LEARNING LAB
Your one-stop guide to producing solutions journalism—rigorous and compelling reporting on responses to social problems. From finding great story ideas, to asking the perfect interview question, to spinning a powerful narrative, it all starts here.
2 hours
What You'll Learn: The key tenets of solutions journalism. What is it? What is it not? Why is it important? And how to make it happen, from idea to reporting to completed story.
Who It's For: Journalists who want to add rigor and impact to any sort of reporting.
Preview →I. Introduction (30min)
Welcome
How do I know it's Solutions Journalism?
How do I know it's NOT Solutions Journalism?
Why Solutions Journalism?
What Kind of Impact Can Solutions Journalism Have?
Solutions Journalism in Your Workflow?
II. Basic Reporting (60min)
Steps to Creating a Solutions Story
Introduction
Reporting Instructively on Failure
Slices
Bringing a Solutions Lens to Short Pieces
Solutions Journalism and Investigations
Introduction
Good Solutions Stories...
Conducting Interviews for a Solutions-Oriented Story?
Introduction
Crafting Your Pitch
Bringing a Solutions Focus to Your Beat
III. Basic Storytelling (30min)
Structuring a Solutions-Oriented Story
Story Type: Positive Deviant
Story Type: Big New Idea
Story Type: Experiment in Progress
Story Type: Location Transformation
Heroes vs. Characters
Education Guide
1 hour, 25 minutes
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to apply the solutions lens to the most pressing issues in public education, with a special focus on navigating complex evidence.
WHO IT'S FOR: Education beat reporters who want to raise the bar on their coverage.
Violence Guide
1 hour
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to reframe coverage of gun crime, sexual assault, detention, and more — with advice and examples from reporters in the trenches.
WHO IT'S FOR: Journalists ready to change their approach to reporting on crime.
Health Guide
1 hour, 10 minutes
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to use solutions reporting to enhance coverage of complex issues such as access to care, substance use disorder, and mental health treatment.
WHO IT'S FOR: Health reporters aiming to shift the lens on their beat.
Editor ToolKit
1 hour, 50 minutes
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to get your newsroom staff started on solutions journalism — and how to build toward integration of the approach across your coverage. When to employ solutions reporting to build audience engagement and community impact.
WHO IT'S FOR: Editors who find the solutions approach intrinsically attractive — and want to take it from concept to sustained practice in their news organizations.
Engagement ToolKit
2 hours
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to design and manage online and offline activities that amplify solutions stories to drive audience interest and more constructive public discourse. How to create feedback loops that can inform future coverage and metrics of your work’s impact.
WHO IT'S FOR: Reporters and editors who see powerful potential pathways from between solutions journalism and engagement — and want to build those connections consistently into newsroom practice.
Collaborative Playbook
2 hours
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to design an effective collaborative between/among news organizations, including how to surmount challenges such as editorial direction, spending decisions of shared funds and internal communications.
WHO IT'S FOR: Editors interested in designing a collaborative or working with other news organizations in a joint reporting initiative.
Help us grow our database of solutions stories! Please enter the following information. Our staff will review the story, and if it meets our criteria (see below), it will be added to the Solutions Story Tracker®.
Great suggestion! So great, that we already have that story listed in the Solutions Story Tracker®. View it here.
It may take a few weeks to see your piece in the Solutions Story Tracker®, as we have a backlog of submissions longer than Ben Hur that we’re diligently working to eliminate. We appreciate your patience.
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Photo Credits: Almudena Toral; Gabe Hernandez/Corpus Christi Caller-Times; Cody Pope; Matt Stokes
All other photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers: Rowan El Shimi; Samuele Arcidiacono; Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2017 © DW/H. W. Lamberz
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