The Future of Transformative Journalism Starts at the Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy
20 Collegiate Educators Nationwide Selected for the Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy — Transforming Media Engagement Through a Special Focus on Youth Mental Health and Community Agency
EVANSTON, ILL. -- The Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network, announced the selection of 20 journalism and communications educators for the 2026 Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy. The two-day, all-expenses-paid professional development experience takes place June 24–25 at Medill’s Chicago campus.
Selected from a competitive applicant pool, these educators were chosen because their work and teaching vision reflect a deep commitment to journalism that goes beyond the problem — journalism that seeks answers, elevates community voices, and drives real change.
“At Medill, our responsibility does not end at our own campus gates. The health of journalism — and of democracy itself — depends on a robust, diverse, and forward-thinking educator ecosystem that reaches every corner of this country. When we invest in the faculty who are shaping the next generation of journalists and storytellers, we are making a down payment on a more informed, more equitable, and more engaged society,” according to Medill Dean Charles Whitaker.
What Is Solutions Journalism — Why Does It Matter?
Solutions journalism is rigorous, evidence-based reporting on responses to social problems. Rather than stopping at the problem, solutions journalism examines what is working, how it is working, and what limitations exist — giving audiences a fuller, more actionable picture of the world.
At a moment when public trust in the media is at historic lows and communities are hungry for journalism that speaks to their agency and not just their suffering, solutions journalism offers a powerful corrective. It does not sugarcoat or advocate: It holds responses to the same rigorous scrutiny as problems and builds engagement. This is especially true for the urgent issue of youth mental health, which will be a special focus of this Educators Academy. Teaching this framework at the collegiate level means the next generation of journalists and storytellers emerge equipped not only to diagnose what is broken but to report on how communities, institutions, and individuals are working to fix seemingly intractable systemic problems.
“Bringing together this cohort of visionary educators allows us to scale a reporting framework that is more necessary than ever. By focusing on youth mental health, we are giving faculty the specific tools to teach students how to investigate complex, sensitive issues with a solutions-oriented lens,” said Deborah Douglas, founding director of the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub. “Our goal is to ensure that when these emerging journalists graduate, they have the skills to report on the whole story, holding responses to the same scrutiny as the problems themselves.”
About the Educators Academy
The 2026 Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy is designed to give faculty the practical tools, frameworks, and community they need to meaningfully integrate solutions journalism into their courses. The curriculum includes several areas of professional development that include:
- Grounding in the Solutions Journalism Framework
- Curriculum Development: Elections and Crisis Reporting
- Asset-Framing® Experiential Neighborhood Tour
- Deep Listening and the Complicating the Narrative Framework
2026 Participants
The following educators have been selected to participate in the 2026 Medill Solutions Journalism Educators Academy:
- Anabella Poland, Montclair State University
- Annette Bernhard Nevins, Southern Methodist University
- Celeste Headlee, Morgan State University
- Chalise Macklin, University of Memphis
- Donovan X. Ramsey, Morehouse College
- Ashley Hopkins, California State University, Long Beach
- Elizabeth Brixey, University of Missouri
- Emmanuel Maduneme, Southeast Missouri State University
- Erin McIntyre, Caldwell University
- Erin Strout, Penn State University
- Julie Patel Liss, California State University, Los Angeles
- Lara Salahi, Endicott College
- Marcie Young Cancio, University of Utah
- Mehrunnisa Wani, York College – City University of New York
- Sherri Williams, American University
- Sima Bhowmik, University of Vermont
- Tina McDuffie, Boston University
- Tonyaa J. Weathersbee, University of Memphis
- Wynter Rudolph, Alabama State University
- Dominic K. McKenzie, Howard University
About the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub
The Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications advances solutions journalism education, practice, and research. It is part of the Medill Local News Initiative, a Northwestern University research and development project focused on strengthening local journalism through data analysis, audience engagement studies, and sustainable business modeling.
About the Solutions Journalism Network
The Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) is a nonprofit organization that works to spread the practice of solutions journalism — rigorous reporting on responses to social problems — throughout the news media. SJN trains journalists, works with news organizations to integrate solutions journalism into their coverage, and builds a growing global network of practitioners committed to a more complete form of journalism.