Solutions journalism course: finding solutions while putting out fires

Editor’s note: Journalists often get bogged down in reporting on problems. But growing evidence shows that readers want coverage of solutions. We’re republishing the first instalment from The Fix’s course on solutions journalism by Emma Löfgren. Subscribe to access the full course for free in seven weekly instalments delivered to your email inbox.

In this course, we’re going to talk a lot about solutions. 

Before we finish, you will have the first draft of a roadmap for how you can make your newsroom more solutions-focused – and how to make the most of that new strategy.

This course assumes four things about you:

• You’re excited about the idea of solutions journalism, but want to know more and get actionable advice on how to make it a vital part of your newsroom’s future strategy.
• You’re exhausted and don’t have the time, the brainspace or the buy-in to completely remodel your newsroom. I know the feeling! This course will focus on realistic steps.
• You’re in a position where you have the ability to influence your newsroom, whether that’s as an editor, some other kind of manager, or just an informal peer leader – but you want more tools for how to be an effective solutions journalism pathbreaker.
• You’re open to sharing newfound knowledge with others. We’d love you to stay in touch, subscribe to The Fix’s newsletter, and let us know how you’ve managed to successfully apply this course in your newsroom – and where you’ve identified stumbling blocks.

First, let’s take a quick look at the basics.

Solutions journalism is “rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems”, in the words of our friends at the Solutions Journalism Network, the leading voice in the field.

It takes a constructive approach to journalism and is built on four pillars:

Response. Solutions Journalism focuses on a response to a problem and goes into specific detail about how it works, why it works or why it doesn’t work. We’ll talk about this in the next edition.

Evidence. It doesn’t just rely on hearsay or positive vibes. Solutions journalism includes evidence that shows a response actually worked. In future editions I’ll share some of my best tricks for sniffing out evidence without feeling like you’re writing a scientific dissertation.

Limitations. There’s no such thing as a perfect solution. Good, effective solutions journalism doesn’t view the response through rose-tinted glasses, it also includes what didn’t work. 

Insights. What can others learn from the response? 

We’ll discuss these four pillars in the coming editions, and talk about how to encourage the rest of the newsroom to incorporate them in their coverage, even when you’re all pressed for time.

Solutions journalism can be its own vertical, like features or investigations. It can also just be an approach that reframes the way we look at journalism to see it not only as something that exposes problems, but that shows us how they can be fixed. By the end of this course you will have learned new tools to reframe your newsroom’s approach to journalism.

I will not even try to give your newsroom the massive overhaul it probably needs. A lot of news editors want to create lasting change, but find themselves too busy putting out fires. Every day, a new fire. Every day, a long-term project put on hold for a day when there are no more fires. 

There’s never a day without fires.

So this course won’t force you to restructure your newsroom before you can try solutions journalism. It will help you work within the chaotic framework of news instead of fighting it.

I’ve worked in busy newsrooms most of my career, and I’ve found that shifting pebbles sometimes gets you further than trying to move mountains. For me, the biggest impact solutions journalism has had on my work isn’t the award-winning projects or the in-depth articles – it’s how it’s affected the way I approach stories every day, even when there’s no solution in sight.

Your solutions challenge

Talking about the theory is all good and well, but we also need to dive in there and start working. Each edition in this course will include a set of challenges, ideas for how you immediately can start experimenting with solutions journalism.

At the end of the course you’ll receive them all in one document that you can return to for iteration or whenever you feel like your strategy is stalling and needs a solutions boost.

Learn from others

Every edition will also contain an example of a solutions-focused news story that you can learn from, share with colleagues or use as inspiration for future stories for your newsroom. The last edition of the course will include a bumper list of links to excellent resources for further reading. 

Did you know that The Fix also publishes a weekly newsletter with insights, solutions and data from media organisations across Europe? Subscribe here and join a community of media leaders who are navigating the massive transformation of news media, just like you.

What’s next

In the next edition, we’ll look at the first pillar of solutions journalism (the response) and how to find it – quickly. I’ll also reveal three questions I always ask myself before pursuing a solutions story.

---