Stony Brook Hosts Solutions Journalism Educator Academy

About 20 educators from colleges and universities across the United States recently gathered at Stony Brook University to explore methods for incorporating solutions journalism into their courses and programs.

Youth mental health was the theme of SJN’s 2024 Educator Academy, an annual convening for journalism professors to expand their expertise in teaching solutions journalism. Held on the Long Island campus of Stony Brook University, the two-day gathering immersed 17 educators in the ever-evolving best practices of journalism instruction, with a special emphasis on how to inspire and prepare student journalists to cover the critical mental health issues faced by young people and college communities.

Among the highlights:

• Sarah Baxter, the director of Stony Brook’s Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting, introduced the academy fellows to “Coping with Crisis: Journalists in the Frontline,” a toolkit for assisting student journalists with their own mental health struggles. The toolkit was produced by a team at Stony Brook that participated in the 2023-24 Student Media Challenge. One of those students addressed the academy about taking solutions journalism principles and practices to Nepal with a student contingent from Stony Brook that reported on human trafficking there during the summer of 2024.
• Guest lecturer Matt Kauffman, a Pulitzer-nominated investigative reporter who worked at the Hartford Courant, offered attendees a foundation of empirical research and searchable data on youth mental health. He gave the educators tools to share with students on how to launch mental health projects that marry data journalism and solutions journalism.
• The academy’s final 90 minutes were devoted to a “speed dating” round of story pitches on mental health, providing each attendee with at least one idea to pursue on returning to campus.