Solutions Journalism

“Solutions” or “constructive” journalism can help illuminate what needs to be done to truly address this crisis.

Both solutions journalism and constructive journalism seek to “moderate negative news reports by centralizing more positive content: solutions, success stories, innovations, alternatives, and even utopian re-imaginings of society” expresses Bill Dodd (2021, 15) in Solutions Journalism News at the Intersection of Hope, Leadership, and Expertise. Dodd’s work was highlighted in a book review by Rosanne V. Pagano in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator.

As expressed by Solutions Journalism Network, a self-descriptive 10-year-old non-profit organization:

“Solutions journalism investigates and explains, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems. While journalists usually define news as ‘what’s gone wrong,’ solutions journalism tries to expand that definition: responses to problems are also newsworthy. By adding rigorous coverage of solutions, journalists can tell the whole story… Solutions stories don’t celebrate responses to problems, or advocate for specific ones; they cover them, investigating what was done and what the evidence says worked and didn’t work about it, and why. They report on the limitations of a response.” (December 9, 2020)

Tim Bornstein, co-founder and CEO of Solutions Journalism Network, in his welcome to the Basic Toolkit (cue 1:34) notes:

“When too many people are aware of a problem but they don’t have a sense of what can be done, it leads them to opt-out, it leads them to tune out, it’s not good for democracy. That’s a great opportunity for journalists to go and find and see if some of these responses are available but under reported.”

Through the network, journalists can understand, practice, and produce solutions journalism stories guided by the Learning Lab; search for or submit a story in the Solutions Story Tracker; and, once published, employ Impact Tracker to “show how reporting on responses to social issues can influence outcomes in society, your news organization and the wider industry.”

In keeping with its namesake, constructive journalism builds on solutions to gain an informed resolution. “Constructive journalism dares to go deep, and not only to the root of the problem but also to potential solutions to inspire, enlighten, and engage,” explains the Constructive Institute situated at Aarhus University (cue 00:35).

With a pivot from a negativity bias, constructive journalism is informed by positive psychology. Positive psychology recognizes that, “treatment is not just fixing what is wrong; it is also building what is right,” emphasizes Martin Seligman (2002, 4) who introduced the term “positive psychology” in his presidential address to the American Psychological Association in 1998. That year’s theme was prevention. Seligman understands that positive psychology is “positive prevention” (2002, 3–6).

Breaking news is now; investigative journalism is yesterday; solutions journalism bridges yesterday with tomorrow; constructive journalism is tomorrow-forward.

Elder justice is the promise of trust. Elder and justice are both forward looking, as are promise and trust — individually, in sum, and in intention. So are positive psychology, solutions journalism, and constructive journalism.

To help safeguard and support our future, we must devote our energies to strengths-based prevention — at times, through radical reform. Guardianship is a flawed and exploitative system and must be replaced with a more humanitarian and legally sound approach.

If journalism is to be a catalyst for radical reform, it must not be manipulated by special-interest groups under investigation or by other influences, some internal. Journalism is informed by a hierarchy of influences, a framework developed by Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen D. Reese who note, “It comprises five levels of influence, hierarchically arrayed from the macro to micro: social systems, social institutions, organizations, routines, and individuals…” in Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content, (2014, 8). The authors observe, “The larger and more complex a media organization is, the more likely it is that organizational factors prevail over influences from the individual and routine levels of analysis” (157).

Kyser Lough and Karen McIntyre, in Journalists’ perceptions of solutions journalism and its place in the field, underscore:

“Professionally, our findings illustrate the importance of having a cohesive newsroom that is unified in its mission. Without the support of editors and publishers, it will be harder for journalists to carry out a solutions-based approach to reporting. Groups promoting solutions journalism, such as the Solutions Journalism Network, need to target management and the organizational level just as much, if not more, as the reporters themselves.” (2018, 48)

Newsrooms must create a culture of support for their staff and their stories, so that they can do their jobs without fear of reprisal.

Executive editor William Ahearn led the 1980s The Associated Pressinvestigation that helped serve as the impetus for Congressman Pepper’s hearing on guardianship subtitled “A National Disgrace.” Ahearn joined Bloomberg News in 2003. In 2012, editor Ahearn was supporting senior writer A. Craig Copetas who was investigating human rights abuses in Dubai. Ahearn was fired, as reported by Chris Roush (March 14, 2012).

