Solutions are a major part of the environmental reporting of alternative media, but require consistent support, research says

There’s no avoidance of that. Complying with the challenges of the global environment can be a tough experience. Climate change, floods, wildfires and the collapse of biodiversity are enough to completely turn many readers out of the news.

To counter this ruthless tide of negativity, some journalists engage in a practice called solution journalism. This approach uses standard journalistic methods to present actions, actions, and strategies that help reduce, reverse, or adapt environmental damage. That is, it provides solutions to existing problems.

Over the past decades, the Canadian media landscape has seen significant changes towards solution journalism, and the transition is the country’s independent, alternative media outlet.

In a paper published in the journal Environmental Communication, two Concordia researchers study the frequency of solution journalism in environmental reporting in seven alternative media in Canada. Through content analysis and interviews with reporters, researchers found that even when climate journalism is an integral part of reporting in a particular outlet, this practice requires strong institutional support.

“If the newsroom doesn’t have an environment that nurtures solutions journalism, even an organization like an alternative media outlet that is part of its mission, it won’t happen,” says Amélie Daoust-Boisvert, an associate professor in the Department of Journalism.

“Even with training and discussions at editorial meetings, reporters are constrained by everyday routine and work pressures. Still, solutions journalism is more suited to the media than other media, depending on the audience and orientation.”

You will arrive there by working

Based on co-author Willow Beck’s 2023 MA paper, the study uses a mixed method approach. The first phase consisted of content analysis of all journalistic articles created by seven Canadian media outlets in 2022. Canadian national observer, Narwal, Indigin, Discourse, Sprawl, French pivot.

Of the approximately 4,000 items produced, approximately 1,700 pieces were identified as being connected to the climate or environment, or about 43%. Researchers evaluated the “solutions” in these articles according to the definition of solution journalism proposed by the Solution Journalism Network.

To be considered a solution-focused article, it must introduce responses to identified issues and provide more broadly applicable insights. It lists the limits of responses, including evidence that the solution is effective.

Using four Likert scales from zero to zero, we determined the extent of solution orientation for each article, with zero being “fully”, “fully”, and “fully” being present. Of the subsamples of approximately 250 articles, 17% scored high on three or four on the scale, and researchers found it surprisingly low.

Follow-up interviews with seven reporters who signed stories of these solutions revealed that journalists often do not aim to deliberately write solution journalism. In fact, some people said they were unaware that they had written a solution story. As far as they were concerned, they were just doing the day’s work.

“Most of them knew about solution journalism, and some may have trained it or discussed it at conferences,” says Daoust-Boisvert. “However, the nature of alternative media requires them to distinguish themselves from legacy media, so they often arrive at solution journalism simply by looking for different angles.”

She acknowledges that good solutions journalism requires consistent support from publishers and managers, but adds that increasing public interest in positive alternatives to the darkness of the climate and the consistent messaging of fate can encourage pursuing this kind of narrative.

“I’m not saying that everyone should do that, I’m not saying that it will solve many of the crises facing journalism today, but I believe it has a place in a good media diet.”