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Create A New Collection

Collections are versatile, powerful and simple to create. From a customized course reader to an action-guide for an upcoming service-learning trip, collections illuminate themes, guide inquiry, and provide context for how people around the worls are responding to social challenges.

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Solutions Story Tracker®

Welcome to a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.

15,700 stories produced by 8,900 journalists and 2,000 news outlets from 89 countries. The stories cover responses in 192 countries, in 17 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

Learn more about the Solutions Story Tracker.


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  • Baltimore crime crisis: How about trying something that worked before?

    Dan Rodricks
    2020-07-23 17:46:47 UTC
    0

    January 01, 2020 |

    The Baltimore Sun |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    When Baltimore put the necessary resources behind a “call-in” program that intervenes with people likely to commit gun violence, from 2006 to 2012, homicides dropped by 30% and shootings by 40%. The program, which no longer is used in the city consistently enough or with sufficient resources, summons people on probation or parole for gun crimes. A panel of law enforcement, social workers, and community members pairs the threat of federal prosecution and imprisonment with social services to help people build a new life. This approach has been shown in many cities to be effective at reducing violence.

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  • The Company Behind America's Scariest School Shooter Drills

    Sylvia Varnham O'Regan
    2020-01-30 22:23:43 UTC
    0

    December 13, 2019 |

    The Trace |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    The ALICE Training Institute, a for-profit offering active shooter training, teaches participants to take a proactive approach to active shooters, differing from the long-held lock down approach. And while they’ve grown in popularity – the school security industry has grown to be worth $2.7 billion since Columbine – experts and school officials are questioning the approach’s efficacy and quality control. With constant debate and cultural shifts over who bears responsibility to prepare for and protect from shootings, parents are left wondering who or what will really keep their kids safe.

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  • The Sandy Hook Nonprofit Fighting Shootings by Fostering More Inclusive Schools

    Amanda Loudin
    2020-01-16 17:11:44 UTC
    1

    December 11, 2019 |

    The Trace |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Ellicott City, Maryland

    Start With Hello, an initiative from the NGO Sandy Hook Promise, gives students the opportunity to diversify who they know and interact with in a long-term effort to prevent school violence and shootings. The program, funded by public and private grants, has spread to 11,600 schools across the United States, with each school also getting training on inclusivity. While an impact evaluation hasn't been finished, early studies show that those who participate in the program respond better to mental distress.

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  • Philly wants to bring back a version of an old strategy to fight gun violence. Specifics are pending.

    Chris Palmer
    2021-01-14 21:19:42 UTC
    0

    December 06, 2019 |

    The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Starting in 2013, Philadelphia's focused deterrence program was credited with 35% fewer shootings in its targeted neighborhoods. The program featured "call-ins" where law-enforcement agencies would threaten potentially violent people with prosecution. On the flip side, they could receive services that help them establish a different lifestyle. As the program shifted away from the services "carrots," and was left only with the "stick," the program foundered. In 2019, the city sought to revive it as a "group violence intervention" program with a greater emphasis on services over law enforcement.

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  • This Baltimore anti-violence program courts youths most at risk of crime. ‘The alternative is death or jail.'

    Jessica Anderson
    2020-07-31 15:46:49 UTC
    0

    November 26, 2019 |

    The Baltimore Sun |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    In the first year of Baltimore's use of an anti-violence program for young men that has proven successful in Boston, the program successfully reached about half its targeted contacts, and from that group enrolled about 95, or just over 1%, in job training and education programs. Though extremely modest, the numbers indicate the challenges faced by a population in which several died, many got incarcerated, and many others resisted contact. The program, Roca, uses behavioral therapy to turn job training into life training. In Boston, large numbers get jobs and stay out of trouble long term.

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  • After positive results, Minneapolis looks to expand anti-violence program

    Jessica Lee
    2021-01-14 21:05:27 UTC
    0

    November 18, 2019 |

    MinnPost |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    About 40% fewer people were shot in gang-related disputes in Minneapolis during one interval in the first year of the city's Group Violence Intervention initiative. The program uses "call-ins" where people at high risk of shootings meet with law enforcement and other agencies. There they are offered incentives, including needed services, to stop the shootings. It also puts former gang members on the streets, without police involvement, to mediate disputes and counsel young men prone to violence. Based on the initial results, officials planned to expand the program to more parts of the city.

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  • The police experiment that changed what we know about foot patrol

    Liz Tung
    2020-07-15 20:28:19 UTC
    0

    November 15, 2019 |

    WHYY |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Of the three most notable experiments testing the effectiveness of police foot patrols at reducing crime, only one – the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment – showed a significant reduction in violence, thanks to a three-month randomized controlled trial. By rethinking an old practice and infusing it with data-driven thinking about focusing on "hot spots," the Philadelphia brand of foot patrols debunked the myth that patrol might, at best, only improve community relations without having an effect on crime. But random car patrols, reacting mainly to radio calls, remains the dominant approach nationwide.

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  • How Baltimore CeaseFire Cuts Violence In Half

    Jaisal Noor
    2019-11-13 02:20:04 UTC
    0

    October 17, 2019 |

    The Real News Network |

    Broadcast TV Programs |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    The Baltimore Ceasefire movement -- which asks community members to put away their guns for specific weekends -- began in 2017 when its organizers had enough of the gun violence in their city. Now, the ceasefire weekends, which happen 4 times a year, have resulted in 30-60% fewer gun-related deaths during designated weekends.

