Impact

Balancing your diet, balancing the news
A solutions story about African food cooking camps that serve those with diabetes received high audience engagement on social media. In Uganda, diabetes is a common health condition that news usually portrays as a challenge. However, the story published on New Vision through a grant from Science Africa presented the disease in an alternative light, providing actionable insights that readers could implement. New Vision published across multimedia platforms, including print, website, Facebook, X and YouTube, to maximize reach and impact. It used text, videos, photos, graphics and audio to attract buy-in from different audiences. The strategy generated over 15,000 impressions on X, and the story was shared by the Allied Nutritionists’ Association, the Uganda Consumers Protection Association and Uganda Diabetes Association. Daniel Otunge of Science Africa says that when a different New Vision story was published, criticized for misrepresenting the biomedical causes of diabetes, “the food camp story was reposted on X and other platforms to provide a balanced perspective and highlight positive, solution-oriented interventions.” He added, “Their sharing and resharing amplified the reach of the story and the associated relevant community-based responses to the diabetes problem.”

After The Salt Lake Tribune’s series on affordable housing, the newsroom built a working relationship with the Utah Housing Corporation (UHC), which is the state of Utah’s housing finance agency. The UHC originally reached out to The Tribune after this solutions story on housing in Millcreek was published. The Tribune will collaborate with the UHC on a new story updating people on the down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers. Megan Banta, the data enterprise reporter at the Tribune, says, “I do think solutions journalism helped make the reporting process easier, especially when it came to talking to developers who often catch a lot of flak for the housing crisis.”

J.D. Long Garcia, an editor at America magazine and an accredited solutions journalism trainer, pitched the idea of having solutions journalism sessions as part of the onboarding of interns, and management accepted it. The magazine’s management took part in Long Garcia’s training and found a place for the practice among its new talent. America magazine has around six interns every year, ranging from students finishing college to professionals well into a career. Using the training he received from SJN, Long Garcia offers these interns a module that is optional but encouraged. Long Garcia said solutions journalism has changed the way he thinks about reporting — it “leads me to ask different questions as a journalist.” He added: “Frankly, it helps me take a more neutral stance. There is something quite unifying about a solutions-centered approach. Most people do want to solve problems. They just don't agree on how.”

A story by Rwandan journalist Annonciata Byukusenge prompted a funder of Village Kitchen, an initiative that addresses childhood malnutrition by training parents to prepare balanced meals with local food, to increase its financial support. Byukusenge shared the published story directly with Samson Desie, UNICEF Rwanda nutritionist, who was a source for the article. Desie, impressed with the finished story, told Byukusenge that UNICEF would increase its investment in Village Kitchen due to the evidence provided in the story’s reporting on the initiative’s beneficiaries, who spoke of Village Kitchen’s effectiveness at reducing malnutrition. Following this conversation, UNICEF and China announced their support for the Government of Rwanda to enhance early childhood development, which includes tackling malnutrition and stunting among children. Daniel Otunge of Science Africa, which published the story, says, “The main thing SoJo added to the reporting on the malnutrition in Rwanda was the unique response to the problem by the government and communities working together, rather than just focusing on the problem.”