How Solutions Journalism Rebalances the News

A growing number of people are tuning out the news. The Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report found that nearly 4 in 10 people globally now say they sometimes or often avoid the news. Many say it puts them in a bad mood. Others feel overwhelmed, powerless or fed up with the repetitive focus on crises and conflict.

This trend isn’t new. In 2023, researchers dug deeper and found something surprising: People who avoid the news are not uninterested — they’re frustrated. They are more likely than regular news followers to say they want solutions-focused stories and less interested in the constant churn of breaking news. In other words, the news isn’t losing its audience because people don’t care; it’s because many feel they’re not getting what they need.

Researchers have long warned that relentless negativity in the news leads to emotional burnout. Media scholars Karen McIntyre and Meghan Sobel have identified two major causes of news avoidance: psychophysical numbing, where audiences lose the ability to process large-scale distant suffering, and compassion fatigue, which dulls empathy the more suffering we see. News, especially U.S. media, has a bias toward the negative. For example, in a study comparing U.S. news coverage of COVID-19 in 2020 with international coverage of the pandemic, economics professor Bruce Sacerdote, along with two other researchers, found that 87% of national U.S. news coverage of COVID was negative, compared with 51% of international news coverage, even when good news, like rising vaccination rates or improved treatments, was available. That imbalance can make people feel that everything is getting worse.

But a different kind of journalism is showing signs of reversing this trend, making people feel more hopeful, more engaged and more likely to act. Solutions journalism is a reporting approach that focuses on how people and institutions are responding to problems. It doesn’t avoid tough issues; it digs into them with the same rigor as traditional journalism, but includes what is being tried to address them and whether those responses are working.

Local newsrooms are increasingly hearing demand for this kind of reporting. Before launching Arizona Luminaria in 2022, co-founder Irene McKisson and her team held listening sessions with community members. The message was clear: “We heard people, unprompted, tell us that they wanted to understand what solutions existed for problems in their community,” she said. That feedback shaped the newsroom’s entire approach, prioritizing coverage that highlights not just what’s broken but also how people are trying to fix it.

Solutions Journalism Changes How People Feel

Research shows that this kind of reporting has a measurable emotional impact. In 2017, researchers at the Institute for Applied Positive Research found that solutions-oriented reporting made people feel less anxious, more energized and more connected to the community. Audiences also reported more willingness to talk about the issues, collaborate with others and hold officials in positions of power accountable for change.

That effect appears to be even more profound in younger audiences. According to the News Literacy Lab’s 2023 Impact Report, a school media-literacy program including solutions journalism helped students feel more hopeful about society and more balanced in how they engaged with the news. Instead of avoiding headlines altogether, students began seeking out stories that showed progress or possibility.

It Encourages People To Act

In 2020-21, we commissioned SmithGeiger, a leading media research firm, to study the impact of solutions journalism. SmithGeiger talked to more than 600 local-news consumers in six television markets across the country to understand the impact of a solutions journalism approach compared with a more conventional "here’s a problem we’ve uncovered" story. SmithGeiger found audiences rated solutions stories as more interesting and important than conventional stories. Also, after watching solutions stories, they were more likely to take action: talk to others about the story, search for more information online, and feel inspired to get involved. The findings did not vary by geography or demographics — or, notably, by political ideology. The stories also built loyalty to the stations that aired them.

Time and again, research proves that offering audiences solutions spurs collective action while reinforcing the belief that progress is achievable. Beyond kindling renewed faith in the solvability of social crises, solutions journalism creates audiences that are better informed and more willing to discuss problems with their community. Other studies back this up. When the Chattanooga Times Free Press ran a solutions-focused series on poverty, public discourse increased significantly. Mentions of poverty on X (formerly known as Twitter) rose, and references to the issue in city council meetings jumped from just four to 26 after the series ran. Readers responded by offering mentorship, hosting community forums and bringing the reporting into classrooms. In short, solutions journalism goes beyond informing audiences — it activates them.

Solutions Journalism Is More Sustainable

Beyond its impact on readers, solutions journalism offers a business advantage: It builds trust. According to a 2024 Gallup poll, 36% of U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media. But research conducted by SmithGeiger shows that trust jumps when audiences encounter a solutions-focused story: 83% of respondents said they trusted the solutions version, compared to just 55% for a problem-only report on the same topic.

That trust goes hand and hand with stronger audience engagement. Consumers of solutions journalism are more likely to click through headlines, spend more time on the site and return later for more. In fact, one outlet that shifted to a solutions (or constructive) journalism model noticed a 29% increase in subscribers. When The Trace, a publication focused on gun violence, launched a newsletter, The Trajectory, highlighting potential solutions, the newsletter received "a much bigger response" than expected.

This pattern reflects a broader shift in the field. As the 2023 Reuters Digital News Report noted, some news organizations are taking deliberate steps to reconnect with their audiences. They're broadening the news agenda, producing more positive or inspiring content, and embracing solutions journalism as a way to offer people a sense of hope or agency.

There’s growing evidence that this approach can also support financial sustainability. SJN’s Impact Database includes numerous examples of how solutions-focused reporting has helped newsrooms attract new funding. Here are a few highlights: