Solutions journalism needs better conflict, not less of it

Mainstream newsrooms have often been skeptical of solutions reporting, with reporters and editors reacting cautiously when it is raised. Some strong solutions journalism exists, including in post-conflict states in the developing world such as sub-Saharan Africa, Indonesia, and Colombia. A persistent perception remains that solutions journalism is less robust than conventional journalism. One way to address this concern is to stop treating solutions journalism as a response to social problems and instead emphasize the conflict frame. This can be done by using facilitation and conflict mediation applied to news reporting, focusing on mediation rather than objectivity. The approach may also involve abandoning the label “solutions journalism” to reduce associations with activism.

"Conflict mediation is the aspect to emphasize. Not objectivity. In practice, the conflict mediation approach might require abandoning the name 'solutions journalism.' That would make this type of journalism less about foregrounding solutions (which, to a lot of journalists, feels like activism, even though it's not), and more about drawing out nuance, explaining underlying trends and patterns and, ultimately, presenting news as less of a du"

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