"It's Just Good Journalism" - Constructive Journalism at Thessaloniki International Summer Media Academy

Students at Thessaloniki International Summer Media Academy looking for constructive angles/credit: Veronique Mistiaen

“Do we need to call this ‘Constructive Journalism’?  It’s just good journalism,” one student at the back said.  All over the room, heads nodded in approval.

Most of the 46 students at the International Journalism Media Summer Academy in Thessaloniki had never heard of the term “Constructive Journalism” before, yet it just made sense to them that when journalists expose a problem, they should try to explore solutions as well. And that reporting on progress and possibility has its place, alongside covering crisis, crimes and tragedy.

I had been invited to the beautiful city of Thessaloniki this summer, along with colleagues from Croatia, Germany, Russia and Ireland, to present lectures and workshops on ‘New Trends in Media and Journalism: Disinformation, Verification of News and Constructive Journalism in a Changing World’.

It was wonderful to see students from Greece, Russia, Croatia Ukraine, Germany, Brazil, Bosnia, The Netherlands, Slovenia, the US, China and other countries, debate and build connections - and listen to their various perspectives.

When we discussed the coverage of the refugee crisis in their respective countries, most students said that the media mostly stressed the problems posed by migration and the burden it imposes on social services, but others had another take.  Greek students, for example, said that while the coverage was alarmist and negative at first, over the years, there were also stories of solidarity and on the contribution made by migrants. This was unexpected as Greece is one of the countries most affected by the influx of migrants and in the midst of a serious economic crisis.

We found examples of constructive stories from a rapidly growing media pool - from the New York Times and the Guardian Upside to the BBC World Hacks, Positive News and De Correspondent.

We explored how to interview the so-called “victims” in a way that doesn’t reduce them to their situation, but shows their resilience and preserves their dignity.  And we looked at how we can ask different questions to those in power, the experts and those who hold different views.

The idea that journalists can facilitate engagement between people from different religious and ethnic groups, political views or age, rather than fuelling polarisation and conflict, led to heated discussions.   We concluded that it’s not the journalists’ role to advocate a solution or campaign for integration, but to show how communities can come together across these lines to engage with one another, and how problems that they are facing are being tackled elsewhere.

At the end of the day, the students decided to call this type of journalism “Responsible Journalism.” I kind of like that!

 

Constructive Journalism Comes to North Africa

Journalists from Libya, Tunisia and Egypt analyzing the balance of news in their respective media at the MiCT Tunis Constructive Journalism Workshop/credit:Veronique Mistiaen

“Wouldn’t constructive stories belittle the problems we are facing?” asked the tall Libyan journalist.   “If we write stories with a constructive angle, how can we make sure that they won’t be used as propaganda by the regime?” the thoughtful Egyptian journalist wanted to know.

These were some of the stimulating questions journalists from Libya, Egypt and Tunisia asked during the very first Constructive Journalism Project’s workshop in the region.

The political and media landscapes in post-revolutionary North Africa are not only very different from those in the UK and EU, where we have been running most of our workshops – but they are also different in each of these three countries.   This led to very interesting, challenging and passionate discussions.

Nineteen journalists participated in a three-day Constructive Journalism workshop in Tunis on November 25-28 arranged by Media in Cooperation in Transition, MICT, a German non-profit organization that runs media development projects in crisis regions. In addition to working for various  media outlets, many participant journalists also contribute  to Correspondents.org, a bilingual digital magazine (Arabic/English) designed by MiCT to cover three countries.

We began the workshop by analyzing the various newspapers/media they work for, discussing the balance or imbalance in the news and its impact on the readers/audiences, on major issues such as migration and climate change and on democracy.

Constructive Journalism was a new and rather unfamiliar concept to all participants, but they could see the need for a journalism that moves from the crisis rhetoric, trying instead to capture the complexity of social and political life, reconnecting with communities and reinvigorating our profession.

We then explored practical tools journalists could use in their own reporting in order to produce stories that are more balanced, explore new angles and possibilities and ask different questions to those in power, the experts and the so-called victims.

During our last session, the journalists pitched constructive-angled story ideas for Correpsondents.com. These included stories on a Libyan port city, where the community and police worked together to drive traffickers out; transitional justice in Tunisia; projects to get young people off drugs in deprived areas in Libya and a profile of a young female hero from Cairo’s Tahrir Square.  

“In our country, more than 90% of the news is on war and conflicts – who wins and who loses. Everything else is ignored,” a Libyan journalist said. “Now we have the tools to change that.”

#OwnTheMedia: Positive News Becomes Global Media Cooperative

Positive News Editor-in-Chief Sean Dagan Wood and Journalist Danielle Batist

Positive News started on a kitchen table in a farm tucked away in rural Shropshire some 22 years ago.  It is the world’s leading and longest-established publication dedicated to positive and solution-focused journalism. A magazine writing about kindness, cooperation, creativity and innovation - a breath of fresh air in a media where news too often means problems, conflicts, wars, crimes, tragedy: the old  “if it bleeds, it leads” approach.

The publication is now based in London, has a circulation of 60,000, a strong social media presence, and its construtive approach is increasingly attracting interest from other media.

The idea that news has to be something that’s broken is slowly being questioned by media outlets all over the world – and not just by alternative media.  Mainstream media like the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera and many more are experimenting with solution-focused sections and a more balanced news agenda.

Studies have shown that news with a negative bias tend to leave audiences feeling powerless, bored, frustrated, disengaged and less likely to get involved or contribute financially. The opposite is true for news with a more positive slant.   This does matter: journalists say they need to report on what’s happening in the world - and too bad if it makes people feel bad, and I tend to agree. But journalists are not doing their job if they produce switched-off, disengaged citizens.

As Positive News has pioneered a more positive form of journalism, it is now pioneering a new way to finance and run a media business. It needs to innovate to become sustainable and to meet the growing demand for its journalism, so it is becoming the first crowdfunded global media cooperative, owned by their readers and journalists. 

Positive News editor-in-chief, Seán Dagan Wood, said: “We’re seeing a growing public demand for our journalism, as well as increasing interest in our approach from other media. Cooperative ownership is the perfect way forward to raise investment while protecting our ethos.”

They launched their #OwnTheMedia crowdfunding campaign at Nesta yesterday to reach the £200,000 they need to secure and grow the organisation. Amazingly, the campaign has already reached £68,800, last time I looked, and new investments are coming in all the time.

 The funding will help Positive News expand their core team, develop their new website, relaunch their print publication into a magazine and build the audience and the income streams that will help sustain them in the long-term.

I’ve written for Positive News for a few years and love what they do and stand for.

If you want to join a community of people with shared values and be part of the first crowdfunded global media co-operative, please join the #OwnTheMediacampaign