Impact Stories

After taking the online course on solutions journalism hosted by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, conservation biologist James Hall incorporated the approach for a story he wrote for the environmental journalism site Mongabay. The story, which focused on the conservation efforts of a small NGO in Colombia called Techo de Agua (Roof of Water), prompted an alliance between the NGO and local researchers, aimed at finding real-world solutions for conservation efforts. “This alliance allows for our research and methodologies for the conservation and management of conflicts between wildlife and human communities to be recognized as products of scientific, academic and practical interest,” said Mayra Natalia Parra Salazar, general director of the NGO, who told the Knight Center that a university professor who directs a research group contacted her to form an alliance after reading Hall’s article. She also said, "that our story was made known in many places thanks to James Hall’s article allowed our actions to have greater credibility,” she added. (This information was abbreviated from Teresa Mioli's story for LatAm Journalism Review.)

In April 2023, the Amsterdam News, a Black-owned newspaper in New York City, published a solutions-oriented series titled “Hard Labor” on the state and history of labor relations in the city, with a particular focus on the construction trades. It subsequently revived its Labor Awards Breakfast, an annual event dedicated to celebrating people in the organized labor community, which, in addition to the labor-focused reporting, provided an opportunity to rekindle relationships. A couple of unions sponsored the event, increasing their financial support of the publication by 50% and 110%. The coverage also led to a growth in subscriptions from individuals living in public housing in New York City. The newspaper’s president and chief revenue officer, Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, said: “The Labor community was appreciative not only of the special section but also of the breakfast which gave construction trades leaders the opportunity to speak to today's critical and under addressed issues."

Chris Nichols (2023): Veteran journalist Chris Nichols, of CapRadio, the NPR affiliate public radio station in Sacramento, worked as an editor on several story assignments for Solving Sacramento, a local news collaborative focused on reporting solutions-oriented stories. Engaging with a project dedicated to that editorial approach was a professional development opportunity: For his ongoing coverage at the radio station of affordable housing in the city, solutions journalism also made sense. “It’s reinforced the important message that as a newsroom we can showcase not only the problems but ways they might be fixed,” he said. “We’ve also discovered there’s a strong appetite for these stories online.” One of the solutions-focused stories he’s worked on is “Sacramento turns to ‘micro apartments’ to ease affordable housing crunch.”

Beginning in fall of 2023, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, started teaching a Social Justice and Solutions Journalism specialization as part of its Master of Science in Journalism. The focus of the course is on “journalism that makes the world a better place, revealing inequities and injustices while also highlighting solutions, best practices and the triumphs and voices of regular people.”

A growing number of universities in Nigeria are offering solutions journalism modules and courses to their students. This expansion came from the impetus of two educators, Rasheed Adebiyi and Jamiu Folarin, who decided to incorporate this editorial approach in their teaching as part of a Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative fellowship (coordinated by Science Africa in Kenya and Nigeria Health Watch, with the support of SJN). While the National Universities Commission, a government body that reviews and approves curriculum, did not include solutions journalism as a compulsory subject in journalism schools in its recent review, it now “allows universities to include it as a standalone course or module within existing journalism programs,” said Folarin, lecturer and researcher at Crescent University, Abeokuta. Eight higher education institutions provide courses or modules that include solutions journalism (Crescent University, Fountain University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Osun State University, Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Summit University, Iresi Polytechnic, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro). In addition, Folarin and Adebiyi are fostering an educator network, SoJo Hubs in six locations across the country, the promotion of SoJo student clubs, a Student Media Challenge modeled after the one convened by SJN, and solutions journalism sessions at two academic conferences.

In the aftermath of a political scandal roiling the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Times published a series of solutions-oriented editorials about reforming local government. The series, titled “Fixing City Hall,” won the News Leaders Association’s Burl Osborne Editorial and Opinion Award. The judges stated that the work “went beyond the local issue to explore what has become a national issue and also offered logical solutions to the mess unfolding within the Los Angeles City Council.”