Giving Compass' Take:

• In this piece from The Whole Story, author Julia Hotz compiles a list of 72 sources that journalists can use to search for solutions-based journalism stories.

• Philanthropists can use this list to search for creative ways to tackle problems. Do you spend enough time reading about success?

• Learn more about the human-focused approach to solutions journalism.

“Problems scream, solutions whisper.” That’s SJN’s oft-said adage on why, perhaps, we don’t see more solutions stories in the news. But six years since our founding, and with nearly 6,000 stories to show for it, we’ve learned a thing or two (or 72) about where those whispering solutions live, and how journalists can learn about them.

Through this crowdsourced list, we aim to bring a megaphone to society’s quietest innovations— in hopes that no journalist is ever left wondering: “Where can I find solutions story ideas?”

Networks of Innovators

When ... David Bornstein published Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know in 2010, he included a sort of call-to-action between journalism and social innovation. “Stories [of social entrepreneurship] have gone under-reported,” he wrote. “Even as news and information inundate us, the proliferation of people building new organizations to address social problems — millions of them — remains.”

(1) Ashoka — a global community of change-makers tackling HIV/AIDS, terrorism, and nearly 100 other issues across various social sectors

Databases

Last year, [Holly Wise] compiled a list of 10 useful databases for solutions reporting. 10 months later, that list has more than doubled. But her advice to look out for the “positive deviant,” echoed by SJN’s Cat Cheney, holds truer than ever; when exploring large databases, she says, look for the “the people or policies that defy the norm and achieve better outcomes as result”—especially the ones that improve over time.

(12) U.S News & World Report — a media company that publishes annual rankings on everything from the most high-performing rural communities to the states with the best healthcare.

Government Organizations & NGOs

For ... Kelli Rogers, her widely shared solutions story — “3,000 Rohingya refugees train to tackle natural disasters” came through [an NGO]. Same with Liza Ramrayka, whose News Deeply story explored how Nepalese women used weaving to boost the post-earthquake economy.

(34) World Bank — an international financial institution aimed at ending extreme poverty and supporting sustainable prosperity, with 12,000 searchable development projects to show for it.

Read the full article about all 72 sources for examples of solultions journalism by Julia Hotz at The Whole Story.