Solutions Journalism is a rigorous and evidence-based approach to covering social issues that has been used to improve coverage of climate change, race relations, environmental management, social inclusion, and much more.
Research has found that news organisations that engage in solutions reporting have better levels of audience engagement, enjoy greater trust, and can tackle ‘bad news fatigue’.
In 2023-24 the Walkley Foundation is running an eight-part webinar series designed in partnership with the Impact team at the Solutions Journalism Network. The series will wrap up in August 2024, and will be followed by a grant program that will be announced later this year. Grant applicants will need to have engaged with the training – either live or on catch-up – as part of the application process.
Full list of 2024 sessions:
Learn the fundamentals of solutions journalism: 20 November 2023
Making the business case for solutions journalism: 21 February 2024
Using solutions journalism to strengthen audience and community relationships: 20 March 2024
Using solutions journalism to cover diverse communities: 1 May 2024
Building solutions journalism into newsroom practice: 30 May 2024
Delivering and measuring the impact of solutions stories: 19 June 2024
Introduction to the Walkley Foundation Solutions Journalism Grant: 17 July 2024
Meeting with successful grantees: October 2024
Register for the next session
Join the fifth in our series to help Australian journalists understand and put solutions journalism into practice. In this session we will explore how to make solutions journalism part of a media outlet’s overall offering – and how to communicate that to the audiences you serve.
DATE: Thursday 30 May 2024 TIME: 10am-11.30am Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne time VENUE: Virtual TICKETS:Free, registration essential
TRAINER: Corinne Podger is Senior Manager for Programs and Education at the Walkley Foundation for Journalism. Corinne has worked in the media sector for more than 30 years as an journalist, educator, lecturer, and author and provided training consultancy to support learning outcomes and professional development for reporters in more than 60 countries on behalf of organisations such as WAN-IFRA, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, and Thomson Reuters Foundation. She is accredited trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network, and for the BBC and Reuters.
SPEAKER:Drew Ambrose is an international correspondent specialising in long-form news documentaries and digital feature projects on global affairs at Al Jazeera. He has created two special series for Al Jazeera English, A Sense of Communityand Mindset, which draw upon the principles of solutions journalism.
By the end of this session, participants will:
Understand how to successfully implement solutions journalism in a newsroom and hear from media outlets that have incorporated solutions into newsroom practice
Understand how to build a solutions approach into news forward planning and newsgathering
Understand how storytelling innovation often happens in one part of a newsroom business – and how to encourage organisation-wide buy-in
Be able to plan solutions coverage alongside traditional news coverage in your own reporting
Be introduced to case studies and tips to share with colleagues to help them use solutions approaches
Be able to prepare an action plan for trialing and expanding solutions journalism in your newsroom
Be able to be a ‘solutions journalism champion’ as a reporter or freelancer
Session 1: Learn the fundamentals of solutions journalism
Solutions Journalism is a rigorous and evidence-based approach to covering social issues that has been used to improve coverage of climate change, race relations, environmental management, social inclusion, and much more. Research has found that news organisations that engage in solutions reporting have better levels of improve audience engagement, enjoy greater trust, and can tackle ‘bad news fatigue’.
TRAINERS: Kyuwon Lee, Manager, Training and Curriculum, Solutions Journalism Network, and Corinne Podger, Senior Manager for Programs and Education at the Walkley Foundation.
Download the slide deck and all readings and external websites mentioned in the deck here.
Watch the webinar:
At the end of this webinar you will:
Understand what Solutions Journalism is, and how it differs from ‘hero worship’, PR and puff pieces.
Be introduced to case studies and potential story angles for solutions journalism in Australia.
Understand how solutions stories can work in different formats including print and digital text, radio and podcasts, TV, and social-first storytelling.
Understand common barriers to adopting solutions journalism approaches.
Be introduced to ways in which solutions journalism can engage audiences, build website stickiness, support revenue targets and strengthen community trust in public interest journalism. These topics will be expanded on in a monthly program the Foundation will run in 2024.
Be introduced to resources and self-directed learning opportunities from the Solutions Journalism Network, and similar organisations such as the Constructive Institute.
Learn about a new Solutions Journalism grants and training program the Foundation will run in 2024 in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network.
Session 2: Making the business case for solutions journalism
Research has found that including solutions journalism content in your output can benefit your news organisation’s bottom line. Philanthropic institutions, major donors and businesses are more likely to financially support solutions coverage on issues that align with their missions and issues of interest. Solutions content can also strengthen the value of your brand to your target audience, increasing the potential for individuals to open their wallets. From time on page and web stickiness, solutions can be leveraged to generate loyalty for greater sustainability. But how do you move from including solutions stories in your output to revenue success?
