Media critics often fault the news industry for only covering bad news. While William Randolph Hearst may have coined the concept “If it bleeds, it leads,” that sentiment is not shared by those journalists working hard to make the community they’re covering a better place for their audience to live.

Case in point, the Arizona Daily Star recently flipped the narrative and added solutions-oriented reporting to its coverage. Rather than reporting on the problems of the community, the Daily Star’s solutions reporter Caitlin Schmidt is writing about how people are trying to fix those problems.

Caitlin and Editor Jill Jorden Spitz recently wrote a case study for Better News about the Star’s solutions-oriented reporting. Caitlin joins Better News host Michael O’Connell to share the details. 

The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.