Impact Stories

The Daily Sun invited some of its most frequent writers of letters to the editor to learn a deep listening technique that is part of SJN’s Complicating the Narratives initiative (https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/articles/how-a-small-town-paper-is-applying-conflict-mediation-skills-to-its-opinion-content/). The paper also hosted public tolerance forums and launched a digital public square — all to address what it saw as an increase in vitriol and name-calling on the opinion pages, and foster more productive civil dialogue. The result: Digital Editor Julie Hirshan Hart estimated the number of letters to the editor that include personal attacks has dropped by half, engagement is up, and the Sun’s audience has expanded. “The past year has brought an underlying goal into clearer focus, to be a place where our communities might turn in their search for solutions to issues that polarize our region,” said Hirshan Hart.

Priyanka Shankar, a freelance journalist with Are We Europe, a border-breaking magazine, participated in the Solution Journalism Network’s Complicating the Narratives (CTN) training with the staff of Are We Europe. Shankar and another freelancer, Inbar Preiss, then were invited to co-edit an entire issue of the magazine and used CTN skills to explore the ongoing impact of colonialism in Europe. The issue sold out quickly. Shankar told SJN that CTN helped her and Preiss tackle their own confirmation biases through better listening. Shankar and Preiss reflected on their experience with CTN for the International Journalists’ Network.

An NGO featured in this solutions journalism story by the Associated Press said the article prompted an increase in donations to its operation in Matamoros, Mexico. It also helped expedite approval from Temple University to track health surveys and the COVID antibody status of refugees in Tapachula, Mexico, near the border with Guatemala, where the NGO is opening another facility. The story also caught the attention of the Hospital Roosevelt trauma department in Guatemala City, which is now in negotiations with the NGO, Global Response Management, to develop training and technology innovations. “What a difference one story can make!” said Andrea Leiner, GRM's director of strategic plans.

Flint Beat in Michigan expanded its newsroom capacity and focused on making solutions journalism a core part of its mission. This helped raise $7,525 from major donors from the city of Flint and beyond. A membership program is currently being launched, with the aim of tapping an audience that has repeatedly expressed support for the newsroom's journalism, which marries accountability with trying to understand what works for the city.

After the Beacon's Managing Editor, Smriti Jacob, participated in SJN's pilot Complicating the Narratives (CTN) training, she incorporated a CTN lens in her coverage. According to Jacob, the stories crafted using this deep-listening practice helped diversify the Beacon’s audience and drew interest from freelancers, especially journalists of color. Jacob said the Beacon has had “a big gain in diverse readership” in 2020. “I've had Black journalists contact me to write for us, to freelance for us. That comes from the nuanced stories,” she said.

The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, comprising six news outlets and three community institutions in North Carolina, is working with local visual artists to translate its reporting into creative formats to engage new audiences. A $9,000 grant from Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council, for example, helped the collaborative produce a graphic novel highlighting stories of the pandemic. Chris Rudisill, the collaborative's director, said the project opened up opportunities for journalists to collaborate with artists and “help bridge the gap between local news and the public.” Artist Wolly McNair said the project “is a game changer and hopefully will be something others use to model ways they can tell stories."