did success occur and why? What evidence is there of success and how is it measured? Can solutions from elsewhere be replicated in our community? Am I giving a full and fair picture of this problem and highlighting potential solutions?
I encourage you to learn more by visiting the network at solutionsjournalism.org. You’ll feel better reporting on solutions, and your readers and community leaders will appreciate it, too.
Interested in Solutions Journalism? Attend the free Solutions Journalism 101 Webinar on January 5, 2021 at 10:00 am EST
229 years ago, America became . . . America
Today marks a hidden holiday, as uncelebrated as it is unappreciated. It was 229 years ago today that the United States ratified the Bill of Rights, ensuring unprecedented freedom for the people of an emerging nation.
Bill of Rights Day has actually been a national holiday since Nov. 28, 1941, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated Dec. 15 “Bill of Rights Day.” Roosevelt had big plans, envisioning flag-flying, and ceremonies nationwide. Roosevelt observed that Adolph Hitler feared “our freedom of speech, press, and religion.” Unfortunately, the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 erased all the ambitious plans to mark the date. There’s no time to celebrate freedom when you’re fighting to preserve it.
That was almost 80 years ago, and America continues to take the Bill of Rights for granted. At just 500 words, it packs more than 20 rights into 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, the promise of a Bill of Rights was the key to getting the Constitution ratified in the first place.
Given that there won’t be cake or gifts or greeting cards, the best way to celebrate Bill of Rights Day is simply to reflect on its importance. And depending upon your personal priorities, some liberties may loom larger than others.
The National Rifle Association touts the Second Amendment as America’s “first freedom.” That’s either bad math or poetic license, but you get the point. If our government took those freedoms away, you might have to wrest those back with “the right to bear arms.”
Americans with a deep and abiding faith are grateful for the freedom to worship and be free of government interference with their faith.
Those who treasure personal privacy and the sanctity of their homes would be thankful for the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Those who have been accused of a crime would welcome the fair trial guarantees contained in the Sixth Amendment.
All of these liberties are critical to the kind of nation we are, founded on freedom and fairness.
I am particularly grateful, though, for the one-two punch of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Together they protect our free expression and safeguard the entire Bill of Rights.
The preamble to the Constitution set forth the goal of “a more perfect union.” The phrase was both aspirational and wise. There was no way a fledgling country could get everything right, let alone draw up a blueprint that would guarantee the liberty of every American.
And of course, the Constitution didn’t. Slavery was left intact and women were left without a voice or vote. As lofty as America’s ideals were, there were still inequities and injustices to address.
It would take centuries of free speech and press to illuminate and address the needs of this imperfect union. Although critics of the contemporary press – which includes newspapers, radio stations, television stations, websites, and every other form of informational media – like to use phrases like “fake news, “ the truth is that the newspapers of 1791 were far more biased than their modern descendants. They were largely political organs full of outrage, exaggeration, and lies. Yet it was in that very environment that the American people demanded a free press be a part of the Bill of Rights. They saw it as a check on a new and powerful central government and protection against abuse of the Constitution and yes, the new Bill of Rights. Journalists who do their jobs well today are fulfilling the mission set forth for them in 1791.
The most impressive thing about the Bill of Rights is that a document written 229 years ago remains so vital, vibrant and essential.
The aggressive journalists empowered by the First Amendment have gone on to monitor and irritate every president from John Adams to Donald Trump. The assembled citizens who spoke out against slavery and demanded universal suffrage have contemporary counterparts demanding racial justice today. Those 10 amendments have served us well.
Of course, when it comes to patriotic holidays, none rival Independence Day. But that holiday recalls a nation just starting out, committing in general terms to a nation founded on liberty.
On December 15th, 1791, the first generation of Americans fulfilled that promise. We could love our country, but also voice our concerns about its actions and priorities. That honest exchange of ideas – fueled by freedom of press, speech, and assembly – can make for dissonance and division in our politics. But it also makes for the strongest and most enduring nation on the face of the earth.
Related story:
NENPA and NEFAC are excited to partner on an ad campaign, provided by the Free Speech Center, to recognize the birthday (Dec. 15, 1791) of the ratification of the Bill of Rights