Engaging Communities Through Solutions Journalism

Engaging
Communities Through Solutions Journalism
Table of Contents
Introduction
Executive Summary
Introduction
Can News Be Good?
2.1
Methods
Research Findings
Recommendations and Conclusions
Appendix
Footnotes
Citations
Engaging Communities Through Solutions Journalism
Authors: Andrea Wenzel, Daniela Gerson and Evelyn Moreno

Substantive local news is a rare commodity in many communities across the United States.
In areas with high levels of violence, crime, and poverty, a history of stigmatization can
further compound this absence. Often the only local news available is negative.
This report explores potential impacts of local solutions journalism, particularly for
underrepresented and stigmatized communities. Solutions journalism explores responses to
systemic social problemscritically examining problem solving efforts that have the potential
to scale.
Proponents of this genre of journalism believe these types of stories offer a pathway to
engaging audiences. Preliminary research suggests readers of solutions-oriented stories are
more likely to share articles and seek related information.
However, little research has explored solutions journalism at the local level or in stigmatized
communities. This study attempts to address that gap. In follow-up to a community-based
media project in South Los Angeles, six focus groups with forty-eight African-American and
Latino residents examined how participants responded to the solutions journalism format.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the Tow Center for Digital Journalismand, in particular, Claire Wardle and
Pete Brownfor the support and thoughtful feedback. The project would not have been
possible without the collaboration of Dr. Sandra Ball-Rokeach and the researchers of the
Metamorphosis Project at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School for
Communication and Journalism, who devoted considerable time and resources to
conducting focus groups. Thanks also to our South Los Angeles community partners,
including the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, Community Services
Unlimited, Esperanza Community Housing, All Peoples Community Center, Community
Health Councils, Community Coalition, and Trust South LA. Thanks to our media partners,
including KPCC, Hoy, La Opinin, the Los Angeles Sentinel, Southwest Wave, and
Intersections South LA. Finally, thanks to the Solutions Journalism Network for sharing input
on its research to date and our project design.
April 2016
Introduction
Executive Summary
Substantive local news is a rare commodity in many communities across the United States.
In areas with high levels of violence, crime, and poverty, a history of stigmatization can
further compound this absence. Often the only local news available is negative.
This report explores potential impacts of local solutions journalism, particularly for
underrepresented and stigmatized communities. Solutions journalism explores responses to
systemic social problemscritically examining problem solving efforts that have the potential
to scale.
Proponents of this genre of journalism believe these types of stories offer a pathway to
engaging audiences. Preliminary research suggests readers of solutions-oriented stories are
more likely to share articles and seek related information.
However, little research has explored solutions journalism at the local level or in stigmatized
communities. This study attempts to address that gap. In follow-up to a community-based
media project in South Los Angeles, six focus groups with forty-eight African-American and
Latino residents examined how participants responded to the solutions journalism format.
The studys findings illustrate how residents navigate and critically interpret mainstream local
coverage, often using alternative digital sources to cross-check stories and seek other
information. Its results also suggest that these residents would respond positively to
solutions journalismthough participants enthusiasm may be tempered by larger concerns
regarding structural inequalities. Focus group participants said they would be more likely to
seek out news and share stories if solutions journalism were more common, and many
noted that our sample stories helped them envision a way to become personally involved in
community problem solving.
Executive Summary
Introduction
Why So Much Bad News?
In local news the only thing they report on are bad things, only negative things They are
not showing us how to change the community.
What I have to do is just block myself away from that. Shut the news up because it aint
nothing but an ignorant box anyway.
-South Los Angeles focus group participants
In a journalistic environment where the mantra if it bleeds, it leads continues to resonate
and is amplified ever more by the clickbait webthere is a professional bias in favor of
reporting on violence, crime, police brutality, and other negative tropes.1 But how do
audiences process and react to stories about their communities presented within negative
frames? How would stories that address these systemic problemswhile also exploring
their solutionsimpact readers?
