Today is Impact Journalism Day, a day dedicated to reporting that helps to address big social issues.
Solutions-based journalism is a tangible response to many people’s demand for more positive stories in the face of so much strife, injustice, tragedy and warfare. It frequently empowers people and contributes to a better society.
Fifty-five leading media organisations from 50 countries, including 'The Irish Times', are sharing stories of change and innovative solutions to celebrate changemakers around the world, in an initiative developed by Sparknews (sparknews.com).
To evaluate the solutions-based approach we gathered three leaders of very different organisations at 'The Irish Times' to discuss the challenges they face and what they hope to achieve in the immediate future: Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland; Sarah Keane of Swim Ireland; and Paul O'Hara of ChangeX. All three are seeking to make a tangible contribution to a better future. Their ideas feature on these pages and on a special podcast on irishtimes.com.
Also on these pages we look at an Irish peer-to-peer travel club; online therapy for mental-health conditions, developed at Trinity College Dublin; a Japanese town on its way to generating zero waste; a children's photography workshop in a Syrian refugee camp; a Taiwanese baby-cry interpreter; child marriage in Lebanon; and a US crisis text line that has opened up counselling support to those with hearing impairments.
More than 100 stories of change will reach more than 120 million people today. You can follow the Impact Journalism conversation on Twitter through #ImpactJournalism and #StoryOfChange.
‘The Irish Times’ is committed to journalism that contributes to the betterment of society, which is why we share these stories with you. We hope you will be inspired.