In spring 2023, Médianes and Revue Far Ouest organized the Festival Imprimé, an event devoted to engaged journalism. As part of the program, the Bordeaux Press Club offered a participatory workshop on solutions journalism, led by journalist Pierre Leibovici. An opportunity to explore this practice and its challenges.
Pierre Leibovici, journalist for the investigative site Disclose, is also France's ambassador for the Solutions Journalism Accelerator, a program run by the European Journalism Centre dedicated to solutions journalism. This was the topic of discussion during an exchange session at the Bordeaux Press Club on March 30th. About twenty participants were present in the room: journalists, freelancers, and students. After introducing himself, the moderator suggests a round of comments so that everyone can share a word that illustrates for them the current state of the news industry. Anxiety, agitation, discontent, a need for change… the picture is hardly glorious.
A seamless transition that allows the journalist to introduce the subject: "There's this idea that we're always telling the same depressing stories and that, as journalists, we adopt a negative lens on current events". It appears that this tendency toward negativity bias stems partly from a habit ingrained in the profession but also reflects the idea that journalists are there to "expose what's wrong".
Recover some nuance
Yet, revealing what is broken does not make it possible to fix it, points out Pierre Leibovici. This raises a broader question about the role of journalists: to show what is lacking? To provide answers? That is precisely what solutions journalism proposes: to restore nuance by focusing on solutions to social problems, rather than simply exposing existing ills, at the risk of demoralizing readers without advancing the debate.
The principle thus rests on focusing on solutions to societal problems, providing evidence that they work and can be applied elsewhere. »
A few concrete examples help us pinpoint the distinctive features of this approach. For instance, an article in the Monde about the Maison des livreurs, an initiative launched in Bordeaux, follows a specific structure: after laying out the problems this initiative aims to address, the article explains how it works, its limitations, and then provides insights for other cities to replicate it.
Four fundamental criteria
As Pierre Leibovici points out, the solution is embedded throughout the narrative and cannot be reduced to a simple line at the end of an article. To understand what solutions journalism is, it is equally helpful to identify what it is not. While articles about "good news" and profiles of heroes, often anecdotal in nature, continue to proliferate, solutions journalism offers a more comprehensive approach.
To tell the difference clearly, four criteria make it possible to identify a rigorous solutions article:
- Focus on addressing a well-defined problem ;
- Provide evidence of the solution's effectiveness — often through numbers or scientific data;
- Provide fresh insights that make it possible to draw lessons and/or replicate the solution elsewhere ;
- Show intellectual honesty by pointing out the limits and weaknesses of this answer.
An answer to current challenges
Solution journalism is gaining ground in the media world because it is credited with many virtues. In a context where the information landscape is facing numerous crises, where distrust of media and information fatigue are spreading, it seems necessary for journalists to reconnect with their audience.
Solutions journalism can help. Indeed, impact studies on the subject show that this practice tends to strengthen the perceived quality of an article and readers' trust in it.
Solutions journalism thus presents itself as a potential key to addressing the challenges facing the media ecosystem, making it possible to offer a more complete vision of society, build a relationship of trust between audiences and their media, and ensure the sustainability of the latter. As Pierre Leibovici points out, if journalists' role is to tell the story of society, then they must also show what is working correctly.
"We see ourselves as watchdogs whose only role is to expose wrongdoing, with the idea that it's then up to society to take up these issues and that our role is done. But that's not really how it works in practice, and if potential solutions aren't presented, there's little chance that things will change," the journalist adds.
Urban Living, the newsletter for optimistic city dwellers
Some media outlets are choosing to make solutions journalism central to their editorial offer. This is the case with Bien Urbains, a newsletter that focuses on collective initiatives to make cities more convivial, more playful and greener. Co-founders Delphine Tayac and Marine Mugnier, who are also members of the Collectif Antidotes collective specializing in solutions journalism, were present at the workshop to share their experience.
For them, choosing this approach to address urban issues makes it possible to bring a new perspective to certain subjects and thus stand out in their newsletter's editorial line. On a daily basis, applying the four key principles of solutions journalism presented above allows them to highlight solutions emerging in cities and look at urban issues differently. While Bien Urbains aims to rebuild connection and proximity with readers, this approach pairs well with the solutions journalism approach, according to the two journalists.
However, the practice does require taking a few precautions, lest it highlight false solutions:
- Do not look for a hero or heroine: it is important to ensure that you are addressing an activity and not a particular person or organization;
- Make sure to use numbers to support and demonstrate results;
- Finally, remain a journalist: it is necessary to stay critical and avoid showing excessive enthusiasm toward an initiative, for example.
Ultimately, as Pierre Leibovici points out in concluding the discussion session at the Press Club, solutions journalism can be applied to any format and all topics can be covered from a solutions angle. Rather than an anecdotal section to add to a media outlet, solutions journalism thus appears to be a lens that all journalists can adopt, with the desire to drive change and reconnect with their readers.
To go further
- (Re)immerse yourself in the Festival Imprimé with our written and video recap.
- To understand your audience's needs more deeply, rely on these three practical tips to implement.
- Learn more about the Solutions Journalism Network (in English).
Editor's note: Médianes, the studio, supported the Bien Urbains team in its strategic development in January 2021.
