A systematic review of constructive and solutions journalism research

Abstract

Academic activity surrounding constructive and solutions journalism has surged in recent years; thus, it is important to pause and reflect on this growing body of work in order to understand where the field can and should go in the future. We conducted a systematic review of existing literature on solutions and constructive journalism (N = 94), in an effort to (1) describe the state of this field by identifying the patterns and trends in the methodological and conceptual approaches, topics, institutions, countries and practices involved in this research, and (2) illuminate potentially important gaps in the field and suggest recommendations for future research.

Keywords

Constructive journalism solutions journalism systematic review

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahva

Hautakangas

(eds.) (2018) Introducing a new form of socially responsible journalism. Journalism Practice 12(6): 730–746.

Aitamurto

Varma

(2018) The constructive role of journalism: Contentious metadiscourse on constructive journalism and solutions journalism. Journalism Practice 12(6): 695–713.

Allam

(2019) Constructive journalism in Arab transitional democracies: Perceptions, attitudes and performance. Journalism Practice 13(10): 1273–1293.

Amano

González-Varo

Sutherland

(2016) Languages are still a major barrier to global science. PLoS Biology 14(12): e2000933.

Atanasova

(2019) Moving society to a sustainable future: The framing of sustainability in a constructive media outlet. Environmental Communication 13(5): 700–711.

Benesch

(1998) The rise of solutions journalism. Columbia Journalism Review 36(6): 36–39.

Bro

(2008) Normative navigation in the news media. Journalism 9(3): 309–329.

Bro

(2019) Constructive journalism: Proponents, precedents, and principles. Journalism 20(4): 504–519.

Constructive Institute (2017) Denmark – Launch of an International Constructive Institute. Available at: https://constructiveinstitute.org/news/denmark-launch-of-an-international-constructive-institute/ (accessed 28 October 2020)

10.

Constructive Institute (2020) What is constructive journalism? Available at: https://constructiveinstitute.org/what/ (accessed 29 October 2020)

11.

Constructive Journalism Network (n.d.) What we do. Available at: http://constructivejournalism.network/about (accessed 28 October 2020)

12.

Constructive Journalism Project (2020) A brief history. Available at: https://www.constructivejournalism/org (accessed 29 October 2020)

13.

Curry

Hammonds

(2014) The power of solutions journalism. Solutions Journalism Network/Engaging News Project. Available at: https://mediaengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ENP_SJN-report.pdf (accessed 4 November 2020)

14.

De Vreese

(2020) President’s column. Available at: https://www.icahdq.org/blogpost/1523657/353191/President-s-Column (accessed 4 November 2020)

15.

Fatima

(2020) Understanding the Construction of Journalistic Frames during Crisis Communication: Editorial Coverage of COVID-19 in New York Times. Master thesis, Södertörn University, Stockholm.

16.

Fink

(2019) The biggest challenge facing journalism: A lack of trust. Journalism 20(1): 40–43.

17.

Flaherty

(2020) Early journal submission data suggest COVID-19 is tanking women’s research productivity. Inside Higher Ed. Available at: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/21/early-journal-submission-data-suggest-covid-19-tanking-womens-research-productivity (accessed 29 October 2020)

18.

Fredrickson

(2004) The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 359(1449): 1367–1378.

19.

Freelon

(2013) ReCal OIR: Ordinal, interval, and ratio intercoder reliability as a web service. International Journal of Internet Science 8(1): 10–16.

20.

Fromm

Kristensen

(2018) Rethinking constructive journalism by means of service journalism. Journalism Practice 12(6): 714–729.

21.

García-Orosa

López-García

Vázquez-Herrero

(2020) Journalism in digital native media: Beyond technological determinism. Media and Communication 8(2): 5–15.

22.

Gyldensted

(2011) Innovating news journalism through positive psychology. Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP). Available at: http://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/20 (accessed 6 May 2021)

23.

Gyldensted

(2015) From Mirrors to Movers: Five Elements of Positive Psychology in Constructive Journalism. Lexington, KY: Group Publishing.

24.

Haagerup

(2017) Constructive News: How to Save the Media and Democracy With Journalism of Tomorrow. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press.

25.

Han

(2020) The convergence of Chinese positive report and western constructive journalism in perspective of transcultural political economy of communication. Master thesis, University of Yantai, Yantai, Shandong province.

26.

Harzing

(2007) Publish or perish. Available at: https://harzing.com/resources/publish-or-perish (accessed 19 August 2020)

27.

Hermans

Gyldensted

(2019) Elements of constructive journalism: Characteristics, practical application and audience valuation. Journalism 20(4): 535–551.

28.

International Communication Association (2018) On inclusion, diversity, equity, and access: Statement from the executive committee of the International Communication Association (ICA). Available at: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.icahdq.org/resource/resmgr/docs/ica_diversity.pdf (accessed 4 November 2020)

29.

Jackson

(2019) You Are What You Read. London: Unbound.

30.

Kasriel

(2016) Introducing a new tool for news: Solutions-focused journalism. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/academy/entries/f58f050c-91dd-4469-8af3-b3ecfc72a0e7 (accessed 29 October 2020)

31.

Kleemans

de Leeuw

RNH

Gerritsen

, et al. (2017) Children’s responses to negative news: The effects of constructive reporting in newspaper stories for children. Journal of Communication 67(5): 781–802.

