Solutions journalism is an emerging reporting genre that appears to engage audiences differently than traditional journalism and is attractive to younger audiences. Around 2016, market research by the BBC revealed that 64% of audiences under age 35 desire solutions-focused news. Meanwhile, a growing number of news outlets in the U.S. and Europe are incorporated solutions news into their coverage.<\/p>\n
By teaching solutions journalism, you can arm students with new reporting skills while strengthening their existing ones. Because solutions journalism is often confused with advocacy or soft news, exploring solutions journalism helps students consider the lines between journalism, advocacy and puff pieces. Our research at the University of Oregon SOJC has shown that some of today\u2019s students are wary of traditional journalism\u2019s focus on negativity and are eager to learn this new approach.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”337″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”313″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https:\/\/www.solutionsjournalism.org\/”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text width=”800″ align=”center”]The Solutions Journalism Network<\/a>, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading the practice, has excellent resources online, such as a Basic Toolkit<\/a> and the J-School Curriculum Builder<\/a>, where you can learn about solutions journalism in depth and see how some early faculty adopters approached teaching it.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text width=”800″ align=”center”]This guide, from the Catalyst Journalism Project, offers in-depth content so you can create your own solutions journalism course or a module within an existing course. Materials are organized by course objective: Identify What Solutions Journalism Is \u2013 And Isn\u2019t; Describe, Explain and Create Solutions Journalism Through Appropriate Frames, Structure, Sources and Interview Techniques; and the related objectives, Discriminate Between Solutions Journalism, Advocacy and Soft News, and See Themselves as Contributing to the Debate About Solutions Journalism.<\/p>\n