Constructive Journalism Dialogues: Dispatches from the Field

"Constructive storytelling can broaden the way audiences perceive problems."



This series of dialogues, run by DW Akademie in cooperation with the Constructive Institute and the Solutions Journalism Network, brings together journalists from around the world who share their experiences in constructive journalism. The series seeks to help journalists take on a constructive approach to reporting - one that explores solutions that can inspire people to shift their perspective and to reconsider their approach and even their actions - and explains how these stories differ from other reports.  



The series forms part of the DW Akademie's Constructive Journalism Lab, which supports media professionals from countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Sub-Saharan Africa to reach more users with solution-oriented reports. The goal is to regain their audiences' trust, to encourage a dialogue, and to enable media professionals to develop a clear profile for themselves or their media outlets. According to the DW Akademie Constructive Journalism Lab, a worldwide survey showed that about 38% of respondents said they actively avoid news. "Trends like these can have a dangerous effect on the future perspectives of entire societies: it means poorly informed citizens cannot make informed decisions or adequately protect themselves from propaganda and disinformation. DW Akademie believes that Constructive Journalism can counter this negativity; it does not trivialize information but instead provides contexts and points to potential solutions. This forward-looking, nuanced style of journalism offers audiences new perspectives and broadens their horizons."



The dialogues are moderated by Dina Aboughazala from Egab, a solutions journalism platform based in Egypt. Recordings of the following six dialogues (all around one hour in length) are available online:

 

1. Constructive Journalism and COVID-19: Reporting the Unknown [October 2021]: This dialogue looked at solutions-oriented reporting that sought to address accurate knowledge around COVID-19 and vaccine uptake. The speakers included Ritu Kapur from the Indian news website The Quint, and Vivianne Ihekweazu from Nigeria Health Watch. The discussion looks at The Quint's participative approach to news gathering, which uses citizen journalism to debunk disinformation around COVID-19 and to reflect the voices of the marginalised. Nigeria Health Watch used its solutions-oriented approach to address mistrust in information and to build trust in the government's COVID-19 response.
2. Constructive Journalism and Climate Change: More than Bad News [November 2021]: This dialogue explored how journalists can approach the issue of climate change in a more constructive way. The speakers included Lola García-Ajofrín, senior reporter at Outriers, Spain, and Abaas Mpindi, CEO and Co-founder of the Media Challenge Initiative, Uganda.
3. Constructive Journalism: Reframing Sensitive Topics [December 2021]: This discussion looked at how journalists can report more constructively on sensitive issues such as gender-based violence or injustice against minorities without sensationalising, stereotyping, or focusing on the negative. It also covered how journalists can shift the power of representation, challenge stereotypes, and recognise the diversity and dignity of people. The speakers are Devi Asmarani, editor-in-chief and CEO of Magdalene.co (Indonesia), Mariana Mora, independent journalist, and photographer (Mexico) and Caleb Okereke, Managing Editor of Minority Africa (Uganda).
4. Do-it-yourself: Constructive Journalism Stories [January 2022]: The three panellists taking part in this discussion are professionals who have turned their passion for constructive reporting into start-up projects. They are graduates of DW Akademie's Constructive Journalism Fellowship, where they spent several months taking a closer look at visual constructive storytelling. The speakers are Marie-José (MJ) Daoud, Co-Founder of the media and communication platform Labneh&Facts (Lebanon), Moses (Ras) Mutabaruka, Founder of TAP Media Ltd, a Pan-African media platform (Kenya), and Sumeya Gasa, a journalist and filmmaker in South Africa.
5. Casting the Vote: Constructive Election Reporting [February 2022]: In countries where elections remain a socially and politically charged issue, independent, constructive, and transparent coverage of them can be challenging. Fake news, election interference, populism, and vote rigging often crop up during election campaigns, and independent journalists need to be equipped to discover and ideally uncover them without putting themselves at risk of attack. In this panel, Layal Bahnam, programme manager of Maharat Foundation (Lebanon), and Dickens Olewe, BBC journalist (Kenya) shared their experience of constructive election reporting, gave insights into their working methods and projects, and discussed their success and challenges in the process.
6. Diversifying Media: Cross-cultural Constructive Journalism [March 2022]: Diverse teams, inclusive content, and cross-cultural collaboration are not just buzzwords, but the breeding ground for reliable, nuanced, and high-quality reporting. In this panel discussion, Tina Lee from Unbias the News and Chris Wright from Climate Tracker shared how they have created teams that allow for different perspectives on content, how they encouraged cross-cultural collaboration, and what their positions are as supporters of underrepresented voices and a new generation of constructive storytellers. They also discussed how they contribute to building a sustainable ecosystem for constructive, solution-oriented storytelling that has the potential to spill over to the mainstream.