Looking at research about how audiences process negative information helps to
contextualize negative journalism frames. Political science studies have found that negative
stories largely have a greater influence on audiences perceptions of candidates and voting
behavior.2 Readers are more likely to click a hyperlink to a negative political story than a link
with a positive headline.3
Several studies in psychology complement findings of a negativity bias, which suggests
that people devote more attention to processing negative information,4 are more likely to
think its true,5 and to remember it.6 Researchers argue that the strength of bad over good
makes evolutionary sense and that humans are actually hardwired to be more psychophysiologically aroused by negative news.7
However, bad news is only influential when people are willing to consume it. A 2008 study of
young peoples media habits by the Associated Press found that many complained about the
negativity of news. They reported turning to satirical fake news outlets like The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart as an antidote to their news fatigue.8
Negative framing has also demonstrated itself to be a risky strategy in the realm of political,
humanitarian, and social change campaigns. Research on the impact of negative political
messages shows mixed results. While some defend the efficacy of negative messaging,9
others have found that negative messages cause audiences to stop seeking information.10
Introduction
In the field of humanitarian campaigns, researchers document compassion fatiguewhen

messages trigger a sense of hopelessnessor even a boomerang effectwhen audiences
resent being subjected to messages that evoke guilt.11 Boomerang effects have also been
associated with climate change communication, where dire messages about global warming
appear to make people more skeptical about the phenomenon.12 In health communication,
audiences that consumed media which framed health issues negatively were found to have
lower perceptions of their own efficacy or behavioral intent around seeking preventative
care.13 14
The outcome is ambiguous. Negative storytelling may be highly salient to audiences, but
what audiences do with this information depends on a more complex web of factors.
Introduction
Can News Be Good?

If humans are biased toward negativity, it follows that journalists are more likely to construct
and curate negative news stories. Journalism often centers on documenting the problematic
and acting as a watchdog, particularly the fields fourth estate responsibility to keep citizens
informed and hold government accountable.15 While some journalists question traditional
concepts of objectivity, news norms throughout the ages have remained relatively fixed.
What is determined to be news generally does not include the normal, the good day, or
positive stability.16
Journalists, for good reason, can be resistant to efforts that deliberately showcase good
news stories. Positive human-interest stories are often derogatorily labeled as puff pieces.
These are toleratedbut are not regarded as serious journalism. Positive stories are
frequently scrutinized as the potential outcomes of public relations initiatives17 18 or
advocacy journalism, which remains a dirty word for legacy journalists.19 A series of
movements, however, have come to fore in an attempt to push journalism toward not only
highlighting problems but promoting solutions.
Peace Journalism
A group of scholars and journalists emerged in the 1960s and 1970s to challenge the
conventions of news construction, and its reliance on negative references and conflict as a
news value. Sociologist Johan Galtung, the driving force behind the movement, advocated
for the practice of peace journalism, as opposed to the status quo that he called war
journalism.20 Galtung called for a shift in framing toward a model more akin to health
reportingwhere journalists are encouraged to explore causes and strategies for prevention
of disease.21 While peace journalism as a genre has many qualities in line with traditional
ideas of responsible reporting, it does in some cases contain interventionist elementsfor
example, encouraging stories with an agreement-orientation versus only focusing on points
of difference.22 Critics of peace journalism suggest it subverts fundamental tenets of
objectivity and places undue responsibility on journalists for correcting global ills.23 But
proponents of this and other strains of advocacy journalism say that objectivity is actually an
obstacle which prevents journalism from playing a more constructive role in public life.24
Civic or Public Journalism
Can News Be Good?
