Recap of the #EdShift Chat on Solutions Journalism
Tweets about #edshift since:2018-01-30 until:2018-02-01
It’s an age-old criticism of the press: it only reports on the problems; it only covers “bad news.” Sometimes, it comes in the form of parachuting into disastrous events and leaving when the rebuilding or healing begins. Other times, it is the reporting on a crime rate or environmental disaster or social ill that can leave readers without a sense of options or potential fixes.
A response to this criticism is solutions journalism, which, as defined by the Solutions Journalism Network is “rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.”
“We seek to rebalance the news, so that every day people are exposed to stories that help them understand problems and challenges, and stories that show potential ways to respond,” according to the SJN website.
In this #EdShift Twitter chat, we explored how the theory and practice of Solutions Journalism could be implemented into the J-School classroom, as well as its further application within the field as a whole, as journalism educators strive to train the next generation of journalists.
The chat took place on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. Eastern / 12 noon Central / 10 a.m. Pacific Time using the #EdShift hashtag on Twitter.
Participants included: Jillian Bauer-Reese of Temple University and Maureen West of Arizona State University, who both teach solutions journalism; Kaylee Tornay, reporter at the Mail Tribune in Oregon, who is practicing solutions journalism professionally; and Grace Shallow, student of Bauer-Reese’s at Temple University and managing editor of the Covering Addiction website.
Meera Vijayann of the Solutions Journalism Network moderated the event, and an article by Holly Wise about solutions journalism added more background information as well.
