COJO for COVID Recovery: Solutions-focused Constructive Journalism as an Exit Strategy for the UK’s Local/Regional Communities

About the project

COJO for Covid Recovery investigates whether and how solutions-focused constructive journalism (COJO) can help communities in the UK in their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 50 journalists working in local and regional outlets across the UK have been trained and mentored to produce a wide range of solutions-oriented stories on how local businesses, services and communities deal with the socio-economic and health consequences of the pandemic. Bournemouth University partnered with the Solutions Journalism Network and the Association of British Science Writers to provide the training and mentoring services to local reporters and editors.

The project examined public responses and preferences in relation to media coverage, via a national survey on the pandemic news experiences and interview research with members of the public and local, community leaders.

Findings

• Increased appetite for news consumption in the pandemic has also had negative impacts on mental health and news avoidance amongst media consumers.
• Public fatigue with negative news and preference for solutions based journalism.
• The importance for constructive, solutions based journalism in empowering local communities and engaging local publics to address the challenges of post-pandemic recovery.