Giving Compass' Take:

• Solutions Journalism Network profiles reporter J. Gabriel Ware, who discusses his focus on social justice issues and what it will take to change the public discourse.

• How can nonprofits and funders help young reporters develop a deeper background in ethnic studies and race relations? 

• Read about ways for philanthropy to help journalism become more diverse.

Every month, the Solutions Journalism Network highlights a journalist doing excellent solutions-focused reporting. In August, we featured freelance journalist J. Gabriel Ware as our Member of the Month. Ware has reported on solutions to race and social justice issues. We talked to him about his reporting process and what it takes to tell a good solutions story.

JN: Why did you become a reporter? Why race and social justice issues?

WARE: It all began when I was a junior in high school. One day I showed up to school with a broken ID card, and the school security guards told me I couldn’t enter the building until I bought a new ID card. I didn’t have the money, but I still refused to leave. The guards attacked me, handcuffed me, and I was suspended. My friend, who was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, urged me to write a column about my physical altercation with the guards. I did, and the piece was popular among students who began to speak up about their own past altercations with the guards. Teachers, too, spoke out against the guards and questioned the school’s ID replacement policy. I didn’t realized it then, but my very first journalistic writing focused on excessive force and punishing the poor. So, I guess it’s no coincidence that I focus on social issues.

Read the full article about J. Gabriel Ware and his work in social justice journalism by Meera Vijayann at Solutions Journalism Network.