Career Development : Calendar

What solutions journalism has to offer health care reporters

09/21/21

Sept. 21, 2021, 11 a.m. ET

Solutions journalism goes beyond reporting on problems and explores the ways organizations and communities are trying to solve them. Learn what solutions journalism is, what it is not, and why it is so relevant to health care reporting. Get tips for generating and pitching great story ideas and for crafting a compelling narrative. Julia Hotz of the Solutions Journalism Network and Meryl Davids Landau and Sarah Kwon, two freelance reporters who have written solutions-focused stories, will guide the way. AHCJ's freelance community correspondent Barbara Mantel will moderate.

View the recording

Links from the webcast

• Solutions Journalism Network: Pitch your story

• Introducing the Solutions Journalism Talent Network: Connecting Freelance Journalists to Editors

• What Editors Are Looking For in Solutions Pitches

• The Top 10 Takeaways from the Newest Solutions Journalism Research

Speakers

• Julia Hotz is a journalist who's reported solutions-focused stories for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, WIRED, Scientific American, Fast Company, VICE, Next City, and more. With her podcast-partner-in-coolness, Jay Woodward, Julia cohosts "Google, Tell Me Something Good" -- a daily newscast exploring what's working. As Network Manager at the Solutions Journalism Network, she leads workshops, directs strategy, and manages initiatives like the LEDE fellowship and mentorship program --which empower journalists around the world to do and spread more solutions-focused journalism.

• Meryl Davids Landau is a novelist and freelance journalist, reporting on health, integrative health, psychology, science, climate change/environment, parenting, and general-interest topics. Meryl's articles have appeared in numerous publications and websites, including The New York Times, Prevention, National Geographic, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vice, Undark, Glamour, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, Consumer Reports, Everyday Health, and AARP. In July, her article, "What Do Police Know About Teenagers? Not Enough," ran in The New York Times' Fixes column. The column examines efforts to address social problems.

• Sarah Kwon is an independent journalist who covers public health issues and the business of health care. Sarah's stories have been published in Fortune, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. Before journalism, she worked in health policy and the health care industry. Sarah has written several solutions-focused stories, including an article for Health Affairs about the University of North Dakota’s approach to boosting American Indian representation in medicine and public health and an article about peer respites for people experiencing a mental health crisis that appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

• Barbara Mantel, an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.