Conference
Sofia Event Center, Paradise Mall
100 Cherni Vrah Blvd
4th of November, from 9.00 till 13.15
It’s no secret that the media has a propensity for bad news. Even Journalism 101 students know that the journalistic rule of “If it bleeds, it leads” has been determining news agendas for decades. As a result, the current 24-hour news cycle continues to be saturated with negative news about terrorist attacks, wars, terror and crime. Such stories leave the audience feeling anxious, depressed and helpless, making people suspicious of journalism’s public-service value.
However, a group of reporters, editors and new organizations believe that a new genre, which they call solutions journalism, could address this problem.
Solutions journalism encourages reporting on what we can do about problems and offer potential remedies rather than just the problems themselves. It’s “rigorous reporting on responses to social problems”, as the Solutions Journalism Network, an American non-governmental organization which promotes solutions-based reporting, puts it. Solutions-orientated stories tend to spark a conversation, they give the audience a sense of empowerment and they are more likely to bring about change.
Workshop
Generator
47 Cherni Vrah Blvd
4th of November, from 15.00 till 18:15
We offer professional journalists a hands-on workshop which will help them learn all the nitty-gritty about solutions journalism. The course will introduce participants to best practices in the field of solutions journalism, examine successful solutions stories, and give reporters a chance to discuss their own story ideas.
The training will address the following areas of concern to working journalists:
- Solutions journalism: What it is and what it is not.
- How to identify a potential solutions angle and how to find solutions stories.
- How to turn a ‘traditional’ news piece into a solutions-based one.
- How to structure a solutions-based story.
Working language: English
Target audience: Practicing journalists
Agenda
9:00-9:45 Registration
9:45-10:00 Opening:
- Welcome by Maria Cheresheva, Vice President of the Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria
- Welcome by Rainer Adam, Project Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Southeast Europe
- Welcome by Herro Mustafa, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria
- Welcome by Lenko Lenkov, Program Director at America for Bulgaria Foundation
10:00-11:00 Keynote Address: Turning a Watchdog Into a Guidedog: Using Investigative Reporting to Find Solutions
David Boardman, Chair of the Board of the Solutions Journalism Network and Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia
11:00-11:30 Solutions Journalism in Central and Eastern Europe
Lucie Cerna, Solutions Journalism in CEE, project coordinator at Transitions Online
11:30-11:45 Coffee Break
11:45-12:15 Solutions Journalism: Dos and Don’ts
Nikita Poljakov, Deputy Editor in Chief of Hospodarske Noviny, a Czech Daily.
12:15-13:15 Panel Discussion: Why do we need solutions journalism?
Panelists: David Boardman, Lucie Cerna and Nikita Poljakov
13:15 Closing
15:00-18:15 Workshop (incl a 15-min coffee break)
Location: Generator
Trainers: David Boardman and Lucie Cerna
Lectors
David Boardman
David Boardman is chair of the Solutions Journalism Network and Dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he was Executive Editor https://www.cialispascherfr24.com/cialis-generique-qualite/ and Senior Vice President of The Seattle Times. Under his leadership, The Times won four Pulitzer Prizes.
Lucie Cerna
Lucie Cerna is program coordinator at Transitions Online, a leading online publication and media development organization in Central and Eastern Europe. She leads a project that promotes solutions journalism in the region.
Nikita Poljakov
Nikita Poljakov is deputy editor-in-chief of Hospodarske Noviny, a Czech daily, where he has worked for more than nine years. Two of his latest projects in solutions-based reporting are on disinformation campaigns and male suicides in the Czech Republic.
