The Power of Solutions Journalism — with Tina Rosenberg and Hélène Biandudi Hofer

What is the goal of our digital information environment? Is it
simply to inform us, or also to empower us to act? 


The Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) understands that simply
reporting on social problems rarely leads to change. What they’ve
discovered is that rigorously reporting on responses to social
problems is more likely to give activists and concerned citizens
the hope and information they need to take effective action. For
this reason, SJN trains journalists to report on “solutions
angles.” M​​ore broadly, the organization seeks to rebalance the
news, so that people are exposed to stories that help them
understand the challenges we face as well as potential ways to
respond. 


In this episode, Tina Rosenberg, co-founder of SJN, and Hélène
Biandudi Hofer, former manager of SJN’s Complicating the
Narratives initiative, walk us through the origin of solutions
journalism, how to practice it, and what impact it has had.
Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin reflect on how humane technology,
much like solutions journalism, should also be designed to create
an empowering relationship with reality — enabling us to shift
from learned helplessness to what we might call learned
hopefulness.