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  • Gun Investigators Cautiously Optimistic About New Fingerprint Technology

    Ann Givens
    2019-12-07 22:07:38 UTC
    0

    October 11, 2019 |

    The Trace |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: England, Loughborough

    A collaboration between England’s Loughborough University, the UK’s Ministry of Defence, and a company called Foster + Freeman has led to a new technology that can pull fingerprints from shell casings. What was once a nearly impossible task, is showing promise, as police departments across the United States try out the new technology. That said, there are still some questions about its efficacy and ability to stand up as evidence in court.

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    • 8725

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  • Gun Reform is on the Agenda. But Victims of Color Aren't.

    Champe Barton
    2019-12-20 03:27:53 UTC
    0

    October 09, 2019 |

    The Trace |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    With gun reform being a key legislative topic, the majority of time, energy, and resources have focused on preventing mass shootings, which amount to just 2-3% of gun-related homicides. The rest affect majority communities of color, which policy, lobbying, and reform efforts have largely ignored. Even with local violence-reduction efforts like Oakland’s LIVE FREE focused deterrence or a Chicago school’s focus on cognitive behavioral therapy showing impact, the allotted resources at the federal level continue to pass them by.

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    • 8837

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Filter your search by the language of the story. As the Solutions Story Tracker grows, we are working to include more stories in more languages. Your story submissions can help! Submit stories here.
These factors identify the ways communities overcome the big challenges and help you see the insights. Learn more about the Success Factors here.

Solutions Journalism Around the World

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Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.

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    Video Tutorials

    Learn how to find what you need in the Solutions Story Tracker in español and in français.

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    Submission Guidelines

    This database is powered by user submissions. Submit a story.

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    Get notified when new stories match your interests by setting up custom story alerts in My Profile.

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Solutions Story Tracker® FAQ

  • Solutions journalism…
    • Describes a response to a problem and how it works.
    • Seeks to draw out insights that explain success or failure.
    • Presents the available evidence about the effectiveness of a response.
    • Explains the shortcomings or limitations of the response.
    Learn more.
  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated, searchable database of solutions journalism stories — rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. We vet and tag every story in the Story Tracker, which offers an inspiring and useful collection of the thousands of ways people are working to solve problems around the world.

  • You can learn more about how we source, vet, and tag stories here, as well as how we share them. We also have video tutorials in Spanish and French that show how to use the Solutions Story Tracker to find what you need.

  • Story collections are curated by our staff or other partners to explore a theme, pattern, or trend via selected solutions stories and external resources. Some story collections focus on an in-depth exploration of a topic with solutions journalism; others highlight journalists and how they report on topics. Certain story collections include discussion questions and notes, so that educators and community discussion leaders can lead learners to fully engage with the stories.

  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is powered by user submissions. We encourage submissions from journalists, as well as from anyone who has an eye for solutions journalism. Click here to submit. (Why submit? So many reasons!)

  • You can submit a story directly on the Solutions Story Tracker®. You will be prompted to register or log into the Solutions Journalism Network website, if you are already logged in. (It is free to register!) Logging in allows you to track the status of your submissions under My Profile, as well as save your favorite stories, create story collections and story alerts, and access other helpful features of our website.

  • After you submit a story to us and assign it a topic, it is sent to one of our Solutions Story Tracker team members. Our team member evaluates the story for the four qualities of solutions journalism, and on the basics: The story must come from a news outlet and have a date and a byline. If the story meets our criteria, our team tags it accordingly and adds it to the database. If the story falls short of the mark, our team will include the reason why. We include stories in the Story Tracker that meet our standards of solutions journalism. Inclusion does not mean we support the initiatives, policies, organizations or approaches featured in those stories.

    Discover common reasons why a story may miss the mark for inclusion in the Solutions Story Tracker®.

    Learn more about the history of the database.

  • Solutions Journalism Network features these stories in the searchable database making them publicly accessible to anyone who wants to search for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Any story that is added has the potential to make more impact than its original purpose. Added stories are used in journalism trainings, school curricula, research projects, and independent analysis on issue area trends. This now includes artificial intelligence tools, which are applied for educational value to find stories and support story vetting, as well as to extract insights from the stories. SJN has digital products and newsletters that give new life and exposure to the stories meeting people where they are at. Story data also is used to develop innovative tools to reach the general public with solutions journalism as well as some specific research projects requested by researchers. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of story data or added stories, please contact Lita Tirak.

  • News outlets determine whether all users can access their stories — and some limit the number of stories that anyone can view, or require a subscription. The majority of stories in the database can be accessed for free.

  • We work with journalists, academic researchers and others who feel that our database will support their research. We are especially interested in research that seeks to develop new insights about solutions journalism and its spread and its impact on social problems. Please complete all sections of the Data Request Form, and we will contact you to discuss your request in greater detail.

  • We do not fact-check the stories in the Solutions Story Tracker®. We do ensure that each story comes from a credible news source that has its own editorial infrastructure.

  • We worked with Tara Pixley and Jovelle Tamayo of the Authority Collective, who developed a guide for using equitable visuals. We follow this guide when choosing images for our website.

  • We welcome your feedback and additional questions. Please use this form to get in touch.

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