Educator Academies
University journalism faculty members are teaching solutions journalism at the collegiate level.
Pictured: Educator Academy participants gather at Stony Brook University.
The Solutions Journalism Educator Academy is a multiday training on teaching solutions journalism at the collegiate level.
Held in summer on a university campus, the academy covers teaching the four pillars of solutions journalism; framing, sourcing and finding solutions stories; advocacy, rigor and impostors; community engagement and interviewing; story structure; creating learning goals and objectives; and refining assignments and instructional activities.
Graduates of the academy have established new courses and modules on solutions journalism at their universities.
Bringing Solutions Journalism to Students
Fifteen educators from colleges and universities across the United States gathered in July 2025 in Los Angeles to explore ways to teach solutions journalism and incorporate it into college media projects, particularly on topics relating to student mental health and climate change. The 2025 Educator Academy was co-hosted by the Solutions Journalism Network, ASU — one of the five Solutions Journalism University Hubs — and NEWSWELL, a nonprofit supporting local newsrooms that was launched by ASU.
A Focus on Student Mental Health
Youth mental health was the theme of SJN’s 2024 Educator Academy, an annual convening for journalism professors to expand their expertise in teaching solutions journalism. Held at Stony Brook University, a Solutions Journalism University Hub, the two-day gathering immersed 17 educators in the ever-evolving best practices of journalism instruction, with a special emphasis on how to inspire and prepare student journalists to cover the critical mental health issues faced by young people and college communities.
