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Insights
3 questions with Sanne Breimer
Juliette Gerbais
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Project Manager
October 25, 2023
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"You won’t get it right the first time, but you will learn to apply Solutions Journalism by doing and analysing your stories along the four pillars."
-Sanne Breimer, founder of Inclusive Journalism
Sanne Breimer founded Inclusive Journalism and works as an independent journalism trainer, mentor and project manager. She is from The Netherlands and as a remote worker, she divides her time between projects in Europe and (Southeast) Asia. She is also a mentor for two of our Solutions Journalism Accelerator grantees.
1. Can you tell us why solutions journalism matters to you? What compelled you about it?
Solutions Journalism matters to me because it is a good method to fight news avoidance and at the same time benefits journalists themselves. Instead of solely focusing on problems and things that go wrong, Solutions Journalism gives journalists an opportunity to widen the scope of reporting and feel more purposeful about their work. It offers ways of seeing and doing that have been overshadowed within journalism, such as connecting with communities and highlighting the voices of people on the ground. Solutions Journalism reminds us what good journalism is about.
2. As one of our mentors, you worked with our grantee New Internationalist and now work with Context News. What have you learned from working with them?
So much! The collaboration with New Internationalists was fantastic because their series “Decolonize, how?” matched my interest in inclusion and decolonization. I learned a lot from the articles they created as part of the grant. Besides that, the newsroom consists of a small team of journalists who are all very passionate about their work. With their network of freelancers, they prioritise local journalism which is inspiring to see. The monthly conversations with Amy Hall have helped me to sharpen my thinking about Solutions Journalism.
With Context News it is as interesting and insightful. The combination of print and video in their project makes it fascinating because it also challenges me to think about new ways of approaching Solutions Journalism in shorter formats. I learned from the conversations with Jacob and Alister how a global newsroom can implement Solutions Journalism.
3. What tips do you have for journalists wanting to apply solutions journalism to their reporting?
Just do it but evaluate your articles afterwards. You won’t get it right the first time, but you will learn to apply Solutions Journalism by doing and analysing your stories along the four pillars. Sometimes journalists tell me they are already doing Solutions Journalism but when I read the stories, it is often not the case. It helps to not just think of solutions but rather to think of responses to problems, which can also be failed responses. Like we say in training, it is not just reporting on good news, it is a thorough method of journalism. Mentoring is an excellent way of getting the hang of it.
More about Sanne can be found here:www.inclusivejournalism.com