The journalist-advocate relationship

.Journalists’ reporting must be kept at arms’ length from advocacy so that reporting solutions does not blur the distinction between impartial reporting and political advocacy (Tanni Haas and colleagues; 2006, 248).

“We found that journalists familiar with solutions journalism accept and align it with investigative reporting, but with the extra step toward social response,” report Lough and McIntyre (2018, 33).

Advocacy groups facilitate societal action by employing a dual-pronged approach to articulation: first, by expressing a demonstrated need for change, and second, by connecting investigative reporting with civic action. It is investigative journalism that provides the facts, evidence, and narratives that inform and strengthen advocacy efforts, which are then broadcast by credible messengers whose hard-learned, lived experience can compel society to take social harm personally and to act.

There is a reason corruption and crime are identified as “organized,” while our response is not.

“All the while, tycoons, corrupt officials and criminal networks are highly organised and coordinated in their attempts to profit and evade scrutiny, journalists and civil society have often worked in silos,” reports Transparency International, a member of the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium, which is “…a ground-breaking partnership that brings together investigative reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and advocacy driven by Transparency International.”

The Global Anti-Corruption Consortium is particularly pertinent for two reasons: (1) it is a model for journalist-advocate articulation and (2) its subject-specific skill set contributes directly to understanding guardianship abuse and exploitation as organized white-collar crime, corruption, and even racketeering.

“We define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain,” states Transparency International, whose understanding is underscored by investigations of public corruption and white-collar crime by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Lisa Nerenberg observes, “Vocal advocacy groups, backed up by media accounts…have accused judges, court investigators, guardians, lawyers, and others of overreach, collusion with self-interested parties, lack of respect for cultural values and traditions, and corruption. They call for more robust representation for those whose rights are at stake and better oversight of the guardianship systems. Government reports have substantiated many of the claims.” (2019, 185)

A Norwegian study reinforces how investigative journalists “disclose a significant fraction of crime stories that later result in prosecution and conviction of white-collar offenders.” (2020, 36) as revealed in Filling the Gap in White-Collar Crime Detection between Government and Governance: The Role of Investigative Journalists and Fraud Examiners, in which Petter Gottschalk utilizes the theory of crime signal detection, which is concerned with the ability of individuals to understand pieces of information that can come from various sources.

Decades ago psychology, “neglected the possibility that building strength is the most potent weapon in the arsenal of therapy” (Seligman; 2002, 3) Today, guardianship still neglects such possibility. For its 1988 annual convention, American Psychological Association President Seligman specified the focus of its theme, prevention, in its subtitle: Promoting Strength, Resilience and Health in Young People. Early prevention is vital, but we must anticipate and work to prevent the problems and hardships that can befall our older selves now, in the present.”

Take guardianship abuse and exploitation personally, then act

Sometimes it’s a journalist reading one article that sparks a national investigation, which can help propel a Congressional hearing, and a national movement—as revealed by a witness, William E. Ahearn, Associated Press managing editor, in testimony provided to Representative Claude Pepper during his Congressional hearing subtitled, A National Disgrace (1989, 28):

Mr Pepper. And what occasioned the Associated Press undertaking this inquiry in the first place?

Mr. Ahearn. I saw a short newspaper article that said a convicted felon had been made the guardian of a woman and had basically stolen $17,000 of her money, and was being forced into making restitution. I had not known about guardianship before. The story said in the last paragraph that 24 other States had some type of guardianship law. I thought we ought to look into it. So Mr. Bayles and Mr. McCartney were asked to look into it and they traveled to eight States over a period of six months investigating it, including your home State of Florida.

We realized that we had a very good story here. And the only way to really look at guardianship was to look at it in all 50 States, because it varies, from county to county, from State to State.”

Guardianship abuse and exploitation as a state-sponsored white-collar crime remain a “very good story,” with solutions that must be addressed at local, state, and national levels—by journalists, advocates, and any citizen interested in safeguarding their future and that of their loved one. Now.