Who's The Sojo-ist?

And what are they doing here?

You! And I, of course.

If you are receiving this in your inbox, we must have met at one of my #SoJoParties this or last year. Or you probably had shown interest to join the party, but never could manage the time. You probably were wanting to check out if you and solutions journalism can be compatible and sustainable in the long run. Did the meeting inspire you to do any solutions journalism story? Did it encourage you to learn more about SoJo? Did you attend any other SoJo training or event later? What’s your present relationship with SoJo? I am sooo curious! You can reply to this email and let me know.

If you are a SoJo enthusiast like me, or aspire to practice more of it, or are willing to learn how to apply it in your work, I might safely call you a SoJo-ist, one of our own in this community. By that same reasoning, I assume that you won’t be too annoyed at my hopping in here for a little bit.

Why am I here?

A few reasons:

Reason 1: I am looking for your feedback.

When I hosted the first #SoJoParty in May 2022, it was part of my LEDE Fellowship with the Solutions Journalism Network. I thought these parties are going to be temporary; I had no inkling of the encouragement and enthusiasm I would receive from you all. No wonder I had not planned on a detailed feedback system.

Later, as I realised the need for #SoJoParties for professional journalists and communicators and made them a routine event, I wish I realised that someday I’d need to measure the impact of these parties, and tangibly recorded your feedback. I was used to feeling the pulse, and I thought that was enough.

After over one and half years of these free, virtual solutions journalism workshops, I feel there’s a need for us to grow from here. (No, I am not removing the free #SoJoParties.) This drives a need to find some rationale for me to carry on the work - at #SoJoParties, at the often pro bono mentoring around solutions journalism that I do to help you shine your pitches, story ideas, and story structures.

#SoJoParty July 2022: Thanks for coming, everyone :)

It’s probably time now for the #SoJoParties to level up with those of you who have already been attuned to SoJo. Groups of journalists and communicators who have already attended a session before might now have group mentoring sessions where they can bring in practical questions, where we can get into deeper SoJo nuances, while also helping you tackle individual solutions journalism stories in a safer space. What do you think?

Before I take this next step, I need to know for sure that the #SoJoParties were indeed useful to you. Would you mind taking three minutes - I clocked it- out of your schedule to share your feedback on the #SoJoParties you attended? Here’s the Feedback Form.

#SoJoParty this month is on August 26, 2023, 3-4.30 pm IST. Click HERE to register.

Your feedback will help me know your specific SoJo needs; this will help me design future programs more appropriately for committed journalists and professional communicators like you who dream of making an impact in the world with your work. Thank you.

Reason 2: Exciting times are ahead

There’s a dream and then there’s a gap.

If you are deeper into solutions journalism and follow the activities of the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), you might have seen the plethora of work they do in the US, in Europe, and in African continents with their whole story framework and collaboration across different beats, different genres and media. Does that ever make you wonder why we cannot have similar programs and events in India, in Asia, in the Asia-Pacific? I do. Every time I see that collage of new fellows or announcement of a new program, I die of envy and some form of regret at not doing enough to build similar opportunities here in my region. Then I wake up and send out invites for another #SoJoParty.

But living as a ghost of what can be is no solution! We must step up and do more. Do what, you ask?

To start with, we can learn how and why SJN can conduct the programs they do in various other parts of the world. If you have observed their fantastic lineup of events and SoJo programs, they have one thing in common: Every program starts and ends with strong collaborations among newsrooms and media literacy organisations that have committed to taking the SoJo route.

Can we have similar programs in our region? Why not?

Who would have thought? A solutions journalism training in Hindi! We must have more of these, as well as in every regional language. Anyone raises a hand for Bangla?

The LEDE Fellowship commitment required me to collaborate with journalists and produce solutions-oriented reporting from my region, in video format, to be published on YouTube. Before this, I had only heard of collaborative journalism; I didn’t practice it in its true essence, because i loved my byline. The LEDE Fellowship taught me the power of collaboration. At a time when our journalism is at stake, when it’s getting harder every day to sustain as a journalist both financially and due to social and political stresses against the profession (read threats and professional hazards), collaboration can help us and our causes. Working together, we can catapult strong, whole stories to bigger platforms earning visibility, opportunities, and better monetary compensation while highlighting issues and solutions we are covering.

Makes sense? No?

Then let’s test this hypothesis: Can we really bridge the gap between our potential stories and those published on international platforms if we collaborate?

I believe we can, and there will be more ways other than collaboration, but someone has to try them. That’s why, this community.

Does that mean, you will always have to split your bylines and commission money when you work with solutions journalism? Hell, no! It just means collaboration makes it easy for you to march forward with your work. For example, you can work with me one on one or in groups to polish your story ideas and pitch international markets. Collaboration means you won’t have to reinvent the wheel all by yourself. At The SoJo-ist, we learn and grow together. That’s why I take this opportunity to reach out to you with useful SoJo lessons, twice or thrice a month.

