1. Good solutions journalism doesn’t shy away from the imperfections. We can talk about the issue at hand and research it, then through this research, we can find solutions that may or may not be working.
  2. Do lots of preparation before an interview. Learn the who, what, when, where and why about the organization or person you are interviewing. Check their website and other articles.
  3. Observe the organization. You can learn a lot more from observing and seeing what they do in-person and not just what they brag about in the interview.
  4. Make sure they aren’t just restating their official strategy on how they help people through recovery.
  5. Look for positive deviants in data. Positive deviants are the best performers in a data set. It’s a signal that something newsworthy could be happening, like an increase in people staying in recovery.
  6. Remember the solution you are shedding light on can be helpful and valuable for people everywhere. But the positive deviant could also be nothing, and just a quirk in data.
  7. Data should guide your story, if it’s solutions.
  8. Think about the new big idea. Think about the dramatic potential, for example, the idea of a new anti addiction drug that is helping people in recovery. Make sure you back into the problem with the pitfalls of treatment like methadone. How is this one an improvement?
  9. Also, since it’s new, include substantive discussion of risks and limitations.
  10. Mention several times that this is not a silver bullet. That this is a experiment in progress, and covers an on-going program with clear pro’s and cons.