Model and Strategy
For a democracy to flourish, the public must believe that the government can be held accountable, the political process is fair, and that the people have the voice and collaborative power to reshape institutions and change the course of society for the better.
Today, many Americans feel that the government is indifferent to their concerns and that everyday people are powerless to make a difference. Three quarters say that “incivility” has reached “crisis levels.” We need to reconstitute the attitudes and agreements that make democracy work.
This project focuses on repairing the news, which has contributed to these problems by depicting reality through a narrative of brokenness and conflict that is excessively polarizing, anxiety-producing and disempowering.
Through its Renewing Democracy initiative, Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) trains and supports newsrooms across the US to produce news that is more balanced, comprehensive and useful — reporting rigorously not just on problems but on emerging responses that examine credible pathways for civic agency. The goal is to advance a system change in news that improves discourse, sharpens accountability, wins back public trust, and builds “hope with teeth.”
Impact
SJN is catalyzing reporting about efforts to reinvigorate American democracy, support civic agency, improve discourse, and make government more responsive, transparent and efficient. These will include emerging challenges, such as how to sustain civic action and engagement, advance electoral and political reforms, and hold fair elections in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
As a result, participating news organizations and journalists will increase their confidence in, and aptitude for, solutions journalism focused on democracy, and recognize the distinctive value it provides towards their business and coverage goals. They will acquire a durable skill set that informs their ongoing coverage, and will be equipped to serve as mentors and role models for others — helping to spread the practice and expand coverage well beyond the life of this grant.
Audience interest and engagement will increase, with higher-quality coverage fueling greater awareness of and demand for solutions coverage. As a result of the knowledge dissemination, more communities will gain access to high-quality reporting about healthy democratic processes and institutions. This will advance the public’s knowledge and understanding of these issues and its sense of agency — ultimately driving more efficient spread of effective innovations.
SJN will assess impact in two ways: 1) Direct: How many newsrooms and journalists are integrating solutions journalism into their work, drawing on the stories to engage with and activate diverse communities, and highlighting responses that influence real world outcomes? 2) Spread: How is solutions journalism facilitating the spread of ideas and insights from place to place so that communities can learn from one another’s challenges and successes more quickly?
Leadership
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David Bornstein
Co-Founder & CEO
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Tina Rosenberg
Co-Founder & VP of Innovation