3 questions to Mediacités

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This time, we would like to share with you Mediacités' work as an ambassador for solutions-based journalism in France. Mediacités is a local investigative media organisation based in four French cities: Lille, Lyon, Nantes and Toulouse.

1)  What persuaded Mediacités to focus on solutions reporting?

At Mediacités, we believe that investigation means, of course, revealing conflicts of interest, tax exile practices, failings within local institutions and other abuses,  but it also means spotting malfunctions and suggesting ways of remedying them.

Sometimes our readers write to tell us that "all you report is bad news". We are convinced that solutions-oriented articles help to maintain the right balance, without falling into the trap of writing "positive" articles. Our practice of solutions journalism aims to produce articles that are just as ambitious as our traditional investigations. For several years now, we have been proving that it is perfectly possible to highlight constructive initiatives while producing in-depth investigations that also detail the areas for improvement as well as the limitations.

In our recent feature on the dysfunctional funeral market, we devoted an article to the analysis of alternative companies that refuse to accept funeral services as just another business. 

2) In Mediacités, you make sure to include your readers as much as possible. How do you do so and why do you consider it important? 

We're a local news outlet, so we particularly value the link with our readers. In our view, the best way to maintain this link is to involve them in our work.

In practical terms, this means calling for evidence on issues that we consider to be in the public interest, such as the operation of day nurseries or public hospitals. 

3) How do you think solutions journalism is viewed in France?  Is it getting more attention nowadays? 

Solutions journalism has not yet managed to truly establish itself in the main French media. SoJo still has to convince that it is not "good news journalism" but real journalism. That's what we try to demonstrate with our investigations.

You can find all Mediacités’ work here.