Introducing the Solutions Journalism Network Complicating the Narratives (CTN) 2023 Fellows
As the United States grapples with worsening polarization and seemingly intractable conflict, the Solutions Journalism Network is thrilled to announce its second class of Complicating the Narratives (CTN) Fellows.
Inspired by Amanda Ripley’s landmark essay of the same name, the CTN framework helps journalists use conflict mediation techniques to surface deeper truths about the communities they cover, and provide greater understanding about issues those communities face.
Eleven journalists, representing a wide variety of geographies and communities, will spend the next 12 months using CTN techniques and interview questions to report on solutions to some of the nation’s most divisive issues, with communities historically misrepresented by media and misunderstood by audiences. Topics for our fellows’ projects range from gender-affirming care to wildfire management; the goal is to replace polarization, problems and simplicity with understanding, solutions and complexity.
Meet the 2023 fellows and learn more about their projects:
Hugo Balta (Chicago) — Hugo Balta is the publisher of the Latino News Network (LNN), a news source that provides greater visibility to Hispanic and Latino communities and amplifies the work of others doing the same. A news veteran of more than 30 years, an accredited solutions journalism trainer and twice the president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Balta has led newsrooms in multiple markets and platforms, including The Chicago Reporter, Chicago’s PBS station WTTW and Telemundo New York.
Hugo’s CTN project will explore conflict and solutions surrounding health insurance access and inequities.
Richard Davies (Guilford, Connecticut) — Richard Davies is a podcaster who has spent a lifetime in audio. After covering politics for RKO Radio Networks, Richard had a three-decades-long career at ABC News as a staff correspondent. Today he is a podcast consultant, show host and committed solutions journalist. His biweekly podcasts are “How Do We Fix It?” and “Let’s Find Common Ground.”
For his CTN project, Richard will explore local and national solutions to combating political polarization for “How Do We Fix It?”, the show he co-hosts.
Deborah Douglas (Chicago) — Deborah Douglas is director of the newly created Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University and a senior lecturer. She is a founding co-editor of The Emancipator, a digital platform reimagining the nation’s first abolitionist newspaper, and serves on the advisory board.
For her CTN project, Deborah will develop and facilitate a training curriculum integrating Complicating The Narratives methods with solutions journalism for media outlets throughout the Midwest.
Colleen Hagerty (Los Angeles) — Colleen Hagerty is an independent multimedia journalist specializing in disaster coverage. She’s reported extensively on policies, key players and impacted communities in this space for outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and Popular Science. She also has a disaster-focused newsletter, My World’s on Fire, which was shortlisted for a 2022 Covering Climate Now award.
During her CTN fellowship, Colleen will investigate how climate change, politics and community concerns are complicating the implementation of prescribed fire, a key tool in mitigating the current wildfire crisis.
Audrey Henderson (Evanston, Illinois) — Audrey is an independent writer and researcher based in Chicagoland with advanced degrees in sociology and law from Northwestern University. She specializes in sustainability in the built environment, culture and arts, policy and related topics.
For her CTN project, Audrey will tell a story of Chicago’s South Side that is more nuanced than the negative portrayal often seen in the media, using solutions reporting to show its neighborhoods’ unique assets
Joseph Darius Jaafari (Phoenix) — Joseph Darius Jaafari is the editor-in-chief of LOOKOUT, the nation’s only nonprofit newsroom dedicated to accountability journalism for the queer community. He is a veteran investigative reporter focusing on police, prisons and military beats during his time at Spotlight PA, PA Post, The Marshall Project and The Arizona Republic.
Joseph’s CTN project will expand and deepen coverage of reporting on LGBTQ+ people in the greater Phoenix area through solutions stories and a sources database.
Jamie Jiang (Chico, California) — Jamie Jiang is the wildfire recovery and resilience reporter for North State Public Radio (NSPR) through Report For America. She covers wildfire-affected communities in nearly a dozen rural Northern California counties, including the Camp Fire and Dixie Fire burn scars.
Jamie’s CTN project with NSPR will produce a series of radio stories addressing homelessness, housing and home rebuilding efforts in the Camp Fire burn scar, as well as accompanying “open newsroom days” in these fire survivor communities to open the newsroom to community members’ feedback and involvement.
Sanya Kamidi (Baltimore) — Sanya Kamidi is a reporter and audience engagement journalist at The Baltimore Sun. She’s passionate about creating more meaningful relationships between news organizations and the communities they cover. Her work toward that goal has included reporting community-focused stories in Baltimore’s majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods and revamping The Sun’s Instagram presence to create graphics that are tailored toward a younger audience.
Sanya’s CTN project will report with a CTN and solutions focus on youth recreation and employment in the “Black Butterfly,” the term coined by Lawrence T. Brown to describe the pattern formed by the Black communities spanning east and west Baltimore.
Shia Levitt (New York) — Shia Levitt is a public radio journalist who has reported for NPR, Marketplace and other outlets from the US, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In addition to reporting and producing, Shia has taught radio journalism both at the college level and to teens, including for WNYC’s Radio Rookies, Mills College and CUNY as well as with UNICEF in Haiti.
Shia’s CTN project will expand News Ambassadors, a program that connects student journalists in one location with counterparts in a politically or geographically dissimilar location for collaborative, CTN-informed solutions reporting.
Ashton Marra (Morgantown, West Virginia) — Ashton Marra is co-director of Reporting on Addiction, a collaborative project of the nonprofit media outlet 100 Days in Appalachia and the Opioid Policy Institute. Ashton is also executive editor of 100 Days in Appalachia, overseeing the work of a team of editors, contributors and reporters to create content by Appalachians for Appalachians. The publication has won a national Edward R. Murrow Award.
Ashton’s CTN project will support stories and a style guide with tips on how to cover addiction and recovery using solutions journalism and CTN techniques.
James Rinker (Keene, New Hampshire) — James Rinker is the digital community engagement journalist for The Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire, using social media and community journalism in order to build trust with the paper’s readers. He’s the author of a monthly column on LGBTQ+ health for the Monadnock Region Health Reporting Lab and has won state and regional awards for their innovative work on combating misinformation.
James’ CTN project will investigate the lack of gender-affirming healthcare resources in New Hampshire and identify possible solutions to help close the gap by working with transgender residents and gender-affirming healthcare advocates and providers.
