Impact Stories

Keyshawn Davis (2023): In December 2023, Solving Sacramento, the solutions-oriented news collaborative in California's state capital, hired Keyshawn Davis as a part-time general assignment reporter. He had previously written as a freelancer for The Sacramento Observer, the city’s Black newspaper, while studying at the local state university, which he graduated from in May 2023. “Solving Sacramento and The Observer are excellent for journalism students who want to learn and get entry-level experience with professional publications,” said Davis. Sena Christian, project manager for the collaborative, said, “When he pitches stories, he always comes from a solutions approach.” While his reporting has focused primarily on housing issues in the Black community, one of his solutions-oriented stories looked at a program providing health checks to pets that belong to unhoused people.

9 Millones, a digital publication focused on telling stories that matter to the Puerto Rican community, has published several stories on how women in Vieques, an island that is part of Puerto Rico, politically engage around environmental and land management issues that adversely affect the local population. As a result of this reporting and community engagement work, the publication received two grants. The first, from the local María Fund nonprofit, provided $30,000 in funding over two years. The second came from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2023 Impact Fund for Reporting on Health Equity and Health Systems. 9 Millones received $9,000 to engage with the local community, write solutions stories such as “Amid lack of services, this organization is supporting cancer patients in Vieques,” and receive mentorship.

A digital publication focused on telling stories that matter to the Puerto Rican communities on the islands and in the U.S., 9 Millones earned the trust of local community organizers. After producing a solutions-oriented series of articles about the Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses’ community organizing around environmental issues and land use policies affecting the local population in Vieques, its journalists returned to present their work to people they had interviewed. The coverage, as well as their effort to transparently present their reporting process and its outcomes, led sources to express appreciation for the role of 9 Millones, as a small independent media outlet, in fairly representing their voices, activities and purpose. One person said they found the journalism “enriching” and another that they valued the trust built through the careful development of relationships with local people. The community organization Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses received funding from Puerto Rican foundations after it used the reporting in which it was featured to showcase the value of its work.

After taking the online course on solutions journalism hosted by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, conservation biologist James Hall incorporated the approach for a story he wrote for the environmental journalism site Mongabay. The story, which focused on the conservation efforts of a small NGO in Colombia called Techo de Agua (Roof of Water), prompted an alliance between the NGO and local researchers, aimed at finding real-world solutions for conservation efforts. “This alliance allows for our research and methodologies for the conservation and management of conflicts between wildlife and human communities to be recognized as products of scientific, academic and practical interest,” said Mayra Natalia Parra Salazar, general director of the NGO, who told the Knight Center that a university professor who directs a research group contacted her to form an alliance after reading Hall’s article. She also said, "that our story was made known in many places thanks to James Hall’s article allowed our actions to have greater credibility,” she added. (This information was abbreviated from Teresa Mioli's story for LatAm Journalism Review.)

Reporting by Reyes Mata III of the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative on a community-driven research effort in Sunland Park, New Mexico, played a part in getting local officials to approve the hiring of a digital navigator, whose role is to educate the population in digital skills. The initial solutions-focused story, “Mamacítas Cibernéticas seeks to close digital gaps in Sunland Park,” demonstrated the success of an organizing method adhering to the community’s cultural values to learn about its needs. This led to subsequent media coverage from neighboring areas and national outlets. One of the local research coordinators credited the media’s attention and presence at a local council meeting for advancing the approval of this new position.

In April 2023, the Amsterdam News, a Black-owned newspaper in New York City, published a solutions-oriented series titled “Hard Labor” on the state and history of labor relations in the city, with a particular focus on the construction trades. It subsequently revived its Labor Awards Breakfast, an annual event dedicated to celebrating people in the organized labor community, which, in addition to the labor-focused reporting, provided an opportunity to rekindle relationships. A couple of unions sponsored the event, increasing their financial support of the publication by 50% and 110%. The coverage also led to a growth in subscriptions from individuals living in public housing in New York City. The newspaper’s president and chief revenue officer, Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, said: “The Labor community was appreciative not only of the special section but also of the breakfast which gave construction trades leaders the opportunity to speak to today's critical and under addressed issues."