With so much depressing news these days, it's little surprise that many people avoid the news altogether. "Almost a third of people surveyed worldwide for the Reuters Digital News Report said they 'often or sometimes' avoid the news," Christine Schmidt reports for Harvard University's Nieman Lab. "The leading cause for Americans avoiding news in 2017 was 'It can have a negative effect on my mood' (57%) and 'I can’t rely on news to be true' (35%). Basically, we are bumming — and burning — people out."
Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton recently shared quotes from Americans on why they avoid news and said it's clear that, when journalists write about big problems, they should also present potential solutions.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for Media Engagement analyzed how solutions journalism can best do this. They recommend including five specific elements in such articles:
- Problem: The causes and symptoms of the issue
- Solution: The replicable ideas tied to solving the problem
- Implementation: The how-to details of putting the solution into action
- Results: The progress, data-based or anecdotal, that has been made in working toward a solution
- Insights: The teachable, big-picture lessons that can be learned beyond one particular solution or situation
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