Global Voices: GV Face: The News Cycle is Broken. Can Solutions Journalism Fix it?

Violent Conflict Erupts in South Sudan. Protesters Beaten, Arrested in Egypt. Communities Destroyed by Typhoon in Philippines. These are stories we believe are important. But what if it is all just too depressing?

At Global Voices, we are committed to shining light on the stories of people around the world. Like any media organization, we often focus on news of violence, political corruption and environmental disaster — we feel tremendous compassion for people facing these hardships and want their stories to be heard. But there are times when even the team at GV would rather curl up with BuzzFeed's “40 Most Awkward Cats of 2013″ than read grim tales from around the globe. As these kinds of stories flood daily news feeds, the world can seem like a pretty bad place. It can even make us feel helpless. But maybe it doesn't have to.

What if the news could empower us to become more active citizens, to actually have an impact on the world? Is there a way to tell stories about events in the world, whether good or bad, where we can see stories in a positive light or offer readers ways to have an impact on difficult situations, even if they're happening halfway across the world?

This week, we bid farewell to 2013 with an in-house edition of GVFace. GV co-founder Ethan Zuckerman and GV newsroom lead editors Solana Larsen and Sahar Habib Ghazi will talk with GV Advocacy Editor Ellery Roberts Biddle about the concept of “solutions journalism” and “good news”. We'll discuss solutions journalism as it relates to traditional approaches to news coverage, changes in the media landscape, and our own practices here at GV. And we'll look at a few ways that news can not only inform but empower us to as citizens of the world and the Internet.

Additional Reading

Problem:
The psychological impact of negative TV news bulletins

The Evening's Bad News: Effects of Compelling Negative Television News Images on Memory

Solution:

Ethan's blog: Saving the News with Advocacy Journalism

Innovating News Journalism through Positive Psychology

Solutions Journalism Can Change the World

Why We Need Solutions Journalism

News Doesn't Reflect the Real World

A New Mainstream Solutions Journalism

Solutions Journalism: What it is and what it is not