We hope you enjoy our picks for the best solutions journalism (SoJo) of this past year.

  1. SoJo Story of the Year: Cities and states all over North America are experimenting with a Universal Basic Income — essentially it’s cutting everyone a yearly no-strings check. But the Eastern Band of Cherokee tribe’s distribution of casino profits in North Carolina has been thoroughly studied since it began more than 20 years ago. Issie Lapowsky in Wired covers researchers’ (stunning) findings, and shows how they are influencing the spread of the idea today.
  2. Best Local TV News SoJo: WEWS News5 Cleveland is doing not only special solutions projects but also everyday SoJo stories. It looks at an organization that’s successfully helping black women in Cleveland to carry their babies to term. It trains and hires black women as doulas who help mothers in their own communities.
  3. Best “Very Wide Lens” SoJo: Donald McNeill of the New York Times writes about a new pact to bring affordable cancer chemotherapy and online treatment guidance to Africa. The story harkens back to the turn of the century when drugmakers first agreed to lower the price of HIV medicines in poor countries.

Read the full article on solutions journalism at Medium