In the 1990s another movement emerged that sought to place journalism as an active player
in the functioning of democracy. Civic journalism (or public journalism) advocated a bottomup framing of the news, which prioritized non-elite sources setting a citizens agenda.25
One of its founding theorists, Jay Rosen, called upon journalists to:
1. address people as citizens, potential participants in public affairs, rather than
victims or spectators;
2. help the political community act upon, rather than just learn about, its problems;
3. improve the climate of public discussion, rather than simply watching it deteriorate;
4. make public life go well, so that it earns its claim on our attention.26
This movement renewed a historical journalistic debate between Walter Lipmann and John
Dewey over whether the journalist was just an observer, or rather an engaged actor who
could shape public discourse. Civic journalism took the latter approach, arguing that
reporters had a responsibility to craft their coverage so that the communities they represent
engage with issues that impact them. A number of news outlets undertook civic/public
journalism initiatives, and researchers noted cases that achieved success in sourcing
greater numbers of non-elite and more diverse sources. Still, integrating civic/public
practices into the mainstream of journalism remained a challenge.27
Solutions Journalism
Solutions journalism builds on some of the concepts developed in peace and civic/public
journalism. The Solutions Journalism Network, which was created in 2013 and has become
a leading player in advancing the approach, defines solutions journalism as rigorous and
compelling reporting on responses to social problems.28 Solutions journalism stories
which can cover a range of local, national, and international issuesare not advocacy
pieces or good news stories. Nevertheless, they are in sync with calls from journalism
scholars like Herbert Gans that we broaden definitions of newsworthiness to include
solutions for the countrys problemsadvanced by people outside the mainstream.29
The strongest solutions journalism stories use the rigor of investigative reporting to explore
systemic, underlying reasons for social ills, and then critically examine efforts to address
them. These are not stories about a problem that tack on a quick ending note as an
afterthought about what could be done. Neither do they follow the formula identified by Gaye
Tuchman, wherein media outlets present a solution as a way to soothe the news
consumers even as they reify social forces by ensuring the public that legitimated experts
and authorities are doing everything they can.30
Can News Be Good?
In recent years, a number of media organizations have adopted regular segments that either
explicitly set out to create a platform for solutions journalism, or (at least) to highlight social
entrepreneurship and problem solving efforts.i The Solutions Journalism Network has
championed this genre, spearheading collaborations with mainstream outlets, including The
Boston Globe, the Detroit Free Press,31 and The Seattle Times.32
Solutions journalism is also a potential revenue generatoroffering something fresh for
negative-news fatigued eyes hungry for positive innovation. The executive director of J-Lab,
Jan Schaffer, who was previously a leader in the civic journalism movement,33 suggests
that solutions-oriented stories can engage audiences and offer possible new business
models:
If one shifts the periscope from new business models for journalism to new journalism
models for news, I see the convergence of several trends that are beginning to provoke
a new conversation about whether journalists canand shouldcraft a more deliberate
suite of tools that inspire movement and action. And if these tools were effective, would
citizens begin to pay as much for news as they pay to go to, say, a TED conference?34
The Solutions Journalism Network believes solutions journalism can sell: People are likely
to pay for news that helps them understand how the world works.35
At the heart of solutions-oriented journalism is an assumption that a solutions news frame
will encourage greater audience engagement. J-Labs Schaffer points to examples of
community participation in stories that focused on the redesign of streetscapes in Milwaukee
and efforts to aid preschool enrollment in Chicago.36 The Knight Foundation posed the
question: The real challenge is, how do we move people from informed to engaged? It
thinks solutions-oriented journalism may offer the answer.37 Solutions Journalism Network
co-founder David Bornstein sees journalism as a feedback mechanism to help society selfcorrect and believes that knowing about the problem alone is unlikely to generate corrective
action. People need to know what they can doand how, he said.38
There has been limited empirical research into how audiences respond to solutions
journalism. Preliminary research conducted by the Solution Journalism Network and the
University of Texas at Austins Engaging News Project revealed that readers of solutionsoriented stories felt more informed, and were more likely to share what they read and seek
more information.39 However, there is a lack of research on how solutions journalism can be
applied at the level of local and ethnic mediaa level at which community members learn
about issues closest to home and have the greatest chance of affecting change.
Why Local News Matters
Can News Be Good?
Local-level news is the focus of this study, primarily because communication theory
suggests it is critical to the maintenance of healthy communities. A lack of media discourse
reflecting the concerns of local residents poses barriers not only to residents access to
information, but also to their sense of community belonging and engagement.40 41 42 43
According to communication infrastructure theory, strong communities have strong
storytelling networksthat is, residents, local and ethnic media, and community
organizations are connected to each other and share an understanding about what is
happening in their area. Researchers have found that residents connection to a shared
storytelling network can predict higher levels of belonging, collective efficacy, and civic
participation.44 45 However, in communities like South Los Angeles, these networks
become problematic when the link between organizations and media is weak, the networks
are ethnically bounded, or the content of the stories circulating is overwhelmingly
negative.46 47 Residents who connect to such storytelling networks tend to be less engaged
and lack a sense of belonging.
This study aims to contribute to the development of a model for healthier local storytelling
networks. It responds to concerns about a dearth of constructive local coverage around both
community problems and systematic efforts to address these challenges. The project
explores how audiences process stories that have both been developed with input from
community organizations and employ a solutions-oriented lens, as well as how the same
audiences process local coverage of similar issues that use more traditional formats.
