The Solutions Journalism Network is a training and advocacy group that promotes a style of journalism that promotes policy approaches to social and economic problems rather than reporting facts. The organization receives substantial funding from some of the largest and most prominent left-of-center grantmaking foundations in the United States including the Democracy Fund,¹ the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. ²

Background

Solutions Journalism Network was founded in 2013 by Tina Rosenberg, Courtney Martin and David Bornstein, all of whom veteran journalists and opinion writers featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and similar outlets. ³

The style of “solutions journalism” focuses on retraining journalists to present news stories in a way that suggests policy and community approaches to the problem in the story, often by comparing to how another government, community, or law enforcement agency handles the same situation. Solutions Journalism Network promotes the practice of solutions journalism by partnering with journalism schools, news organizations, and individual journalists. ⁴

CEO David Bornstein says that solutions journalism is not the same thing as advocacy journalism or the “civic journalism” movement, which was popular in the 1990s, both of which were characterized as partisan and left-leaning. ^{5 6}

Programs

Solutions Journalism Network has grown to have significant influence in the journalism community since its founding in 2013. The organization claims to have trained over 15,000 journalists through live or online curriculums, and the organization has engaged with over 200 news organizations to place news stories using its framing. Solutions Journalism Network also partners with 17 journalism schools including at the University of Florida, the University of Nebraska, the University or Oregon, Temple University, and Pepperdine University. ⁷

Solutions Journalism Network has an online hub where journalists can pitch stories, submit stories for promotion, and apply for grants to fund travel for stories, among other things. ⁸

The organization offers tools for practicing solutions journalism such as guidebooks, checklists and case studies to news organizations and journalism schools. It also provides training for journalists and connects them with data providers. ⁹

The network offers a SJN Story Fund to report on left-progressive policy approaches to climate change, among other issues. ¹⁰

People

Solutions Journalism Network lists over 35 employees online, most of whom have a background as journalists for notable left-leaning news organizations such as the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. The organization’s co-founders, Tina Rosenberg, Courtney Martin and David Bornstein, are also employees of the organization. All three co-founders are notable writers, with Rosenberg and Bornstein also working as coauthors of the “Fixes” column in the New York Times’ online “Opinionator” op-ed section. Rosenberg is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. ¹¹

Bornstein works as CEO of Solutions Journalism Network, earning an annual salary of over $180,000.¹² In addition to writing for the Times, Bornstein has authored several books including How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank, and Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know. Bornstein has defended solutions journalism against those who compare it to advocacy journalism or the “civic journalism” movement which was popular in the 1990s, both of which were characterized as partisan or left-leaning. ¹³¹⁴

1. “Solutions Journalism Network”. Democracy Fund. https://www.democracyfund.org/portfolio/entry/solutions-journalism-network
2. “Who We Are”. Solutions Journalism Network. Accessed March 28, 2020. https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/who-we-are/mission
3. “Solutions Journalism Network”. Democracy Fund. Accessed March 28, 2020.  https://www.drkfoundation.org/organization/solutions-journalism-network/
4. Ronsentiel, Tom. “Reporting ‘the whole story’: 9 good questions with David Bornstein of Solutions Journalism Network”. American Press institute. January 14, 2015. Accessed March 28, 2020. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/good-questions/moving-toward-whole-story-9-good-questions-david-bornstein-solutions-journalism-network/
5. Ronsentiel, Tom. “Reporting ‘the whole story’: 9 good questions with David Bornstein of Solutions Journalism Network”. American Press institute. January 14, 2015. Accessed March 28, 2020. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/good-questions/moving-toward-whole-story-9-good-questions-david-bornstein-solutions-journalism-network/ 
6. Watson, Michael. “Don’t Trust the Messenger: Forget Profit.” Capital Research Center. Capital Research Center, May 7, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/dont-trust-the-messenger-part-3/.
7. “Impact”. Solutions Journalism Network. Accessed March 28, 2020.  https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/impact
8. “Hub”. Solutions Journalism Network. Accessed March 28, 2020.  https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/hub
9. Solutions Journalism Network. LinkedIn. Accessed May 10, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/company/solutions-journalism-network/about/
10. “Solutions Journalism Network Climate Change Story Fund. Accessed May 10, 2020. https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-solutions-journalism-network-story-fund
11. “Team”. Solutions Journalism Network. Accessed March 28, 2020.  https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/who-we-are/team
12. IRS Form 990. Solutions Journalism Network. 2018. Accessed March 28, 2020.
13. Ronsentiel, Tom. “Reporting ‘the whole story’: 9 good questions with David Bornstein of Solutions Journalism Network”. American Press institute. January 14, 2015. Accessed March 28, 2020. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/good-questions/moving-toward-whole-story-9-good-questions-david-bornstein-solutions-journalism-network/
14. Watson, Michael. “Don’t Trust the Messenger: Forget Profit.” Capital Research Center. Capital Research Center, May 7, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/dont-trust-the-messenger-part-3/.