Solutions 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.
Basic Toolkit
Herramientas básicas
Guide de base
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
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
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
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
2 hours, 30 minutes
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How to use solutions reporting to enhance coverage of complex issues such as access to care, substance abuse, 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.
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™.
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.
Add stories directly from your Favorites, or Search for stories in our database.
If you come across a story you want to add to a collection, click the Collection icon and follow the instructions on your screen.
Your collection has been updated. Check it out on your profile page.
Your collection has been created. Check it out on your profile page.
Our issue area taxonomy was adapted from the PCS Taxonomy with definitions by the Foundation Center, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:
Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc
Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Burak Kebapci and SCY.
Editor ToolKit
Engagement ToolKit
Can you tell which stories are good solutions journalism—and which are just posing? Click on the links to read both stories in each pair, and select the one that you think meets the five criteria. Then click the buttons below to reveal the imposters.
The word “hero” is the giveaway here. Maggie Doyne obviously is doing good work for children in Nepal. But the focus of this story is her, rather than on the response itself and how it works. In a solutions story, the idea comes first; a visionary leader can be an important character, but that person shouldn’t drive the narrative.
The word “hero” is the giveaway here. Maggie Doyne obviously is doing good work for children in Nepal. But the focus of this story is her, rather than on the response itself and how it works. In a solutions story, the idea comes first; a visionary leader can be an important character, but that person shouldn’t drive the narrative.
The word “hero” is the giveaway here. Maggie Doyne obviously is doing good work for children in Nepal. But the focus of this story is her, rather than on the response itself and how it works. In a solutions story, the idea comes first; a visionary leader can be an important character, but that person shouldn’t drive the narrative.
The word “hero” is the giveaway here. Maggie Doyne obviously is doing good work for children in Nepal. But the focus of this story is her, rather than on the response itself and how it works. In a solutions story, the idea comes first; a visionary leader can be an important character, but that person shouldn’t drive the narrative.
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