Research questions include:
1. How do South LA residents process media coverage of their communities?
2. How do South LA residents process stories that use a solutions-oriented journalistic
format?
Can News Be Good?
10
Methods
Our project builds upon research the Metamorphosis Project48 has been doing on the
communication needs of residents in South LA and other diverse communities since 1998. It
follows an attempt by the Metamorphosis Project to strengthen the South LA storytelling
network in two ways. First, the project brought community organizations together with local
and ethnic media for a series of workshops, which helped all the participants to overcome
communications barriers that have plagued the story pitching process by giving them a
shared language and greater understanding of their intersecting community interests.
Second, the workshops facilitated the production of a series of stories leading up to the
fiftieth anniversary of the Watts riots (Watts Revisited) and ensured that these stories were
solutions-oriented.
To understand how South LA audiences responded to the stories that came out of this
collaboration and how residents would process the solutions journalism format more broadly,
a series of six focus group discussions centered around a storyii adapted from the Watts
Revisited collaboration.49 Two versions of the story were edited to offer examples of either
A) a solutions-oriented story or B) a non-solutions version of the same story.iii While both
stories examined the issue of vacant lots and the lack of outdoor spaces where children can
play in South LA, only the solutions version looked at efforts to transform vacant lots into
parks (see the Appendix for sample text).
Focus group participants, recruited with the assistance of community organizations, included
a total of forty-eight African-American and Latino South LA adults (twenty-three women,
twenty-five men; ages twenty-one to fifty-nine) who had lived in the area for a minimum of
two years and reported at least occasionally reading news articles. Participants were
assigned to groups clustered by ethnicity and languagethree African-American groups
(English-language) and three Latino groups (one Spanish-language and two Englishlanguage, in accordance with participants language preferences). Moderators for each
group were Los Angeles natives and shared the participants ethnic background.
Upon arrival, participants in four of the six groups read the solutions version of the story
before beginning the discussion. The other two control groups first read the non-solutions
version. After volunteering their own media practices and attitudes toward how outlets cover
South LA, the groups discussed the stories they read. After this, they were given the
alternate version of the story to read and discuss, before being introduced to and invited to
reflect upon the concept of solutions journalism. All focus groups were videotaped and
transcribed. Transcripts were then thematically coded and analyzed.
Methods
11
Research Findings
Preliminary analysis of our findings offers insights into how residents of a stigmatized
community navigate and interpret local coverage, and the opportunities and limitations of
solutions journalism to engage these audiences.
Coping with Media Stigmatization

While many U.S. residents are distrustful of the media,iv the cynicism of South LA residents
is grounded in a history of media portrayals that depict the high-poverty area as rife with
violence, crime, and civil unrest. Focus group participants revealed how this media coverage
impacts their interpretation of the news they consume.
Overall, participants expressed dissatisfaction with how South LA is covered.v Many pointed
to a disconnect between media portrayals and their experiences. As one woman explained,
Youre looking like, well, dang isnt there anything positive in South LA? I know theres a lot
going on positive over here. Why are we not seeing that on the news? Why do we always
see the bad stuff?50
This is not to say there was no interest in or value placed on negative news. Several
participants spoke of using news about crime or violence to judge if there were particular
parts of their neighborhood they should avoid due to safety concerns. For example, one
woman referenced an incident in the summer of 2015 when threats and rumors circulated on
social media and mainstream news about one hundred days and one hundred nights of
retaliatory gang violence. I appreciate that youre informing me about that situation so I
know, she said. News reports warned her that some of the neighborhoods she frequented
might have been affected by violence: It stopped me from walking into an ambush. I
stopped going, and that way I didnt have to put myself in harms way.51
However, many mentioned a gap between their observed experience and what is reported. A
few cited examples of what they viewed as newsworthy events, both positive (e.g., a festival)
and negative (e.g., a shooting), that they had witnessed firsthand but which never made the
news. Some attributed this disconnect to the commercial priorities of media, while others
were openly suspicious of the medias motives. As one man said, They keep you out of
focus on whats really going on.52 Many lamented newss emphasis on entertainment,
though some acknowledged continuing to consume this type of content anyway. Participants
were critical of news medias (and particularly television newss) circus-like quality, its lack
of investigation or follow-up coverage, or attempts to hold responsible parties accountable.
