Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy

Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy

The Medill Solutions Journalism Hub, in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network, is proud to announce the Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy. This intensive, two-day residency is designed for university journalism and communications faculty ready to integrate rigorous solutions-based reporting into their classrooms. Held at Medill’s Chicago campus, the Academy provides educators with a deep dive into reporting on democracy, the Asset-Framing® methodology, and the Complicating the Narrative framework through the lens of youth mental health.

Core Curriculum

• Foundations of the Solutions Journalism Framework: Master the core principles and practices of solutions journalism. Educators will receive expert instruction on defining the framework, clarifying what it is and is not, and developing effective strategies to teach these skills to undergraduate and graduate students.
• Curriculum Development: Elections and Crisis Reporting: Participate in focused sessions designed to help you build or retool courses around two of the most critical beats in modern journalism: elections and crisis coverage. Learn to move beyond "horse-race" narratives and disaster framing to produce coverage that examines how communities are responding to systemic challenges.
• Asset-Framing® Experiential Tour: Engage in an immersive, place-based learning experience. This session uses the Asset-Framing® methodology to leverage local culture and history, teaching educators how to tell the "whole story" of marginalized communities by centering their inherent strengths and humanity.
• Deep Listening & Complicating the Narrative: Master techniques designed to build genuine trust within communities. Through the Complicating the Narrative framework, educators learn to move beyond reductive story arcs to capture the full, authentic complexity of the people and places they cover.