How 'solutions journalism' aims to give audiences hope for the future amid a world of turmoil ✍️ iburrell
Positive News bristles with solutions-led stories. Its website reports a scheme to use natural measures to end a century of flooding in rural Lancashire. We learn of “Repair Together”, a project by Ukrainian techno ravers to fix bomb-damaged buildings. The print edition – “the world’s most uplifting news magazine” – has a cover interview with actor Mark Rylance who proposes his solution for cancel culture.
The News Literacy Network , a non-profit that champions solutions journalism was launched in August. The NLN provides resources to teachers and parents in tackling problems such as “propaganda”, “conspiratorial thinking” and an inbuilt “negativity bias” in mainstream news based on the age-old newsroom slogan: “If it bleeds it leads”.
The NLN features a range of solutions journalism sources, including Reasons to be Cheerful, which was founded by musician David Byrne from Talking Heads and bills itself as an editorial “tonic for tumultuous times”. Its website last week highlighted how underwater marble sculptures are being used to deter illegal trawling in the Mediterranean and how Paris has seen a 45 per cent reduction in car usage since 1990.
At Aarhus University in Denmark, the Constructive Institute was set up to combat “tabloidisation, sensationalism and negativity” in favour of “constructive journalism” that highlights “solutions and best practice”. The US-based Solutions Journalism Network has trained 20,000 journalists from 500 outlets in its efforts to turn news-gatherers into a “corrective force” that can build a “more equitable and sustainable world”.