Research Findings
12
For these residents, dissatisfaction with local news is about more than a lack of quality
coverage. Several participants spoke of local media as harmful, and as a contributor to
racialized representations. One man explained:
Its a lot of weight coming from negative exposure to media It can have a heavy,
negative mental or psychological effect on you. You have stuff going on in your own life,
but then you hear about something bad thats happening and its not even related to
you. It can make it feel even worse.53
Others spoke of how the negative coverage stigmatizes residents to outsiders: It makes us
look like mostly criminals live around South LA, said a twenty-year-old Latino participant.54
Another focus group member referenced watching television with his grandmother: Ill hear
her say things like, Lord, have mercy I see the pain that she feels for people she doesnt
even know. A young African-American man said while watching TV he felt moved by the
racialized nature of news coverage:
I get filled with a bunch of emotions when I see the biased opinion of the mediawhen,
say, a white guy goes out and starts shooting at places, they probably wouldnt even
show his picture. But if it was an African-American male, he would be blasted all over
the media as an infamous person.55
Several participants lamented the lack of articulate community members representing them
in the news. A fifty-six-year-old man recounted an incident where a reporter was looking for
someone to react to an event in a park. He picked out the cat thats been sleeping on the
bench all day to describe what just happened. And Im standing right there. Im fresh, Im
pressed Im literate, he said, adding that the media perpetuates negative representations
by picking the worst grape of the bunch.56 Others suggested this phenomenon is
worsened by those reporters covering South LA, who tend to be outsiders to the area;
they're reportedly distant from the community, dont take issues seriously, and at times even
exacerbate local tensions by appearing to favor one group over another.
One participant felt that, as a young African-American man, some news personalities are
disrespectful to people like himself. He said he tried to avoid news reported by journalists
whom he felt would dismiss me on the same topic. He cited an example of television news
he was watching about violence between African-American and Latino gangs. At the end of
the story, the reporter, who was Latina, made a comment that was, like, really offensive
something about leaving a black eye on the community, he said. Given the reporters own
ethnic background, he interpreted this as a racial slur and suggested insensitive comments
by journalists could create barriers.57
Research Findings
13
Accounting for the problematic nature of local media coverage, residents have developed
various strategies for finding out about the happenings in their communities. While some
said their distrust causes them to limit their news intake and thus minimize the stress of
negative coverage, others spoke of seeking out alternative sources. A few mentioned
alternative weeklies and ethnic newspapers, particularly as ways to connect to positive
community events. Several described how the Internet allows them to access a greater array
of sources, which are largely seen as more trustworthy than local television news. For
example, one woman said she avoided television because she thought it was too
sensationalist:
I know that if I go [onto] the Internet I will find more veracity. I will not run only into one
agency, but I will find many. For example, my brothers send me links and tell me, Go
here and go there. So then I go find a different opinion from the other newsthat
news is manipulated to interest the people.58
For her, the Internet also offers a way for trusted, interpersonal connections to mediate news
sourcesvetting them and giving them more authority. For many, interpersonal sources
accessed both through face-to-face interaction and social media were considered the most
reliable methods for learning about local information and verifying other sources. Those
participants who consume legacy media described doing so with oppositional readings. For
example, one man spoke of laughing through television broadcasts viewed as incomplete or
disingenuousand then calling his friends or family to find out what was really going on.59
Critical Optimism and Solutions Journalism

In contrast to general perceptions of media coverage, most respondents expressed
appreciation for the solutions-oriented story introduced in the focus group. A number of
participants said the article about abandoned lots and efforts to transform them into parks
made them think about how they themselves could get involved with the issue. What came
to my mind is how I could volunteer, said one person.60 Others looked beyond the
particular case presented to other possibilities for community action: You can look forward
to changing something yourself if you have the same goal in mind.61
Those groups that were first asked to read the non-solutions version of the storywhich
only discussed challenges presented by vacant lots and did not include efforts to address
the problemoften, unprompted, suggested the story would have been better had it
included solutions. Several volunteered prompts for how they would tell the story differently
by including ideas for how to develop the lots to serve community needs. Meanwhile, some
participants pointed out that even the non-solutions version of the story was more valuable
than the typical South LA news piecevi focused on crime and social ills, because at least it
incorporated articulate voices from community members affected by the issue. According to
Research Findings
14
these participants, the non-solutions version of the story did not function as an average
baseline of typical coverage. While they welcomed solutions journalism, they acknowledged
that even negative coverage would be an improvement over the status quo if it were more
in-depth and inclusive of community perspectives.