Reason 3: I want you all in one place

I have oriented you in SoJo. I know you are good. I now want you all in one place.

I don’t have a strong presence on social media and achieving that is not very high on my priority list at the moment. Neither do I have the resources at the moment. Presently, I share my SoJo events and information on Twitter and LinkedIn, and not very regularly.

With The Sojo-ist, I am trying to find myself a broadcasting tool through which I can let you know about the next #SoJoparty, the latest SoJo stories to follow, why a Sojo piece excelled and why another didn’t, interviews with reputed solutions journalists and how they did what they did, and more on the SoJo craft. And more on telling the whole story which might fall short of the SoJo framework sometimes.

The intent behind this newsletter, The SoJo-ist, is to bring aspiring and passionate journalists and communication professionals together.

If you want to understand, practice and cater to solutions journalism, please subscribe to this newsletter. I promise not to clog your inbox. If you wish to learn from global experts, or want to stay informed about my #SoJoParties and to stay together in the community, please subscribe and expect on average, two entries every month.

If you know a colleague who would find this newsletter useful, please share the link with them.

#SoJoParty this month is on Saturday, August 26, 2023, 3-4.30 pm IST. Click HERE to register.

Reason 4: I want to hear from you

Listening is our superpower. (More on this in September.)

How do I listen to you? Reply to this email; write to me; read The SoJo-ist and allow me to encourage you to reach out to me. Let me know what’s your biggest pain point on your SoJo journey. Why aren’t you able to publish more solutions-oriented reporting? What more do you need to know about SoJo? How else may I help?

If you would want to encourage me with a few lines that I can use on my profile as testimonials or recommendations, I would love that.

If you have done a SoJo story recently, share it with me and let’s clap for you. If you would want me to evaluate one of your stories on the SoJo framework, or need advice on how you could convert one of your stories into SoJo, let me know about it. Remember to write #SoJoAdvice in the subject line of your email - my inbox is a melting glacier.

Notice that this newsletter will focus on the SoJo needs of this region - the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific. That doesn’t mean this is not for someone in Nigeria or Uganda or Colorado. The craft is not location specific, and since the US is still the SoJo-capital, we will learn from them, and others.

Who am I to do this?

I wanted to be a journalist, and I tried every honest thing that leads to that path. I became, what we might call, the disillusioned one. Until 2018, that has been my reason for working independently, and after that, it helped me embrace solutions journalism.

Besides writing and designing content for media, journalism and e-learning industries for over two decades, I have also been running workshops and hosting training sessions for my colleagues in multinational e-learning companies, for new professionals who joined the organisation, for exchange students at universities, for scientists at a technical university, adult learners, corporates and C-suites in India and in Norway (where I lived and worked for five years).

I earned a formal accreditation to teach solutions journalism from SJN in April 2022, and since then I co-host SoJo training sessions internationally and mentor global newsrooms and journalists who are trying to adopt solutions journalism in their daily workflow. I’ll talk about these and more in subsequent editions of The SoJo-ist.

A screenshot from a Talking Shop webinar conducted by Covering Climate Now and SJN on Jan 19, 2023. It shared strategies on how to do climate solutions reporting. You can watch the whole webinar here: https://coveringclimatenow.org/event/talking-shop-how-to-do-climate-solutions-reporting/

#SoJoParty - The August Meet

#SoJoParty this month is on Saturday, August 26, 2023, 3-4.30 pm IST. Click HERE to register.

As you know, the #SoJoParties are monthly events. This August, we are having it a little special.

For the August #SoJoParty, I am collaborating with eminent journalist and fellow solutions journalism trainer, Managing Editor at News Sense and fact check and media literacy trainer, Joydeep Das Gupta. In this session, you will learn to identify and tackle fake news, misinformation and disinformation. We will also talk about how solutions journalism helps filter out inaccurate information.

This #SoJoParty on August 25, 2023 will also be special because, for the first time, we are keeping an open house. This means, as journalists and communication professionals, you all are welcome; but if you know someone who can benefit from a session like this and who is not a journalist, bring them in too. If you know someone who is especially disappointed with the present journalism scenario, make sure to bring them in.

Spread the word, share the information, and encourage members of your family, friends and acquaintances, especially the younger folks who spend more than enough time on social media to come in. We can accommodate anyone above 14 years and above. Let’s together understand how to evaluate the content we are consuming, identify wrong information, and how to stay safe.

Registration, as usual, is FREE. You can use this link to register:

https://forms.gle/oRGRZRT3dTovVWZy6

Come. Let’s meet.

And build the foundation for solid journalism.