Communicators for Change: Danielle Batist, Constructive Journalism Project
Danielle Batist is a journalist based in London and co-founder of the Constructive Journalism Project. Throughout her career, she has written about international development, conflict, poverty and other social issues in places like Namibia, Sudan, Iraq and the Netherlands. She also worked for the Positive News magazine before co-founding the Constructive Journalism Project with Seán Dagan Wood. She also leads Journopreneur, a platform to support and train freelance journalists to thrive in the new media age.
How do you describe constructive journalism?
Constructive journalism has been in research since the 1970’s. It just hasn’t been popularized but now that stuff is coming together. We debate what is the full picture. It’s fairly obvious that the news has a negative bias. Good news is no news. We have to redress that balance, not to make the problem disappear by not reporting, but by adding one more W to the 5 W’s: What now?
Obviously we need to fully engage with our issues. We can’t throw it at people and expect change. I did that in South Sudan and it’s still a mess. We need to properly engage people. When you’re on the ground in a different place, you think, “if only people knew, something will somehow change.” That’s why you want to tell the story. People say, “well done!” and then nothing changes.
Maybe we’re not motivating people in the right away? Then we get into journalism or advocacy. That’s a personal line for you to create. Advocacy is you pursue one side and say this one is right. Constructive Journalism Project includes what might not be working and also what is working in one place at a tiny scale.
I don’t advertise myself as a constructive journalist, but you can see that often it is what I was doing so it’s been a journey in that sense. It’s wonderful to see more and more people saying that this is what I instinctively felt and never had framework to think about it at that time.
What does the Construction Journalism Project do?
We give day trainings for freelancers on what kind of interview questions to ask. We started with freelancers because they can start pitching this tomorrow. This is how I made a living. This isn’t a novelty or charity project.
You can still be independent and credible. This is and can be good, decent journalism and can be valued either crowdfunded or in the newspapers. We started doing workshops in universities and increasingly in newsrooms. It’s very hands on.
We’ve started disseminating research. Can we learn from other disciplines? Can we look at post-traumatic growth and learn from that? By asking questions differently or having a checklist of things to think about when pitching, you can see where is the problem being addressed and look across countries and cultures.
For me, it’s no different from the ethics and purpose that any type of journalism should be, but that part hasn’t been necessarily addressed until now.
What issues do you believe need to be covered in a more constructive way?
People ask, “can any story be constructive?” like a flat that just burned down or terrorism. Any big news event you need to know, the information isn’t being reported by journalists anymore. It’s on Twitter. I feel like yes, there is a massive information need but it’s being met within seconds, so as journalists, what do we do?
Unless you work for a wire, if you’re working for anyone else or for yourself, you give people guidance, add perspective and get through a sea of stuff and increasingly where your value is when we get lost in the maze of information. News provision is so instant. Within one day or two, people start asking what now? How can we address this and what is the biggest cure?
In Positive News, Paris [terror attack] happened while we were on production of a piece. In our Solutions Lab, we decided to report on the terrorist attacks 3 months later. We sat down not just with experts but were also looking at unlikely experts, where ex-offenders have gone to camps and de-radicalize youth, people who do stuff on Facebook and can pick up things on chatrooms and online spaces. We don’t say what’s good or bad, but just find more solutions.
Probably any story can be [constructive]. Increasingly for any big topic, there’s a massive need to take a step back and let’s ask the politicians what they say. What can we learn from Portugal, they’ve reduced criminality of soft drugs. Also environmental, the big issues have to be solved globally. We’re all sitting with the global consequences.
When you start asking the right questions, the solutions will be out there. If you want solutions, go to the people most affected. It’s in their interest to help it.
Do you find the current state of journalism challenging or promising?
It’s the best time to be out there. Unless you were Murdoch or a massive publisher, you couldn’t get out there. There’s serious opportunity. I’ve crowdfunded most of my work. It’s hugely exciting if journalists are there to make change. As long we don’t lose our ethics and values, I’m hugely optimistic.
What’s an important tool you advise journalists to have?
Starting to ask the 6th question, What now? I think what now is often already happening and not a lot of people are reporting on it. Right now, it’s still a thing that sets you apart. To be a freelancer now, that’s the angle. I hope people are still inspired to this job. It’s the best job in the world.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
This is part of the Communicators for Change blog series, spotlighting dynamic writers, media makers and communication strategists making a difference in the world.
