Solution-oriented Journalism

In the interpretative framing of media reporting on youth, two approaches prevail: the first, problem-oriented and the second, positive or “soft” news oriented. There is a lack of a solution-oriented approach in which the problem would be presented within the same format, but also a solution that could be effective in a specific case, with young people, and not political and public office holders, as key actors in the story. The aim of this paper is to determine how students of journalism/communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) perceive solutions journalism (short SoJo) and how media portals represent solutions in youth reporting. Two qualitative research methods were applied: a focus group survey among students of the Universities of Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla and Mostar (N=24) and a method of analysis of media texts on young people on five media portals in B&H (N=98). The results of the students’ surveys showed that they consider solutions journalism more purposeful than problematic ones, but also a threat to journalistic objectivity. As necessary conditions for engaging in this type of journalism, they identified training, editorial support, social sensitivity of journalists and financial stability of the media. The results of the qualitative analysis of articles on young people showed that the formats in which solutions are mentioned do not meet the criteria of SoJo stories. Although the stories on young people are mostly positively framed, they are told from the perspective of the management of institutions/organizations, not young people.