Institutionalizing Solutions Journalism in the Newsroom
-
I. Introduction (5m)
-
III. Practicing Solutions Journalism (30m)
-
IV. Case Study: The Montgomery Advertiser (20m)
- Institutionalizing Solutions Journalism in the Newsroom
- Setting a Vision
- Making the Change Accessible
- Communicating the Change
-
V. Solutions for the Most Common Stumbling Blocks (40m)
How does an editor shift an entire newsroom towards solutions journalism? Bro Krift, executive editor at the Montgomery Advertiser, would know.
Krift’s first experience bringing solutions journalism into the newsroom was in 2015, as managing editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. With training and grant funding from the Solutions Journalism Network, the Caller-Times team produced "Behind Broken Doors," a four-part series that explored the city's deadly domestic violence problem, revealed flaws in the justice system, and helped to spark changes at the Corpus Christi Police Department. Reporters pulled from public records, interviews, and investigated domestic violence initiatives elsewhere in Texas, Connecticut, and Minnesota to produce the series, garnering two statewide awards for their work. (Read our case study of "Behind Broken Doors" here.)
In 2016, Krift arrived as executive editor at the Montgomery Advertiser. In this role, he is having a second turn at bringing solutions journalism into the newsroom. This time, it's on a much bigger scale -- integrating solutions journalism at a deeper, institutional level.
Here are some insights from his process.
