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Changing Journalism to Change Society
- 1. The Whole Story solutionsjournalism.org @soljourno
- 2. The Whole Story What is journalism for? What is newsworthy? How do journalists best serve our audience?
- 3. The reigning myth of journalism…. The Whole Story
- 4. The Whole Story …..is a myth Bad for society. Bad for journalism.
- 5. The Whole Story Journalism has been revolutionized in the last 10 years
- 6. But almost all the change is in The Whole Story platform and technology
- 7. The Whole Story www.solutionsjournalism.org
- 9. To legitimize and spread the practice of solutions journalism—rigorous reporting about responses to social problems and their associated results The Whole Story Our Mission
- 10. Chicago and Fayetteville (NC) have among the highest The Whole Story rates of violent crime rates in the U.S.
- 11. A special series in the Chicago Tribune aims to “document how gun violence shocks and destabilizes neighborhoods” The Whole Story
- 12. A Fayetteville Observer series about the issue takes a The Whole Story different approach It covers local problems, but also looks for effective models in other cities
- 13. Solutions journalism imposters! The Whole Story
- 14. The Whole Story Hero worship
- 15. The Whole Story Silver bullet
- 16. The Whole Story Favor for a Friend
- 17. The Whole Story Cute Cooking Classes
- 18. The Whole Story Think tank
- 19. The Whole Story The Afterthought
- 20. The Whole Story Instant Activist
- 21. The Whole Story Chris P. Bacon
- 22. Solutions journalism is also not a movement The Whole Story Citizen journalism Public journalism Civic journalism
- 23. In Oct 2013, the Seattle Times launched Education Lab, a year-long project to cover solutions in education The Whole Story
- 24. The Whole Story 1. It’s good journalism • Makes journalism stronger and more complete (tells the whole story) • Strengthens traditional problem-focused stories by making the problem starker • Fresh, audience-friendly approach to stories often dismissed as “too depressing”
- 25. The Whole Story
- 26. The Whole Story 2. It can engage the audience • The story is likely to be fresher • More likely to be shared on social media • Makes audience feel powerful, less likely to tune out
- 27. Findings from a 2008 Associated Press study of The Whole Story young adults •“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.” •When people think something can be done about a problem (even something modest), they are more receptive and attentive to the information
- 28. The Whole Story Results from A/B testing 59% 52% 47% 35% 22% 36% 28% 22% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% “I felt inspired and/or optimistic after reading the article” * Would read more articles from the same newspaper ** Would get involved in working toward a solution ** Would share the article ** Solutions story Non-solutions story * Agree or strongly agree ** Somewhat likely or very likely
- 29. The Whole Story 3. It can be high-impact • Can lead to more constructive and less divisive conversations • Advances the public discourse • Introduces models for change
- 30. The Whole Story •“The solutions stories….probably got the most feedback and they were the most controversial -- I think, in part, because they ruffled the feathers of providers in this community…. •(They) were probably the meatiest of all of the stories in the series. Those were the ones that sparked the most conversation here about what we can do differently and what we are not doing now.” - Rhiannon Meyers Corpus Christi Caller-Times Cost of Diabetes series
- 31. The Whole Story Excessive cynicism = misdemeanor Excessive gullibility = felony
- 32. Solutions journalism is reporting on something that’s happening now, and the effects it is The Whole Story producing
- 33. The Whole Story The 10 Questions 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?
- 34. The Whole Story
- 35. When should I look for a solutions story? The Whole Story The problem is widely shared A key cause of the problem is widely shared Actors in a comparable situation have found newsworthy responses to that key cause
- 36. The Whole Story I can’t find a solutions story! Search more broadly – or more narrowly Look for a solution to the small slice of the problem that most affects your area Define “solution” down; it doesn’t have to be the solution to the problem
- 37. The Whole Story Vetting a solutions story It doesn’t have to be the best solution It doesn’t have to be 100% successful….or even 50% It just has to be a good story Tell the reader about its limitations
- 38. Solutions stories have characters… …but the story is what the characters are doing: The Whole Story Show them trying to solve a problem Show the results they’re getting Show how this differs from what others do Show what can be learned from it
- 39. The Whole Story Solutions stories have tension… …but the tension isn’t from the clash of two sides, or “will they succeed?” It’s from: How will they solve this problem? How do they overcome the obstacles in their way?
