A journalist, Rasheed Adebiyi, on Tuesday, urged journalists to focus more on solution-based reporting while writing on issues affecting people. Adebiyi, who lectures at Fountain University, Osogbo, said this during an advocacy visit to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) office in Osogbo.
Adebiyi who is a Fellow of Solution Journalism Africa Fellowship said that solution journalism was particular about focusing on finding solutions to problems rather than focusing on the problem alone.
According to him, focusing majorly on problems rather than possible solutions could have negative effects on people’s mental health in the long run.
“Solution journalism is a concept that became a movement in 2013 in the United States of America. It is a way of finding solutions and social responses to issues. It also involves having insights into the responses with a view to determining whether the responses are working and the possible limitations.”
“Solution journalism is not hero worship but advocacy. It is about getting responses of communities and individuals with a view to finding solutions to the problems affecting them,” he said.
Adebiyi said that journalists should do more stories on what people were doing to solve the problems affecting them and use such stories to call the government’s attention to their plights.
According to him, problem-focused stories do not usually bring solutions or responses from the government.
He urged journalists to tell the whole story, including the problem, solution, and the responses to the problem, stressing that problems and solutions should work hand-in-hand.
In his remarks, the NAN State Correspondent in Osun, Victor Adeoti, expressed appreciation to the Adebiyi and his team for the advocacy visit.
Adeoti, who described the advocacy as a welcome development, said that NAN had already embraced solution journalism in its activities.