Solutions journalisms problem solving orientation resonated with what several participants
offered as the ideal role of news. They suggested that the purpose of news should be to go
beyond traditional notions of journalistic objectivity. Some said news has a responsibility to
facilitate positive community change and civic engagement. One participant noted that
news needs to be an actual participant in whats happening rather than just reporting on it
it needs to be a part of the change.62 A few expressed seemingly contradictory ideas.
For example, one group reached a consensus that it was the job of the media to do no more
than tell the truthwhile at the same time the media also had a responsibility to make us
aware and give us a solution.63 Participants reflected many of the controversies and
contradictions embedded within strands of journalism. Overall, though, their ideas regarding
a journalists role resonated more with solutions journalism, civic journalism, and peace
journalism camps than with traditional schools of objective journalism.
While there was enthusiasm for the particular solutions-oriented story discussed and the
larger concept of solutions journalism, we also heard reservations. Residents were quick to
situate solutions offered in the context of the larger scope and scale of systemic challenges
facing South Los Angeles. As one fifty-six-year-old man pointed out, Thats just, like, one
story Where we come from, thats like a drop in the bucket.64
A critical concern was that solutions-oriented stories must be careful not to neglect a detailed
exploration of the problem or to suggest there is not a continued need to press for action. If
all of it is positive, it kind of glossed over the problem, said a fifty-nine-year old Latino
participant. It kind of also gives you a feeling of oh, no problem its taking care of itself.
65 This concern resonates with Tuchmans critical assessment of positive story elements
or the assurance that authorities are doing everything they can as a way of undercutting
action or discontent from audiences.66 The participant cautioned that stories need to offer a
mix of both positive potential solutions and analysis of more negative social problems:
You gotta be able to handle bad news. You cant be like, Oh, I dont want to hear that
because I might get depressed. Its not realistic to expect everything to be sunshine
and lollipops in life. Anybody whos grown up around here should know that already, but
you gotta get the information out no matter what the impact is.67
Residents also had ideas about how solutions journalism could go further to critically
challenge assumptions about South LA. After reading just one story, a selection of
participants did not feel its impact would be sufficient as a standalone model. Instead, they
suggested including more follow-up coverage and integrating community input.
Research Findings
15
Despite seeing a need for improvement, most panelists suggested they would be more likely
to read or watch solutions-oriented stories if given the opportunity. They also said they would
discuss solutions journalism stories with friends and families: It offers more of a platform not
to just discuss it, but to tell them of how we can get involved to try to change it or trying to
make something different.68 Some even suggested that solutions journalism, and efforts to
solicit community input on solutions, could help to strengthen connections in otherwise
fragmented communities. It would actually bring the community back together.69
Research Findings
16

This series of discussions offers an opportunity to learn from residents in an underprivileged
area whose voices are rarely heard reflecting constructively on how their own communitys
story is told. Those interviewed gave advice for how the media could better cover their South
LA neighborhood and reflected on their particular media preferences and practices. From
these conversations, we can offer the following recommendations for media outlets, as well
as those organizations working with media:
Adopting the Metamorphosis Project model of strengthening storytelling networks
between community organizations, local/ethnic media, and residents is a primary way to
develop local, community-based solutions journalism. These network connections are
critical to long-term impacts on civic engagement and local involvement.
Expanding engagement opportunities for resident involvement in various stages of story
development and dissemination is one method for strengthening this model. Residents
and organizations should be given opportunities to learn how to connect with media.
Community foundations should invest in workshops that train community members
around the best ways to communicate with journalists, and journalists to effectively
listen to communities. This should create critical feedback loops that are cultivated over
the long term.
In underserved communities of color where audiences feel neglected and even harmed
by traditional media coverage, solutions journalism offers a pathway to rebuild
constructive and mutually beneficial relationships of greater trust. Even while looking for
positive outcomes, reporters should take care to include thorough analysis of social
problems as part of their coverage.