- 40. The Whole Story The 5 W’s plus H Who, what, when, where, why…..and how Details add interest and credibility Our hero
- 41. The Whole Story Covering a specific program A solutions story is a good way to catch readers who might skip over a more traditional report on a “too depressing” issue Fayetteville Observer: A second chance for a violent 16-year-old
- 42. The Whole Story Covering a specific program “Educare’s operators seek to demonstrate–– to policymakers and the public––effective strategies to stop poor children from falling behind.”
- 43. The Whole Story Covering new initiatives A new, unproven, idea can be a solutions story just lay out the evidence and tell the listener why you’re doing the story
- 44. The Whole Story Covering academic studies Academic studies can be covered in a brief note – or they can be the foundation for a major a reported feature
- 45. The Whole Story Quickies If the problem is widely known, you can spend a sentence on it and go right to the response. Here’s a solutions story in 576 words
- 46. The Whole Story Data-driven stories Look for the positive deviant. Kentucky residents greatly increased physical activity between 2001 and 2011. How?
- 47. The Whole Story Comparing two examples Keegan Kyle in the OC Register looks at Santa Ana’s failed efforts to deal with prostitution – and a successful strategy in nearby Anaheim
- 48. Comparing two examples – Miami Gardens The Whole Story
- 49. Comparing two examples – Miami Gardens The Whole Story
- 50. The Whole Story Comparing two examples – using data
- 51. The Whole Story Good Samaritan Medical Center West Islip, Long Island
- 52. Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center The Whole Story Suffern
- 53. The Whole Story Part of a longer series or documentary
- 54. The Whole Story As a frame for an investigation A successful response to a problem can begin and frame a project or investigation
- 55. The Whole Story Covering responses to problems without advocacy, PR or fluff makes journalism stronger and makes society stronger
- 56. Tina Rosenberg: tina@solutionsjournalism.org The Whole Story www.solutionsjournalism.org @soljourno solutionsjournalism.org @soljourno
Editor's Notes
- “We think there are three main components that make the case for doing solutions journalism. First, it’s good journalism.” Problem starker. No longer can we say it can’t be done.
- Draw out the first point a little more. Editor right. Nothing new in people in Malawi dying. This was new. Nobody tweeted the story. But this is the kind of story that would be widely tweeted, facebooked, shared today. Powerful – instinctive. We all know people tell us don’t’ read the news – just makes them want to go to bed and pull the covers over their heads. But also research.
- Study: June 2008. A New Model for News: Studying the deep structure of young-adult news consumption Affects whether they read other stories.
- “We recently helped design a study in consultation with the Engaging News project at the University of Texas to test whether solutions-oriented stories have a differential effect on readers than non-solutions oriented stories. Survey Sampling International found 750 people to read one of two versions of articles on similar topics. After they finished reading, they were asked to answer a few questions. We were amazed to find that people who read the solutions-oriented version of the article were more likely to share it on social media, read more articles in this paper, become involved themselves in working toward a solution, and feel inspired. All of these findings have statistical significance. The researchers who ran this project are in the process of finalizing a paper that will discuss this.”
- with regards to the point about advancing public discourse, you could mention that the tone of comments on Ed Lab stories is more constructive, less divisive, according to ST’s Community Engagement editor
- 40 part series with three solutions stories about how other places dealing with diabetes. Amarillo, Trenton, Rhode Island NEXT: NOT KOSHER
- Problem can be widely known but causes are hidden – you’re exposing hidden causes Or problem is initially not widely known, but reader by the end is familiar with it. Newsworthy – successful or not