TRAINER: Alec Saelens, Head of Impact at the Solutions Journalism Network, and SJN’s former Revenue Project manager. He is a co-founder of The Bristol Cable, the UK’s pioneering local media cooperative. He worked as a researcher and coach for the Membership Puzzle Project and as an analyst for NewsGuard, assessing the transparency and reliability of news websites.
Download the slide deck and all readings and external websites mentioned in the deck here.
Watch the webinar:
At the end of this webinar you will:
Understand how a solutions approach can increase financial support for your media
Understand how solutions reporting lead to higher audience engagement
Understand the relationship between trust and willingness to pay
Understand how to use this data to approach key financial stakeholders including sponsors, advertisers, philanthropic institutions and individual donors
Understand how to make the business case to your revenue and sales teams
Understand how to align your news organizations around solutions journalism and related revenue goals
Hone in on arguments to present to financial stakeholders
Session 3: Using solutions journalism to strengthen audience and community relationships
What if a long-standing fundamental assumption of journalism — that unearthing and scrutinising problems will lead to their being solved — is wrong? Or, at least incomplete?
A growing list of studies, surveys, and research from around the world has found this assumption is driving people away from the news. By barraging them with crises and defining a wide array of communities primarily by their problems, we have stripped away people’s sense that journalism can help them lead a better, more efficacious life.
Solutions journalism is one answer to this growing problem. Solutions journalism done thoughtfully and responsively to your community is even better. In this session, you’ll learn about how problems aren’t enough to help people make sense of the world and how strong solutions journalism can correct that. Then you’ll get tips for how to build solutions journalism with and for the people you hope to impact.
TRAINER: Allen Arthur, Online Engagement Manager, Solutions Journalism Network. Allen runs SJN’s social media platforms, oversees newsletters and generally seeks to inform and connect the network wherever possible. He has a master’s degree in Engagement Journalism from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He’s also a freelance journalist working with currently and formerly incarcerated people. His work has appeared in The Marshall Project, USA Today, YES! Magazine, and Documented.
Download the slide deck and all readings and external websites mentioned in the deck here.
Watch the webinar:
By the end of this session you will:
Understand how solutions stories can boost trust in public interest journalism
Understand how solutions approaches can help embed your news brand in your community
Develop approaches for canvassing audience for solutions story ideas, angles and follow-ups to ‘hard’ / traditional news stories
Understand the need to ‘signpost’ solutions stories to audiences
Be able to identify ways of signposting solutions content and stories
Understand the opportunities solutions approaches offer to reach wider audiences
Understand opportunities to market different editorial and business products
Session 4: Using solutions journalism to cover diverse communities
In this fourth of our 8-part series we explore how a solutions approach can be particularly useful when covering communities whose lived experience may be different to your own as a reporter.
TRAINER: Corinne Podger, Senior Manager, Programs and Education, Walkley Foundation.
SPEAKER: Luke Pearson is the founder and CEO of IndigenousX. He is a Gamilaroi man living in NSW.
SPEAKER: Sandeep Varma is the founder and CEO of SAARI Collective, a media startup for South Asian Australians. He is also the Chair of the Board of 100 Story Building, a creative literacy organisation for young people.
Download the slide deck and all readings and external websites mentioned in the deck here.
Watch the webinar:
By the end of this session you will:
Be able to develop approaches for maintaining journalistic independence and balance during solutions story projects (avoid extractive, seeing ‘the other’’ etc)
Understand how to apply a solutions approach to covering specific topics and communities:
Regional, rural and remote communities
Indigenous communities
Diverse communities – religion, ethnicity, gender
Understand how solutions approaches can avoid reinforcing stereotypes, biases and sensationalism.
Understand how intersecting forms of discrimination contribute to social inequities.
Understand the limitations and potential biases of data in regard to marginalized communities.
Be able to use images that accurately depict the diversity of the community being covered
Supported by the Walkley Public Fund
This program is made possible with the support of the Walkley Public Fund. Donations to the Public Fund are tax-deductible, and help support Foundation professional development programs including grants, scholarships and fellowships, and training. Learn more and donate here.
Further information
Please contact Corinne Podger, Walkley Foundation Senior Manager for Programs and Education.
Join the fifth in our series to help Australian journalists understand and put solutions journalism into practice. In this session we will explore how to make solutions journalism part of a media outlet’s overall offering – and how to communicate that to the audiences you serve.