introduction to solutions journalism
Post on 31-Oct-2014
50 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
Chicago Tribune documents “how gun violence shocks and destabilizes neighborhoods”
The Whole Story
The Fayetteville Observer takes a different approach
The Whole Story
Cover local problems & look to seehow others are doing better
The Whole Story
Solutions Journalism
Solutions journalism IS:• Rigorous reporting about
responses to problems
• Grounded in results & evidence
• About problem-solving
• Readily integrated with hard news and investigative journalism
Solutions journalism is NOT:• Advocacy, fluff, hero
stories
• “Good news”, feel good
• Speculative
• A movement
• Boring!
The Whole Story
“News fatigue brought many of the participants to a learned helplessness
response.”
“Over and over, the negativity of news added to the desire to tune out.”
2008 Associated Press Study of Young Adults
The Whole Story
Can GOOD journalism backfire?
• Feinberg & Willer, 2011: Dire warnings reduce belief in global warming.
• Witte & Allen, 2000: When people have a low sense of efficacy, fear-inducing messages lead to defensive responses not behavior change.
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
NOT the solution!
The Whole Story
No Silver bullets
The Whole Story
Tweet & donate 20 bucks!
The Whole Story
Just the last 5% of the story?
The Whole Story
Chris P. Bacon
The Whole Story
Information & Behavior Change: 2 Questions
“Can we fix this?”“What’s at stake?”
The Whole Story
Marshall Ganz
It’s a recognition of the world’s problems combined with recognition of the world’s possibilities that brings change.
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
An entry point for serious stories
The Whole Story
Solutions journalism: rigorous and compelling coverage of responses to social
problems and the results that they are producing
A practice
The Whole Story
The Whole Story
A growing network
The Whole Story
A different response to prostitution(Orange County learns from San Diego)
The Whole Story
How to engage parents in public schools?(Seattle sees possibilities from Chicago)
The Whole Story
From Dropout Factory to 94% graduation rateHow did it happen?
The Whole Story
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s & Meg Kissinger’s award-winning “Chronic Crisis” series
The Whole Story
How do Bangladesh’s “Polders” Work?
The Whole Story
Solutions journalism rubric
1. Does the story explain the causes of a social problem?
2. Does the story present an associated response to that problem?
3. Does the story get into the problem solving and how-to details?
4. Is the problem solving process central to the narrative?
5. Does the story present evidence of results linked to the response?
6. Does the story explain the limitations of the response?
7. Does the story convey an insight or teachable lesson?
8. Does the story avoid reading like a puff piece?
9. Does the story draw on sources who have a ground-level understanding, not just 30,000 foot expertise?
10. Does the story give greater attention to the response than to a leader/innovator/do-gooder?
The Whole Story
The Howdunnit!
The Whole Story31
Seattle Times: Education Lab
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr0
1000020000300004000050000600007000080000
Education Lab Blog Traffic
Page viewsVisitsUnique Visitors
Strategies
• Get on st.com home page• 3 posts/day at Web rush
hour
Highlights
• #4 non-sports blog
• #11 among all blogs
The Whole Story
Reader Engagement (A/B) Test
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
59%52%
47%
35%
22%
36%28%
22%
Solutions story
Non-solutions story
* Agree or strongly agree
** Somewhat likely or very likely
The Whole Story
For reporters, new energy
“Never in 23 years of reporting have I written a story that’s generated such consistent reaction from readers – from politicians to educators to moms and those who’ve never had kids. Yes, I’ve done stories that sparked lots of reaction, but not like this: thoughtful, appreciative, inspired. [It’s] an indication that people really seem to be ready to change the tone of debate around education.”
– Claudia Rowe, Seattle Times reporter
The Whole Story
Harnessing data and information for the health of communities.
10-12 news partners
Asking “Who’s doing it better?”
The Whole Story
Good Samaritan Medical CenterWest Islip, NY
The Whole Story
Good Samaritan Regional Medical CenterSuffern, NY
The Whole Story
When should I look for a solutions angle?
Whenever you’re looking into a widespread problem, or a news event whose cause is a
widespread problem.
The Whole Story
Who’s doing better against smoking?
The Whole Story39
Who’s doing better against maternal mortality?
Percentage change in Maternal Mortality Rate 1990-2010, Africa
What’s happening in Rwanda?
What about Angola, Namibia and Zambia?
The Whole Story
Who’s doing better against stillbirths?
The Whole Story
Why is it worth doing?
•Makes our journalism more accurate & complete
•Makes investigations about problems starker
•Makes the story fresher (adds contrast)
•Increases community efficacy, not apathy or cynicism
•Can lead to less polarized, more constructive discourse
The Whole Story
Covering responses to problems without
advocacy, PR or fluff makes journalism
stronger, and has the potential to make
communities and society stronger
In Summary
The Whole Story
Just one more thing…
“Who’s doing it better?”
top related