AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVES
There’s no place more Southern than Mississippi.
That’s where we started in trying to learn whether the ideas of Constructive Journalism could make a difference in the American South — both for communities and for news organizations.
These perspectives were captured in 2023 as part of the original research project, “Can Journalism Bring People Together in Mississippi?” It was produced through a partnership between the Community Foundation for Mississippi and Red Window Communications, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Microsoft Democracy Forward initiative.
The inquiry process looked like this:
Experts + Practitioners: What do the methods of Constructive Journalism look like in practice? What models could be relevant here?
Audience: What do people in Mississippi say they want from their media outlets? What role do they think outlets should have?
Outlets + Journalists: What do media members say is appropriate and realistic? What opportunities and barriers do they see? What would help?
The potential for Constructive Journalism in Mississippi and across the South remains an open question for media, communities and funders to engage. We hope these insights will be helpful in that conversation.
— Lucy Schultze
SOLUTIONS
Journalism can help solve problems.
But Mississippians are not sure they want it to.
Led by a former community journalist, we interviewed a diverse group of 20 people across the state of Mississippi to find out what they think the role of journalism should be.
Specifically, instead of just reporting what happened or trying to cover both sides of a controversy, could journalism actually bring people together to help solve problems in communities?
We were amazed by all the different opportunities our audience saw for journalism to inhabit these roles…
It Can Establish Truth (6)
It Can Add Context (2)
If people are going to solve problems, they need a baseline of objective facts to work from. They are looking to journalists to establish those facts, in a way that is objective and clearly separate from opinion.
It Helps Me Connect in Real Life (4)
It Gives Me Something to Talk About (4)
People described ways that journalism affected offline engagement and relationship-building. Stories served as conversation starters or gave them more confidence and authority in conversations. After being quoted in stories, sources had people reach out with interest or to help.
"I'm a big people person, so it's not just about what interests me. I want to know what interests other people. The media helps me connect it."
"The newspaper has listings for events, but they don't tell you what the meeting is about, so you wouldn't go."
It Helps Me Take Part in Events (5)
It Bolsters Community Pride (3)
People connected the role of local media in publicizing and covering local events as helping them feel more connected to their community, feel pride in their community, and know about events and meetings they would like to be part of.
It Pushes Back on Policy (2)
It Creates Exposés for Change (2)
Both of the interviewees who have served in the Mississippi Legislature described the value of having responsible journalists who would push back and ask hard questions in the policy-making process.
"A lot of people stood to make a lot of money. It was the blogger who dug in and brought exposure to the issue. He even educated me, and I think he saved us a lot of money."
"The tone of how it's portrayed can either spark that person to get off the couch and go fight, or add calmness to even a bad situation."
It Can Inspire Us (3)
It Can Add Best Practices (1)
People saw an opportunity for journalism to share positive stories that would give the audience hope and a new perspective about what's possible.
"If you hear you will be something in life, that there is hope for you to have jobs in the Delta, people won't leave the Delta."
It Can Calm Discord (1)
While several people noted that the media tends to "add fuel to the fire," one person pointed to its potential to "smother out" a contentious situation.
...but we were also surprised that 1 out of 4 had significant hesitation about whether they actually wanted journalism to be involved in solving problems. Why?
"That's with advocacy journalism where it gets a little muddy. Finding a balance and leaving room for dissent — and not demonizing people for dissenting — is very important."
"I don't know about that. It depends on the person and the platform, how liberal they are. I don't know if journalism needs to play a part in that. Give us the information, but don't give us your opinion."
"If you had someone with a knowledge of what the real issue was, with real metrics, but also had a foot in what best practices are in other places and what the financial cost might be — that's a special person who can have a foot in all those."
Essentially, our audience questioned whether a reporter or outlet would have sufficient knowledge, objectivity and grace for the role of solving problems in their communities.
Southerners are not the only ones who feel conflicted about a “solutions” focus in journalism.
In Denmark, news director Brian Holst heard a similar response when surveying his community.
“One thing they wanted most was for us to help the local society get better and show new ideas, show where things work,” he said. “But when we say, ‘You want us to give solutions,’ they say, ‘No, we don’t.’”
“They want us to be critical and look after the power-holders, and then to take those problems and point at where things work.”
Holst and his media group are using Constructive Journalism to rebrand and reorient their coverage to bridge this gap.
How they did it: “Back from the Brink” >>
Solutions + Nuance + Conversation
Solutions is one of the three pillars of Constructive Journalism, a method that journalists can apply to their work in ways large and small.
The other two pillars are nuance — when you cover not just two sides, but also the shades of gray in between — and conversation — when you use journalism to draw everyday voices into public dialogue. That’s how the constructive approach positions journalism not as the problem-solver, but rather as facilitator of civic dialogue.
“I can see it. It can’t be a free-for-all like social media. But anyone can come to the table if they have something constructive to say.”
— Cameron Abel, Greenwood, MS
CONSTRUCTIVE JOURNALISM
They’d like more insights from ordinary people
*but with constructive boundaries
To introduce the idea of constructive journalism at the end of each interview, we described how the Constructive Institute compared it to breaking and investigative news styles.
We offered three examples:
The “Flip the Script” debate format
The Indonesian audience-led reporting project for teen girls
The simple idea of asking one more interview question like “What do you think would help?”
Then we asked people what they thought of the idea.
Here are the top responses we heard from our audience as they considered the idea:
It Elevates Ordinary Voices (10)
It Enables Civic Dialogue (7)
People really liked the idea of hearing insights and experiences from everyday people in a way that is actually constructive.
"There are so many things and labels that keep us separated from people. We could use the same energy to learn there are so many things we have alike."
"I would respect them more for being that vessel that incubates those good conversations..."
It Changes My Relationship with Media
People expressed different ways that a constructive approach would change the way they related to an outlet, including that it would earn more trust (6), engagement (4), respect (2) and loyalty (1).
"Imagine what a difference this would make in Jackson right now."
It Empowers Problem Solving (5)
It Connects People in Real Life (4)
People saw the potential for this style of journalism to help people solve problems together — but they also saw value in hearing others' perspectives even when it doesn't change anyone's mind.
"A steady diet of hope would do wonders for our community."
It Gets People off the Sidelines (6)
Several people saw this concept as a way to re-engage those who don't see themselves as having a stake or a voice in civic issues.
"It would make people feel more important to have dignitaries asking them questions. And the dignitaries would find out, 'I didn't think of that.”
I’m Not Interested (1)
The interviewee who intentionally relies on primary sources alone was the only person who said it wouldn't affect their relationship with journalism in some way.
"I’m really not interested in getting my perspective out there, beyond if someone asks me a question, I’ll give them an answer. An army’s worth of evidence for every word I say."
VALUES TO TAKE FORWARD
What connects in a place like Mississippi?
We offer these intersection points between what Constructive Journalism offers and what our Mississippi audience wants to see:
Valuing ordinary voices to shape reporting, not just add quotes
Being a visible member of the community they cover (and/or training locals as reporters)
Facilitating civil dialogue among stakeholders, then covering it
Creatively stealing ideas from other industries and finding unexpected angles
Adding hope and inspiration, while also tackling serious subjects
Giving people helpful information and context in a way that meets them where they are
Addressing contentious topics by helping people hear each other and see the shades of gray