The Solutions Journalism Network and the Indigenous Journalists Association have partnered to build a cohort of five U.S.-based, Indigenous-led and -serving newsrooms to receive 12 months of training and mentorship in covering health equity topics through a solutions lens.
Solutions journalism investigates and explains, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems. While journalists usually define news as “what’s gone wrong,” solutions journalism expands that definition: responses to problems are also newsworthy.
Are you looking for a new way to cover health issues in your community?
The Health Equity Initiative
This Health Equity cohort is designed to support Indigenous-led and -serving newsrooms (from any medium) in incorporating solutions journalism into their healthcare coverage. Participating newsrooms will receive professional development from the Solutions Journalism Network and the Indigenous Journalists Association, an $18,000 grant. In two-hour monthly meetings and monthly coaching calls, you’ll learn the basics of solutions journalism, and how to find and cover meaningful solutions stories related to health equity, such as access to care and affordability, and other topics that respond to the needs of the cohort members.
What your newsroom will receive:
- An $18,000 grant, including a $2,000 travel stipend to be used to travel to the 2024 Indigenous Media Conference in Oklahoma City;
- Professional development for editors and journalists on:
- How to produce solutions journalism
- How to cover healthcare topics through a solutions lens
- How to cover and engage with your community differently
- Support and coaching on how to apply the principles of solutions journalism to everyday stories through monthly cohort meetings and monthly coaching calls with SJN Rural Media Manager Melissa Cassutt and IJA Board President Christine Trudeau;
- An opportunity to work within a cohort of other Indigenous-led and-serving newsrooms and;
- Instruction and support in producing solutions stories over the course of 12 months.
What we’re looking for:
- Newsrooms committed to incorporating rigorous reporting on solutions that recognize the social conditions, systems and factors that influence health including education, economics, race and environment;
- Capacity to produce enterprise stories that address disparities in health outcomes;
- Commitment to monthly cohort meetings and monthly coaching calls;
- Newsrooms willing to reflect and measure their newsroom progress and impact at several points through the initiative;
- Willingness to engage in an “all teach, all learn” environment. While SJN and IJA will provide experienced trainers and leaders into the monthly meetings, we know that valuable insights and experience come from your fellow cohort members as well. We are looking for newsrooms that are excited to share what’s working (and what’s not) with others in the cohort and in our larger network; and
- Newsrooms committed to making the changes needed to incorporate solutions journalism into their regular workflow, and generally committed to producing one story a month.
The minimum requirement is a willingness to learn about and practice solutions journalism — no previous practice is expected. Newsroom leaders and journalists must be willing to support and guide the production of solutions journalism, and engage in ongoing learning throughout the grant period.
Thinking of applying? Read this first.
This cohort has a two-step application process. The first step is to fill out this form by Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. An application review committee, made up of members from the Solutions Journalism Network and the Indigenous Journalists Association, will review applications, and shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by committee members before proceeding to the final application stage.
We will set cohort meeting dates after newsrooms have been selected.
Participating newsrooms are expected to be a member (or be willing to become a member) of the Indigenous Journalists Association, and are expected to attend the Indigenous Media Conference, July 25-27, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Of the $18,000 grant provided to newsrooms selected for this cohort, $2,000 is earmarked to cover or offset travel expenses to the Indigenous Media Conference. We are aiming to have members from this cohort present on some of their learnings from this cohort, and are looking forward to an opportunity to meet in person during our 12-month cohort.
Learn more about SJN. Learn more about IJA.
SJN will host an informational session on Wednesday, Jan. 17 to answer questions from potential applicants. Join Rural Media Manager Melissa Cassutt and IJA Board President Christine Trudeau on Zoom at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT that day.
Can’t make it? Register anyway, and we’ll send you a recording.
If you have questions about the initiative or application, please reach out to Melissa (melissa@solutionsjournalism.org) or Christine (trudeau@naja.com).
If you need technical support with submitting this application, including recovering a saved draft, please email Kristen Merritt (kristen@solutionsjournalism.org).