ONE QUESTION.

• Position: Interview

Q: Should Journalism Seek Solutions?

TINA ROSENBERG

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-founder, Solutions journalism Network

Yes--but not in the way many journalists fear and many civilians hope.

We tend to define news as "what's wrong." But for every shared problem, lots of people are trying to solve it, and some of those responses are worth knowing about.

We should report on those responses: What are people doing? What evidence is there of success? What's not working about the response?

This isn't celebrating solutions or advocating for them. It's just reporting on them.

Reporting on solutions actually makes watchdog journalism stronger. One example: The Plain Dealer [of Cleveland] had done lots of coverage about the problem of lead paint poisoning of the city's children. None of it had led to action--city officials simply responded with the usual: This is a terrible problem and we're doing the best we can.

What finally sparked action was reporting on what Cleveland's neighbors around the Midwest and beyond were doing that was more successful. Learning that Rochester, Grand Rapids, Akron, and other cities were doing far better than Cleveland took away the excuses of city officials, and led to major change, culminating in a historic new lead poisoning law the city council passed in July, which adopted many of the best practices of Cleveland's neighbors.

KYLE POPE

Editor-in-chief and publisher, Columbia Journalism Review

Not only should journalism offer solutions, it must...