Impact Stories

Climate Solutions, a collaborative of news outlets convened by the public media partnership StateImpact Pennsylvania, wanted to get feedback about its project from the community. It formed a listening group of nine people, which it assembled six times between 2022 and 2023, and asked how their behaviors had changed as a result of reading climate solutions stories produced by the collaborative. Those stories included coverage of home energy savings and responses to flooding, as well as a seven-part video series titled “What can I do about climate change,” created in response to a question that emerged from its engagement work. Twelve of the top 50 performing stories on StateImpact Pennsylvania’s website were solutions oriented. Participants in the group unanimously shared how they learned from the information and talked about it at work or in their personal lives. Some described a growing awareness of climate change and taking small actions in their day-to-day lives to mitigate its consequences or getting involved in local climate-focused projects.

Prime Progress, a Nigerian digital publication with an editorial focus on social impact and accountability journalism, has been publishing since 2021. By emphasizing its solutions journalism, it raised $50,000 from the Media Development Investment Fund’s Nigeria Media Innovation Program (disbursed in tranches over two years) and $20,000 from the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, a research center based at the University of Southern California. The latter grant will fund a project dedicated to “stories about how people are responding to social problems based on faith and spiritual convictions,” which will begin publishing content in early 2024, supported by the creation of a fellowship designed to train and commission writers.

9 Millones (November 2023): As a result of its deep community engagement in Vieques, an island of Puerto Rico, 9 Millones, a Puerto Rican digital publication, developed a methodology for pursuing similar projects in other contexts. Its rigorous strategy of goals planning, research, collaboration with local leaders, community needs assessment, reporting and shareback is in support of producing solutions-oriented journalism. Camille Padilla Dalmau, 9 Millones’ founder, has been invited to share the approach at journalism events and to replicate some of the community engagement initiatives in various settings in Puerto Rico and in the U.S.

The Current, a local publication based in Lafayette, Louisiana, used email, social media and in-person events to gather more than 500 responses from young people answering questions about key issues ahead of local elections, such as housing, quality of life and flooding. In addition to growing brand awareness, this outreach and engagement led to the production of solutions-oriented stories. The Current also produced a candidate questionnaire, which most filled out, and an election guide. Lafayette’s new mayor-president, Monique Blanco Boulet, took heed of the ideas for responses to housing issues presented in the solutions reporting and those discussed in public forums with local residents in shaping the policies of her administration.

Over five months in 2022, the Bonn Institute, in partnership with the Rheinische Post Mönchengladbach, a local news outlet, ran an experiment to test the benefits of solutions journalism on monetization. Built around a sample of 20 solutions stories, the research assessed their performance, finding that: a) solutions articles attracted three times the number of engaged users compared with other articles behind the paywall; b) readers of solutions articles had a 27 percent higher average session duration compared with all other users; and c) paying users read those articles an average of 9 percent longer than all other content behind the paywall. Lisa Urlbauer, the Bonn Institute's head of journalism training, said the experiment was about “trying out new approaches and gaining insights into how journalism can be developed in such a way that it remains relevant and is also worthwhile for media companies.”

“Solution-based articles help me think about issues in a more holistic way,” said Ken Magri, a freelance reporter who writes for the Sacramento News & Review, one of the members of the solutions-focused Solving Sacramento news collaborative. Prior to learning about this approach, he wondered why journalism was often negative, especially after hearing a psychiatrist say watching less news every day could curb depression. Now he applies the solutions-based formula to more topics, seeking to “offer a more balanced reading experience for readers.” He considers it a more complete form of journalism, and said the kinds of questions it raises during the editing process have made him a better journalist. His stories have covered the city’s production of affordable housing and the role of cannabis dispensaries in moving toward social equity goals.