Podcast: Turning ‘Solutions Journalism’ Into a Force for Doing Good

Jessica Stephens, Durfee High School Vice Principal and counselor for the class of 2019, right, gives student Liz Rodriguez a "high five" after reviewing her recent accomplishments. Stephens is a bright spot at Durfee. As the freshman counselor, she has been connecting with her students and seeing positive results using positive reenforcement verses the negative. The sprawling High School is only beginning to stem its drop-out rate by focusing on the emotional reality of ninth grade. Durfee High is in the Fall River School District in Fall River Massachusetts. From the Education Lab series at the Seattle Times SJN helped fund. Jessica Stephens, Durfee High School Vice Principal and counselor for the class of 2019, right, gives student Liz Rodriguez a "high five" after reviewing her recent accomplishments. Stephens is a bright spot at Durfee. As the freshman counselor, she has been connecting with her students and seeing positive results using positive reenforcement verses the negative. The sprawling High School is only beginning to stem its drop-out rate by focusing on the emotional reality of ninth grade. Durfee High is in the Fall River School District in Fall River Massachusetts. From the Education Lab series at the Seattle Times SJN helped fund.

March 26, 2020 | Read Time: 1 minute

A steady diet of news about violence, corruption, and incompetence leaves people depressed, feeling helpless, and seeking to assign blame for society’s ills. “Solutions journalism” can be an antidote — a way of looking at “who is trying to solve problems, and what results they’re getting,” says Tina Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, member of The New York Times editorial board, and a regular contributor to the paper’s online “Fixes” column.

As she discusses in this edition of the Business of Giving, Ms. Rosenberg is also co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit that encourages reporters to reconceive traditional beats. The idea is to cover not just what’s going wrong but to tell stories about people working to get it right, and succeeding.

Her organization has developed systems to train reporters to tackle the most divisive and polarizing community issues with a “solutions angle.” In one of its first projects, it partnered with The Seattle Times to develop a monthly Education Lab section featuring stories on what’s working in public schools, not just locally but across Washington state and even the nation.

In this interview, Ms. Rosenberg talks about how solutions journalism can empower audiences to take steps toward improving local circumstances and details how her organization seeks to promote the form with downloadable reporting tools and a searchable “story tracker” database with more than 1,500 solution-focused articles. She also discusses her most recent book, Join the Club, about how positive peer pressure can move the needle on big social and public-health issues.

Listen to the full conversation below, and/or scroll down to read a transcript provided by the Business of Giving.

Today's Top Jobs