1. Solutions journalism stories can indicate goals for addressing issues and put pressure on government officials to try to accomplish those solutions goals.
  2. Solutions journalism works to lead journalists away from simply covering things that are bad and capitalizing on when there are issues or problems at hand. Instead, it re-focuses journalists on presenting potential solutions to fix social problems or highlights people/solutions that are working to alleviate social issues. This better tells the whole story of a social issue. As the toolkit says, “We need to know that change is possible and see models of how to do it.”
  3. Highlighting potential problem solving techniques and illustrating how the issue at hand is a difficult one to fix drives the narrative of solutions journalism pieces.
  4. Highlighting potential fixes to social problems as “lifesavers,” like technological advances, is not solutions journalism. It’s important to critically evaluate proposed solutions to issues in our articles by mentioning caveats in the plans and pointing out aspects that still need improvement. Don’t gush over people attempting to create a solution or refer to proposed solutions as fix-all “silver bullets.”
  5. Solutions journalism more accurately covers responses to social problems by giving an unbiased view of reality. If journalists only highlight problems and sensationalize when things go bad in their stories, like public school systems failing youth, then we aren’t informing people of efforts being made to alleviate the problem or steps that could be taken to alleviate the problem.
  6. Social science research and research the Solutions Journalism Network did with the Engaging News Project indicates that solutions journalism articles are shared more on social media. This could be because people feel they have more power to help the problem and feel less cynical toward the issue overall. In turn, this increases interest in the problem and creates a larger network of people interested in solving the problem at hand.
  7. Solutions journalism pieces can make an impact by illustrating more effective strategies a community could take to alleviate a problem and delegitimizing excuses for inaction on social issues. By showing readers how problems are being successfully addressed in other areas of the world, they see that the problem can be fixed in their own community if certain actions are taken.
  8. You may be able to identify if an issue is a good candidate for a solutions journalism story if the questions “What could be done about this?” and “Who is doing a better job handling this problem?” are questions absent from public discourse on the subject.
  9. A big distinction of solutions journalism from traditional journalism is the emphasis on “How?” Solutions stories delve deep into details of proposed solutions, the implementation of solutions, and the people implementing the solutions.
  10. Personal experiences can fuel ideas for solutions journalism articles. If you are struggling with something in your community, it is likely other people are struggling with the same issue. For example, if you can’t find many good options for community programs for your elderly parents or grandparents, most likely other people can’t either. Solutions journalism stories are stories that affect everybody – even you and your neighbor.
  11. In solutions journalism stories, journalists are not presenting something as a solution. Instead, they are analyzing proposed solutions or responses to issues in other places that seem to be working. The main goal is to give society insight into a problem and potential ways it could be more successfully addressed.
  12. You can use failed solutions to inform solutions journalism articles. Ask questions like “What can others learn from this?” and “What could have been done differently?” Frame it as a learning block that can be improved upon.
  13. Solutions journalism and investigative journalism can complement each other. Instead of merely mentioning responses to an issue in your investigative exposé, delve in and explain why a solution works/could work and what others can learn from it.
  14. In solutions journalism, it is very important to not over claim. Do not say something is the best solution. Do not say a solution is a cure. Don’t present the problem as being solved. Simply report what’s going on and what the evidence says. Include in your reporting any issues a potential solution has. You don’t want to look like an advocate in your journalistic work.
  15. Good solutions stories focus more on the work being done to alleviate an issue than the people who are doing that work. We can think of the work being done as the “main character” of the article.