The Function and Role of Solutions Journalism
In “Up for Debate: Why We Need Solutions Journalism,” the sixth of David Bornstein’s seven-part series on media’s influence in accelerating social progress, he opens by alluding to the “media” as “feedback mechanisms for society.” Beyond society itself, who or what is acting as the feedback mechanism for society and the media? If the methods by which we inform, frame, and discuss social dialog lack context, are we able to effectively and efficiently navigate the societal ills the media set out to shed light on? Bornstein himself says, “We humans are influenced by unconscious thoughts and drives, so the way information is presented can make a big difference in how it is used.” If we, as both producers and consumers, can raise the expectations of how we treat social and political discourse in the media, we can ultimately transform the way that social problems are exposed and diagnosed.
In our modern news environment of Twitter-length headlines and 30-second captioned videos, most people do not have the leisure (or willpower) to sit and actively engage with the news. This seems to lead to two types of reactions: rejection and apathy, or, overwhelmingly, destitution and dejection. In Curry and Hammond’s “The Power of Solutions Journalism,” they remark that people are “far more aware of what is wrong with society than what is being done to try to improve it.” This leads them to the point that what is missing from the majority of news coverage is the hope: what are our options for changing this failure, which options are credible, and how do we support sustainable social change using them?
The problem with forcing a balancing act of emotions upon the consumers is that people cannot be told how to feel. As well, simply providing hollow, feel-good stories to balance out reporting on depressing realism infantilizes the readership. It is within the public’s best interest to be spoken to frankly and honestly about the happenings that put them in situations such as poverty and oppression; however, as Curry and Hammond have shown, including what is being done to combat societal ills and how it effectively (or otherwise) aids in a resolution improves the readership’s interest, engagement and attitude.
While not as wholly well-equipped to handle media criticism as media studies or other disciplines of communication sciences, solutions journalism by its nature is challenging the paradigm of traditional news coverage. It moves beyond the watchdog reporting of the mainstream news structure and provides a greater sense of response and agency. Solutions journalism has the potential to inform and transform our decisions in news selection and presentation.
