I’m organising a Solutions Journalism focused Photo Exhibition. Here’s why
When the news broke in November last year about the death of Argentinian football legend, Diego Maradona, I was traveling for work with two team members. The host of a radio show we were listening to started with the drinking and drug use problems Diego had at the later stage of his life.
“This is so wrong!,” my colleague, Ike cut in.
He actively plays recreational football and also follows sports, especially the popular football leagues across Europe.
“How can they start with this? This is not his only story. The man was a legend and did so much for football development in his country.” Ike continued. I agreed with his position too.
As we drove on, my mind drifted to all the conversations I have had around Solutions Journalism, which involve rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. I also thought about the issues with news coverage that tend to focus more on problems as opposed to putting the same energy into reports about people who are creating solutions to those problems.
I work with a health communication and advocacy organisation called Nigeria Health Watch. A strategy that has continued to work for us in our efforts to drive change in Nigeria’s health sector is leveraging the media. We are deliberate about amplifying the efforts that are addressing the multiple issues in our health sector. This has been on since the inception of the organisation; celebrating successes while not ignoring the problems. It became formal in 2018 and in 2019, I was selected for the inaugural cohort of the LEDE fellowship by the Solutions Journalism Network, USA. 20 other amazing fellows in my cohort are leading efforts to spread the practice of solutions journalism across the globe.
One of the ways I chose to do this was organising solutions journalism tours (dubbed #SoJoTour) where I visited three locations to engage students and practicing journalists on Solutions Journalism. I usually started the meetings with an activity asking participants to list everything that is wrong with our country, then followed by asking them to list the things that are working or going right. 100 percent of the time, it was easy and faster to populate the paper with problems and a bit of struggle to remember the things that are going well. So why is this always the case? Interestingly, it is not peculiar to Nigeria. I recently facilitated a webinar for the International Center for Journalists’ network of journalists from different countries. The result was the same. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to why we hear more about what is wrong with the world than what is right. There are many efforts also to change this narrative. I am contributing to this effort in my own little way. This photo exhibition is part of it. It will feature efforts by individuals and organisations to address various social issues.
I tagged the exhibition Positive Deviance, a term used to describe individuals who stand out from the crowd in their efforts to proffer solutions to social problems.
The concept of ‘Positive Deviance’ means people are able to look beyond problems and find solutions. It may be a work in progress and not perfect, but they are not sitting to talk about the problem. They are doing something. These stories are worth amplifying because they inspire and empower others to take action!
To celebrate women on this year’s International Women’s Day/Month, the theme of the exhibition is “For Women, By Women”. I believe it’s important to tell the stories of women from a position of strength instead of a position of vulnerability as we sometime see.
Only photos showing solutions, initiatives, projects run by women or solutions and initiatives benefiting women will be accepted for this exhibition.
So how can you support or be part of it?
That’s the easy part.
If you are a photographer, visual storyteller, documentary photographer, you are invited to submit photos for this exhibition here (more details can be found on the submission page). If you are not and know someone who is, please help spread the word.
Organisations are also invited to submit photos that speak to the theme of the exhibition. The exhibition will happen in an outdoor space (following COVID-19 protocols) and virtually so those unable to attend in person can participate as well.
Beyond viewing the photos and hearing the stories behind them, I hope the exhibition will contribute to creating that critical mass of content consumers who can ask for more solutions-focused coverage of issues. I also hope media professionals see the need to tell stories from a solutions angle.
Most importantly, I hope someone will be inspired to use insights from some of the solutions that will be featured to start responding to similar problems they have. After all, that is the essence of solutions storytelling.
So now you know why I’m doing this, what are you going to do to support? ;)
