Impact Stories

“The Sweaty Penguin,” an award-winning PBS podcast reporting on environmental news, won a $20,000 first prize at Boston University's New Venture Competition, with judges acknowledging its focus on solutions journalism as a key reason for the award. Hallie Cordingley, then a student at BU and one of the producers, represented the podcast in the “Shark Tank”-style competition. Despite winning this financial support, the podcast lost its contract with WNET, a PBS member station, and had to reduce its team and cease production. They still occasionally post new stories and are working on producing resources for educators.

The impact of solutions stories has been so positive that staff members at The Citizen Bulletin, a hyperlocal digital publication based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, are reluctant to share problem-focused stories with their community of readers, according to Divine Dube, the editorial director. Following the publication of stories such as “Gwanda Women Revolutionise Diaper Disposal With Eco-Conscious Solution” and “Home-made Sanitary Ware Empowers Girls To Stay in School,” an increasing number of engaged readers have grown the Bulletin’s WhatsApp community by 2%-5%, or 20-50 people, per month. Sharing articles about responses to social issues has led to more dynamic discussions in the group and “sparked lively debates, invigorating our reporters with fresh perspectives and story ideas for future reporting endeavors,” said Dube.

In March 2023, Gambit, an alt-weekly in New Orleans, hosted “Solutions on the Half Shell,” a public celebration of reporting on how Indigenous fishermen working in the oyster industry are adapting to coastline changes linked to climate change. Members of the United Houma Nation were present to discuss their work, and John Stanton, editor of Gambit, reported that in the week following the event, the publication saw its highest number of new membership sign-ups to date.

"Finding Peace During War,” a solutions story by Chris Killian and Ben Lando, won first place in the Local News Media Feature Story category of the Michigan Press Association awards. The story, by NowKalamazoo, a local publication in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was published in partnership with The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that shines a light on the U.S. gun violence crisis. NowKalamazoo is part of the Mental Wellness Project, a solutions-oriented journalism initiative covering mental health issues in Southwest Michigan, created by the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative, which was launched with support from SJN’s Local Media Project.

Five universities across East Africa, in Kenya (Kibabii University, Rongo University, Maseno University), Rwanda (University of Rwanda) and Uganda (Makerere University), incorporated solutions journalism into their curricula after professors, lecturers and postgraduate students were trained by Science Africa, one of two organizations coordinating the Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative (a project supported by SJN). Courses in health communication, climate change reporting, feature writing, development communication, and investigative reporting now include modules focused on solutions reporting. Other Kenyan higher education institutions are seeking to provide similar classes. In addition, between 2020 and 2023, twenty-five journalism students from Kenyan public and private universities undertook internships at Science Africa, where they were taught solutions journalism and science journalism.

Six months into a membership program launched in September 2022, Reasons to be Cheerful was generating a steady revenue of close to $10,000 a month from approximately 1,000 of its readers. The digital publication’s membership campaign explained that the funds raised would help the outlet “publish stories about solutions to urgent problems.” Will Doig, the executive editor, said the new fundraising program was a very successful way to diversify and increase revenue from a reliable source of ardent supporters. A total of 2,600 readers were members by the end of 2023.