Solutions Journalism Network

The Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) is an independent, non-profit organization that advocates an approach called solutions journalism. It was founded in 2013 by David Bornstein, Courtney E. Martin, and Tina Rosenberg. Its staff in New York City and Oakland, Calif., help journalists and news organizations across the country understand, value and build the capacity to do solutions-oriented reporting.

The mission of SJN is “to legitimize and spread the practice of solutions journalism: rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.” What SJN calls solutions journalism is preceded by very similar journalistic styles that have been practiced outside the United States, including “constructive journalism,” which originated in Denmark.

As of April, 2015, SJN says, it had created working relationships with 40 newsrooms in the United States exposing several hundred journalists to the practice of solutions journalism.

The Solutions Journalism Network grew out of the “Fixes” column in The New York Times’ Opinionator section written by prominent journalists David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg since October, 2010. Together with Courtney Martin, an author, speaker, blogger and frequent contributor to “Fixes,” they established SJN in February, 2013.

SJN’s first major project was a collaboration with The Seattle Times to produce a year-long series of solutions-oriented stories about public education called Education Lab. This initiative since has been extended for a second year. In its first year, SJN also launched a series of funds to provide financial support to journalists pursuing solutions stories on topics concerning climate change resilience, social and emotional learning, and women’s economic equity.

SJN believes that most news reporting fails to fulfill journalism’s mission to hold an accurate mirror up to society. While traditional journalism holds that a reporter’s primary role is to expose problems, SJN argues that the press should also examine examples of responses to those problems, with the same degree of rigor. These responses, it holds, are an important part of what is happening in the world, and accurate coverage of society must include them to be able to provide the whole story.

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