U.N. incorporates solutions journalism principles into communications

Melissa Fleming, the U.N.’s undersecretary-general for global communications, announced that the U.N. will take a cue from the Solutions Journalism Network and highlight solutions as well as problems in its communications. “My job at the U.N. is to communicate the state of the world,” she wrote. “To do so I could tell any number of terrifying and attention-grabbing stories. But in the long run, I’d begin to lose people. I’m increasingly working on the premise that gloom doesn’t keep people gripped. Hope does.” The U.N.’s infusion of solutions will start at the top, she added. “When U.N. Secretary General António Guterres speaks, he highlights solutions while explaining problems, and then appeals to the world to join the response.”