Impact Stories

Reasons to be Cheerful (2023): The solutions journalism-focused digital publication Reasons to be Cheerful received $100,000 in funding from the Walton Family Foundation to produce “Waterline,” (https://reasonstobecheerful.world/welcome-to-waterline/) a reporting project surfacing solutions stories at the nexus of water, climate and food. Through two stories per month, the project is highlighting the new and innovative ways people are protecting and sustaining the resource all food systems rely on. The grant covers costs for story production and promotion, as well as subsequent impact tracking. The series of 24 stories began in July 2023 and will run over the course of one year. The proposal to funders promised to center the voices of those whose lives most closely intersect with water issues — food producers, energy workers, rural residents and Indigenous groups — to show how these communities are deeply involved in pragmatic, non-ideological sustainability solutions, and the surprising intersectionality between their work and the work of conservationists.

Reasons to be Cheerful, a digital publication dedicated to solutions journalism received $30,000 in funding from the Wellcome trust to produce “The Great Recovery,” (https://reasonstobecheerful.world/collection/positive-shifts-in-mental-health/) a reporting project examining “how a surge in innovation, outreach, access and attention to equity is improving [U.S.] mental health systems.” The grant covers costs for story production and promotion, as well as subsequent impact tracking. The series of seven stories ran over the course of two weeks between August and September. The proposal to funders emphasized the need to shift the incomplete narrative about “countries across the world buckling under the weight of a mental health crisis,” by telling a fuller story that includes viable responses. In supporting this work, the trust recognized that stories of positive changes are lacking in the broader media narrative about mental health system failures.

Wichita Journalism Collaborative (2023): Faced with rising suicide rates in Sedgwick County, Kansas, the Wichita Journalism Collaborative produced a solutions-focused zine in partnership with the local university’s mental health professionals and the local arts community. Titled “How To Talk About Feeling Bad: Mental health, suicide prevention and community care,” the zine, published in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, drew on research and personal stories to provide tips on best practices. The event organized to launch the publication attracted a crowd of 85 people from the community, and over 2,000 copies were distributed throughout the greater Wichita area.

WSHU (2023): Beginning in April 2023, the Connecticut and Long Island public radio station WSHU launched the “Trash Talkin’ ” series, focused on the local impact of waste issues. Monthly meetings with community members, as well as engagement via the station’s website, Facebook page and a live blog are core pieces of the solutions-oriented editorial project. This approach, anchored in listening to people affected by or interested in questions about trash, has led to the production of dozens of stories, including from successful freedom of information requests instigated through collaboration with the public. The reporting led to the issue of waste becoming central in talking points around an electoral campaign for executive roles in Suffolk County, according to J.D. Allen, WSHU’s managing editor. This extensive community engagement has led to a growing audience composed of people who were previously unaware of the station’s existence and is being replicated across other projects pursued by the local NPR affiliate.

“The Sweaty Penguin” (August 2023): “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 Citizen Bulletin (2023): 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.