Nigeria Health Watch lands over 250 solutions journalism stories in 2 years

In 2021, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), United States, the non-profit kicked off the Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative (SJAI) in Nigeria to encourage the production of more solutions-oriented stories.

Two years later, the project has birthed more than 250 stories with rigorous reporting of how individuals and organisations are responding to social problems in the country. The stories were a direct result of the organisation collaborating with 30 media organisations in three separate cohorts, including Pulse Nigeria as part of the pioneer cohort in 2021.

The project engaged a total of 90 journalists in the NHW's two-year campaign to change the narrative of reporting in Nigeria.

"Solutions journalism is a key instrument in changing the narrative of how the news is reported," NHW's managing director, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said at the project's close-out ceremony in Abuja on Thursday, June 8, 2023.

"Why we did this is because many stories talk about problems; people get tired of listening to problems. However, using a solutions approach to reporting is a different way of reporting news.

"This initiative has been important in shaping the tone and the way news is reported. The idea is how do we change the narrative of how news is reported in Nigeria and the global audience," she added.

SJAI manager, Ruona Meyer, proudly noted at the close-out ceremony that the impact made by solutions stories is already encouraging. She further noted that modern readers are increasingly hesitant to consume news that amplify problems, and are more discerning about what kind of stories they need. 

Meyer said SJAI is primed to disrupt media reporting approach in Nigeria and significantly change it for the better. 

"Through the solutions journalism initiative in Nigeria, stories that have inspired policies reform have been produced, and it's bringing about the change in the media reporting approach," she said.

NHW's senior programme manager, Chibuike Alagboso, said the organisation drove the initiative through newsrooms engagements, fellowships, field visits, radio and social media engagement, collaborative stories, among others.

He noted that it wasn't just important for journalists to be supported, but that they are also encouraged to become advocates for solutions-focused reporting.

"This project has made us understand that there are people responding to social problems. Let's continue to find them and tell their stories so others can learn," he said.

Over 100 of the 250 stories have been indexed in the Solutions Story Tracker, a curated global database of stories focused on responses to social problems.

The range of topics covered by stories produced with support from the project include universal health coverage, water, sanitation, and hygiene, non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health and rights, health technology, drug abuse, immunisation, and more.