32.

Kleemans

Dohmen

Schlindwein

, et al. (2019) Children’s cognitive responses to constructive television news. Journalism 20(4): 568–582.

33.

Kogen

(2019) News you can use or news that moves? Journalists’ rationales for coverage of distant suffering. Journalism Practice 13(1): 1–15.

34.

Krift

(2018) Expect more next-level, solutions-based reporting from the advertiser. Montgomery Advertiser. Available at: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/solutions-journalism/2018/03/09/expect-more-depth-solutions-journalism-based-reporting-montgomery-advertiser/406768002/ (accessed 29 October 2020)

35.

Lough

(2018) Research list: Solutions journalism and constructive journalism. KyserLough.com. Available at: http://www.kyserlough.com/solutionsjournalism.html. (accessed 19 September 2020)

36.

Lough

McIntyre

(2019) Visualizing the solution: An analysis of the images that accompany solutions-oriented news stories. Journalism 20(4): 583–599.

37.

Mast

Coesemans

Temmerman

(eds.) (2019) Constructive journalism: Concepts, practices, and discourses. Journalism 20(4): 492–503.

38.

McGregor

Stroud

(2016) How one community responded to solutions journalism. Engaging News Project/Solutions Journalism Network. Available at: https://mediaengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ENP-How-One-Community-Responded-to-Solutions-Journalism.pdf (accessed 6 May 2021)

39.

McIntyre Hopkinson

Dahmen

(eds.) (2021) Reporting Beyond the Problem: From Civic Journalism to Solutions Journalism. New York, NY: Peter Lang Inc.

40.

McIntyre

(2015) Constructive journalism: The effects of positive emotions and solution information in news stories. Doctoral Dissertation, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

41.

McIntyre

Lough

(2021) Toward a clearer conceptualization and operationalization of solutions journalism. Journalism 22: 1558–1573.

42.

McIntyre

Gyldensted

(2017) Constructive journalism: An introduction and practical guide for applying positive psychology techniques to news production. The Journal of Media Innovations 4(2): 20–34.

43.

McIntyre

Gyldensted

(2018) Positive psychology as a theoretical foundation for constructive journalism. Journalism Practice 12(6): 662–678.

44.

Midberry

Lough

Pixley

(2020) Panel: Solutions photojournalism: Visually reporting beyond the problem-based narrative. In: Association for Education in Journalism and Mass communication conference, Dahmen

(chair), virtual, 6-9 August 2020.

45.

Murray

Stroud

(2019) The keys to powerful solutions journalism. Center for Media Engagement. Available at: https://mediaengagement.org/research/powerful-solutions-journalism/ (accessed 6 May 2021)

46.

Park

Lavallee

Tod

(2013) Athletes’ career transition out of sport: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 6(1): 22–53.

47.

Rew

Wong

(2006) A systematic review of associations among religiosity/spirituality and adolescent health attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health 38(4): 433–442.

48.

Rosen

(1996) Getting the Connections Right. New York, NY: The Twentieth Century Fund Press.

49.

Schrieberg

(2017) Failed newspaper business models are crippling U.K. democracy. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidschrieberg1/2017/08/22/failed-newspaper-business-models-are-crippling-u-k-democracy/?sh=3047821eb5f0 (accessed 2 November 2020)

50.

Solutions Journalism Network (2020a) Who we are. Available at: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/who-we-are/mission (accessed 5 November 2020)

51.

Solutions Journalism Network (2020b) Solutions story tracker®. Available at: https://storytracker.solutionsjournalism.org. (accessed 29 October 2020)

52.

Solutions Journalism Network (n.d.) Impact. Available at: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/impact (accessed 29 October 2020)

53.

The New York Times (2016) Fixes. Available at: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/ (accessed 29 October 2020)

54.

Thier

(2016) Opportunities and challenges for initial implementation of solutions journalism coursework. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator 71(3): 329–343.

55.

Trottier-Le Bossé

(2020) You are What you Read: The Role of News Narrative on Cognitive and Behavioural Helplessness. Master thesis, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

56.

Web of Science (n.d.) What is web of science core collection? Available at: https://clarivate.libguides.com/webofscienceplatform/woscc (accessed 11 June 2021)

57.

Wenzel

Gerson

Moreno

, et al. (2018) Engaging stigmatized communities through solutions journalism: Residents of south Los Angeles respond. Journalism 19(5): 649–667.

58.

Wiard

Simonson

(2019) ‘The city is ours, so let’s talk about it’: Constructing a citizen media initiative in Brussels. Journalism 20(4): 617–631.

59.

World Press Photo (2019) An initiative to promote and produce visual journalism with a solutions focus. Available at: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/programs/develop/solutions-visual-journalism-initiative/38313 (accessed 29 October 2020)

60.

Yanqiu

Matingwina

(2018) Exploring alternative journalistic approaches to report on China and Africa relations? Comparative study of two best reporting awards projects in China and South Africa. Journal of African Media Studies 10(1): 21–37.

61.

Zhang

Matingwina

(2016) A new representation of Africa? The use of constructive journalism in the narration of Ebola by China Daily and the BBC. African Journalism Studies 37(3): 19–40.