Impact Stories

Since 2019, the Granite State News Collaborative has raised more than $140,000 for its work, which includes a significant amount of solutions journalism, and several of its major funders have said the group’s solutions journalism is one key reason for their support. More than 20 media and educational organizations across New Hampshire are members of the collaborative, which jointly writes stories and convenes community conversations on critical issues. The group’s latest project centers on race and equity, with solutions stories focused on refugee education, restorative justice and responses to hate crimes in the state.

A three-part solutions-focused series on regenerative agriculture helped Montana Free Press (MTFP) significantly increase readership and raise more than $8,000 directly from readers. The first part of the “Common Ground” series brought in 29,000 visitors, 78% of whom were new to the site. MTFP then decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to support reporting for the series, which brought in more than three times the initial goal of $2,500. The news team also embedded a short survey with its first two stories and received 850 responses, with 61% expressing interest in a limited-newsletter series on the subject of regenerative agriculture.

In an effort to to explore the world’s challenges through the lens of progress, The New York Times launched an initiative called Headway with a series of stories called “Hindsight” that looked at predictions from the past that did — or didn’t — come true and why, examining what could be learned from them. Headway is a philanthropically funded initiative that includes a partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network under which SJN will help train Headway contributors and staff. As part of Headway, The Times will also pioneer an online public square, focused on community-building, transparency, engagement and data dissemination. The goal is to support and encourage conversation, education and research around the topics Headway addresses.

A private donor contributed $20,000 to The Real News Network, inspired by its reporting on how activists are using community organizing to fight voter suppression. The network, a multimedia news outlet based in Baltimore, is one of 10 newsrooms supported by the Solutions Journalism Network’s Advancing Democracy initiative. John Duda, executive director of The Real News Network, said it would use the funding to do follow-up stories closer to the midterm elections.

WHYY/PlanPhilly said the Philadelphia City Council had used its stories as the city worked to keep its streets clean. WHYY/PlanPhilly did a series last fall that looked at promising practices in parts of Philadelphia and elsewhere, including providing trash bins for all residents, which has shown success in Baltimore.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation and the Better Government Association (BGA), a watchdog organization, together have launched the Illinois Solutions Partnership, an ambitious collaboration that aims to address the state’s urgent challenges through investigative and enterprise reporting. The McCormick Foundation will provide $10 million in grants to the effort over the next five years, and BGA will devote reporters and other resources to substantially match McCormick’s commitment over the same time period. In announcing the new partnership, BGA and McCormick described the venture as in-depth investigative journalism combined with reporting focused on potential solutions, saying Illinois residents need both to hold their government accountable and to engage public officials and leaders to improve Illinois and Chicago.