Journalists seeking local sources in traditionally stigmatized communities should
consider whom they ask to speak for that community, and, when appropriate, seek
articulate and knowledgeable representatives. Reporters should be careful that while
pursuing characters for a story they do not uncritically reproduce negative stereotypes.
Local solutions journalism requires an investment in local reporting resources to enable
follow-up coverage and the development of lasting relationships with communities
beyond one-time stories. In addition, to cultivate trust within underrepresented areas,
media must seek to develop reporters who come from the communities they report on
or, at minimum, enable reporters to embed themselves within communities in a way that
allows them to be responsive to local sensitivities and concerns regarding
representation.
17
Complementing these recommendations, additional research on local solutions journalism

could further our understanding of the formats potential. Future research might benefit from
comparing the cumulative consumption of media diets that have either a greater number of
solutions-oriented stories or more traditional stories in a longitudinal study. Such research
may include a second control groupmaking for a total of three types of stories:
1. solutions-oriented;
2. a non-solutions, problem-oriented, or bad news story; and
3. a good news story that highlights exceptional individuals doing positive things, usually
without critical analysis or discussion of systemic change.
This would allow for an exploration of the hypothesis that readers of both bad and good
news stories are likely to become or remain disengaged when they come away with a sense
that there is nothing to be done. This research would require care to insure significant
variance between good news and solutions-oriented stories, and additional resources to
hold more focus groups. Lastly, the research could include study of local television and
Internet sources to assess the broader potential for local solutions journalism, and potentially
the circulation and validation of stories within social networks.
Studies such as the current one could be duplicated in multiple areas of the same city (for
example, in a more affluent area such as West LA) to see how residents from different ethnic
and class backgrounds respond to stories which are in close proximity but concern the
other. Research might explore how residents react given that they are likely implicated in
the power dynamics of the story (public resources may have historically been diverted to
their neighborhoods; they may have greater resources to contribute to problem solving, etc.).
Finally, researchers should take care not to assume that questions developed for studies of
national or international news can be applied without substantial adaptation to local contexts
where audiences have firsthand experience with subject matter, and place-specific histories
and power relationships with media.
Solutions-oriented journalism does not offer a magic bullet for engaging audiences as either
media consumers or civic actors. We believe, however, that particularly in communities with
a long history of overwhelmingly negative coverage stories featuring community
perspectives that take a critical look at responses to social problems offer an opportunity to
strengthen connections between residents, media, and community organizations. At the end
of our discussion sessions, participants asked us how they could learn more about the
issues raised in these stories. Many wanted to get involved. We hope our study showcases
a few insights for media, other researchers, and community organizations as they explore
how local news can become a more constructive actor in engaged and informed
communities.
18
Appendix: Sample Solutions Story

The following has been adapted from Deepa Fernandess story Groups Work to Turn South
LA Lots into Childrens Playgrounds, broadcast on KPCC on April 30, 2015. The story was
edited for length, and names of community members involved in the original piece have
been changed. What follows was presented to focus group participants as an example of a
solutions journalism story.
Empty space in South Los Angeles

For decades, an odd-shaped lot on King Boulevard in South Los Angeles sat vacant.
Though fenced off from trespassers, trash collected inside its borders and the weeds grew
brown and brittle. The property is one of thousands of parcels landowners have abandoned
or left vacant, some in the wake of the Watt riots of summer 1965. Almost 3,000 lots sit
vacant in South L. A. In comparison, West L.A. has 134 vacant lots and the Wilshire Miracle
Mile district has 310 vacant lots.
Some community organizers are turning these abandoned spaces into play areas for young
children and their families. Organizers Loretta Coleman and Alex Rosario met up recently at
one of their projects: Serenity Park located next to railway tracks in Watts, where moms and
dads can exercise on outdoor fitness equipment while their children enjoy state-of-the-art
play structures. Coleman and Rosario want to see a similar metamorphosis at the King
Boulevard lot. Last December, organizers turned it into a pop-up soccer field, with a concert
stage in one corner and a kiddy play area in another. These day-long takeovers have been a
hit with local residents, and fired up a growing movement to reclaim vacant lots for
community betterment.
