A Conversation With: Michaela Haas

“Whenever I write about mental health, I get a lot of letters from people who want to know how to implement something similar in their own community, probably more than on any other topic.”

Every month, the Solutions Journalism Network highlights a ‘Member of the Month’ — a journalist doing, or supporting, excellent solutions-focused reporting. This month, we’re featuring Michaela Haas, PhD — award-winning author of four non-fiction books and freelance journalist, who has written extensively about mental health. Her reporting has appeared in national and international media such as the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, CBS, and Daily Beast. We talked to her about her inspiration to do solutions journalism and what it takes as a freelancer.

Lisa Urlbauer: Michaela, your media experience spans more than twenty years. When did you come across solutions journalism for the first time and why has it resonated with you?

Michaela Haas: I wrote a book about post-traumatic growth called Bouncing Forward and published a series of articles about my research. Two years ago, SJN retweeted a story I had written about resilience training in the US Army for the Daily Beast. I was curious who these solutions folks were, looked them up, and was immediately intrigued. I’ve been a reporter for so many years, I found it inspiring to come across a team of people like Tina and David who are not only top-notch reporters but think more deeply about the effects of our reporting.

LU: Looking back, is there any story you wish you would have reported differently after learning about solutions journalism?

MH: Yes, many stories. Both as a reader and a writer I am tired of the negative focus in a lot of media. I think we’ve all had the experience that we are uncovering a huge scandal, publish the story in a major national magazine and then crickets, nothing changes. I truly believe that the solutions approach takes away excuses for people not to address pressing issues.

LU: You have written a lot about mental health, like in your last story for the Philadelphia Citizen on a barbershop in Arkansas that works as a safe space for black men — an initiative that has been adopted across several states. What surprised you most about using a solutions lens for stories on this topic?

MH: This is one of the most inspiring aspects of the solutions angle: You always, always, always find people who are actively working toward solutions, who have great ideas and work tirelessly to make them happen. Of course, we look to Washington, Brussels, and Berlin to do more when it comes to mental health or climate change or any number of huge topics, but in the meantime, people are focusing on making life better for people and creating change. It’s a huge joy to be able to discover these initiatives, bring attention to them and spread good ideas. Whenever I write about mental health, I get a lot of letters from people who want to know how to implement something similar in their own community, probably more than on any other topic.

LU: As a German journalist living in California — where do you see work-wise the biggest difference between the American and the German media environment?

MH: I was surprised how easy it was to break into publishing articles and books when I moved to the US ten years ago. In Germany, I came up through the ranks — journalism school, the local news, freelancing, then my first full-time gigs as an investigative reporter and TV host, building a platform. In the US, I didn’t know anybody in the media world at all, but I found it fairly easy to cold pitch an editor and get accepted. I appreciate the openness.

LU: You have a weekly solutions column for Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Germany’s biggest nationwide subscription newspaper. How do you go about your reporting process?

MH: I am a voracious reader, and the solutions approach has completely changed my media diet. I now follow a large number of scientific, environmental and solutions-oriented outlets that were not on my radar before. Some of the stories I am most proud of are my research on how to prevent child abuse, which was sponsored by the Schöpflin and Noah Foundations, and the most successful column last year, with more than 200.000 readers, was about a feminist chef in California who abolished sexual harassment at her restaurant with a truly simple solution.

LU: What have been the biggest difficulties in reporting a solutions story? Do you see particular challenges or advantages working as a freelancer on solutions journalism, without a newsroom behind you?

MH: I’m struggling with resources and time. The editors appreciate me as an author, but they don’t really support the solutions angle, and they care more about the click stats than about good solutions reporting. It’s a constant tug. They pay me the same fee they paid me for the previous columns, but solutions stories require significantly more time. I have a huge list of topics I’d love to tackle, but to write a weekly column on my own makes it impossible to do the rigorous research that would make the stories truly great. I am extremely grateful to SJN, the Schöpflin Foundation, and the International Women’s Media Fund, among others, who have given me grants in the past year to make some of the stories possible.

LU: What advice would you give other freelancers interested in solutions journalism?

MH: Find allies! Apply for grants, cooperate, network! My dream is to create a bigger platform or network where we can work together on big stories. This is already happening in newsrooms, thanks to SJN, but not so much for freelancers yet.

Want to learn how to do solutions journalism? All the tools you need can be found in the SJN Learning Lab. For complete access to the Learning Lab, as well as the Solutions Story Tracker, and all the resources we offer, create a profile on The Hub.

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