Guidance for Teaching Content Creation

by Celeste Sepessy, assistant teaching professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, one of five Solutions Journalism Network University Hubs

As educators, we need to prepare students to work for themselves. More than a third of journalists today are freelance or self-employed, according to Pew Research Center. You know how to prepare students to write a rigorous solutions journalism piece. Let’s dig into how we can teach our students to think like solutions journalism content creators — journalists who can research, produce and distribute their own work, without the help of an outlet backing them.

And before you roll your eyes at the dread “C” word, consider this: 37% of folks under 30 say they regularly consume news from social media influencers. Wouldn’t we all rather that be high-quality content from trained solutions journalists?

Here are six strategies to guide your content creators through research, production and distribution.

1. Define your audience.
Effective content reaches the right people, not the most people. We often teach students to write for a general audience in a specific location. That’s the local news approach. But content creators need to envision a specific audience and be as intentional about who they’re trying to reach as they are about the story they’re trying to tell.
How to teach this: Encourage students to be specific about their intended audience: How old are they? Where do they live? What are their values? What are their fears? What do they need to be successful socially or professionally? With these answers, students can frame their work so it resonates more deeply with the people they actually want to reach.
Tip: Students will be most successful if their intended audience is made up of people much like themselves.

2. Take advantage of brand-approved tools.
Marketing departments don’t guess what their audiences want; they spend serious time researching it. Journalists should do the same if they want to create solutions-focused content their audiences actually want and need.

Keyword research platforms, search trend trackers and social listening tools can show students what people are actually seeking out online. Google Trends, Google Analytics, AnswerThePublic and Metricool are good places to start — they’re free and easy to use. Others, like Semrush, SpyFu and SparkToro, offer free trials or a limited number of daily searches. The goal here isn’t necessarily to find the solution to cover, but to understand the solutions people need. 

How to teach this: Students should start with a broad topic they’re interested in covering and then use the tools above to identify related search queries. If a student is covering housing in Maricopa County, keyword tools will point them to more search opportunities in Phoenix. These high-volume queries all can help students narrow down possible story angles: 

• “How to qualify for affordable housing in Phoenix”
• “Income limits for Phoenix housing programs”
• “Best affordable neighborhoods in Phoenix” 

Tip: Ask students questions like: How can this information help you refine story ideas? How might you reach your audience better?​

3. Encourage students to develop their journalistic identity.
There are countless reasons why young journalists feel drawn to content creation. It’s flexible, it’s creative and it can be lucrative. But here’s another big one: Young content creators have a voice — one shaped by their experiences — and they’re worried traditional journalism may squash it.

Content creation is essentially a brand-building exercise. (See more on that below). Students can develop their reporting style, voice, coverage interests and expertise in a safe environment, before they have to answer to an employer. This is also an opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to craft rigorous solutions journalism stories — something that will absolutely set them apart in a stack of job applications. Independent coverage over time also allows students to build a cohesive body of work.
How to teach this: Students can informally conduct a “content audit” on their own work — or better yet, a classmate’s. In this branding exercise, students should analyze a range of content (including social posts, written clips, audio scripts and even visuals). How would they describe the work’s voice and tone? Does this match the identity they want?
Tip: Students are at the start of their content creation career, and they’re likely still developing their voice. Ask them: Who do you want to reach? Their voice should be true to them but also reach this target audience.

4. Explain why credibility and transparency matter.
Content creators don’t have the backing of a trusted news institution, so using credibility signals is critical. This starts with traditional journalistic practices: attributing clearly, citing sources with hyperlinks, and disclosing potential conflicts of interest. Transparency practices are becoming more popular in journalistic spaces, and they can be especially useful for independent journalists. Don’t leave anything up for interpretation here. 
How to teach this: Have students create a “How I Reported This” element for a story by explaining their reporting methods: Where did the story idea come from? Who did they talk to? Who didn’t they talk to and why? What barriers did they face in reporting? Encourage them to think creatively about the format for this element. It could be a graphic Instagram carousel, with each image including a question and answer. For longer pieces, students could do a short podcast in which a classmate interviews them about their solutions journalism story process. 
Tip: This is where your students can set themselves apart from influencers. For more ideas about demonstrating credibility, check out The Trust Project’s Trust Indicators.

5. Choose the platform(s) that make the most sense.
Independent journalists have more options than ever to get their work in front of people. Social media is, of course, the go-to option here (see the Guidance for Social Media Stories here), but self-publishing platforms like Substack, Ghost, Kit, Patreon and even Medium offer robust publishing options.

Newsletters allow content creators to produce approachable but rigorous reporting in a user-friendly format. They can showcase a journalist’s voice in a way traditional journalism may not be able to do, and allow for consistent, iterative coverage that rewards deep follow-up reporting. Plus, their direct-to-consumer format prioritizes user experience. See the Urban Solutions Journal, Reframing Disability and upBeat on Substack for inspiring examples. 
How to teach this: Have students convert one of their own written or multimedia solutions journalism stories into a Substack-style newsletter entry. Students should include a catchy opener, subheads for each of the four pillars and a transparency element. Encourage students to rewrite, not simply copy and paste. 
Tip: Newsletters offer an excellent way to practice writing in a conversational and genuine voice while still using journalistic frameworks.

6. Help students position themselves as solutions journalists now. 
If your students don’t already have a portfolio website, help them create one. It’s the perfect place to showcase their budding expertise and interests — including solutions journalism — especially if they want to become independent content creators. Featuring solutions stories on their website and social media is key to making this content part of their brand. 
How to teach this: Creating a portfolio website shouldn’t be a one-and-done exercise. Encourage students to update it every semester to reflect new coursework, student media clips and internship materials.
Tip: Even if students don’t end up with a million followers on TikTok, employers who see their website portfolios will appreciate their commitment to solution journalism’s insightful, rigorous approach.