Tanya Kielser manages projects for The Public Land Alliance, the land conservation
nonprofit that Watts residents sought out to help tackle the lack of park space in their
communities. Kielser said Watts is a classic case of a park-poor neighborhood. In an ideal
world, everyone would have a park within a 10-minute walk of their home, Kielser said.
Within a half mile of the Watts Serenity Park, there were zero acres of park space per
thousand people, Kielser said. The minimum standard for park acreage is four acres per
1,000 people. Working with the community, Kielser and her team identified a suitable vacant
plot and tracked down the owner. They got the plot appraised, wrote a state grant and
bought the land for $875,000. Six years, and almost $5 million later, the blighted lot was
transformed into Serenity Park.
Appendix
19
On a recent morning, Marian Carter and her two toddlers were out enjoying Serenity Park.
Carter lives in the Nickerson Gardens, a sprawling public housing complex nearby. From
our side of the community, from like Compton Avenue and Central, this is the nicest thing we
have, she said. Carter said she visits Serenity Park every single day. She works out on the
fitness equipment while her children, Brianna, 3, and Kayla, 1, bounce between the swings
and the sand pits. Its a gated park and small enough that Carter can see her kids playing as
she exercises. I even tell my friends, Im not going to 24 Hour Fitness. Im not going to
Ballys. Im going to the park in the neighborhood. Its absolutely free and the kids can play
closed in, she said.
Research behind outdoor play
A growing body of scientific literature suggests that children like Brianna and Kayla will
benefit from exposure to the outdoors.
Researcher and writer Richard Louv catalogues evidence in his book Last Child in the
Woods. Louv said the literature finds an impact on ADD, on obesity, on creativity, on the
ability to learn, on cognitive functioning, on mental health in particular in children who did
not have regular outdoor play. I think children, no matter where they live, have a human
right to the positive benefits of experiences in nature, Louv said.
Those benefits, he said, include a healthier immune system from playing inand ostensibly
ingestingdirt. There has even been research that shows bacteria or infectious diseases,
commonly shared between toddlers and preschoolers, are lessened when children are
outdoors more.
Playing outdoors generally means children are more physically active. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention recommends 90 to 120 minutes of moderate to vigorousintensity physical activity for preschoolers during their typical eight-hour day in child care.
The American Association of Pediatrics promotes this CDC guideline and preschools are
expected to follow. But in South Los Angeles, few children attend preschool or child care,
which means many children under 5 hang out at home given the dearth of parks.
Karen Deaver, former executive director of the Childrens Environmental Center, warns that
in addition to physical health, a lack of unstructured outdoor play may have a negative effect
on childrens development. Nature provides all kinds of materials that are not uniform in size
which fires up different parts of the brain, she said.
Two decades ago, Deaver said, parents didnt question the need to send a child outside to
play, and run out their excess energy. We know now that its much more than blowing off
steam. Its absolutely crucial for development because we know now that the children who
are not getting those experiences are not doing as well and are not as ready for school, she
said. Having outdoor experiences is on par with having food, water, shelter and safety,
Appendix
20
Deaver said. Organizers say concerns like these add to the urgency of redeveloping vacant
lots in South Los Angelesso more children and families can benefit from spaces like
Serenity Park.
Appendix
21
Footnotes
i Some of these would fall short of strict definitions of solutions-oriented journalism (i.e., they
may occasionally mix in good news stories focused on exceptional individuals rather than
systemic change): http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference;
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/; http://www.wbez.org/series/globalactivism; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/whats-working/.
ii The original story from which we adapted our sample solutions-oriented story:
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/04/30/50927/groups-work-to-turn-south-la-lots-into-childrens/
iii This A/B story model was adapted from the Solutions Journalism Network and Engaging
News model. Thanks to both the SJN and Engaging News staff members for offering input
on sample stories as we attempted to ensure the stories met a similar standard apart from
the solution versus non-solution formatting styles.
iv A November 2015 Pew survey found that 65 percent of respondents believed the national
news media has a negative effect on the United States: http://www.peoplepress.org/2015/11/23/beyond-distrust-how-americans-view-their-government/.
v Names of all focus group participants have been changed.
vi Participants asked to describe a typical South LA story listed words including: violence,
death, robbery, crime, poverty, unemployment, drugs, gangs, prostitution, homelessness,
police brutality, and gentrification, etc.
Footnotes
22
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