Resolve Philly is a new hub for the city’s general interest, community and ethnic newsrooms to produce collaborative solutions reporting and community engagement on urgent social challenges.
Resolve emerged from a 2016 initiative by the Solutions Journalism Network to catalyze sustained solutions reporting on prisoner reentry, a critical issue facing the city. Over the last year, The Reentry Project with its 15 newsroom partners – including the Philadelphia Media Network and WHYY as well as community and ethnic media such as PhillyCam, WURD and El Sol – have reported and broadcast approximately 200 stories, bringing a topic previously on the margins to, literally, the front pages.
Everyday there is ample local reporting on issues connected to economic inequality. Yet there is almost nothing that does what we will do: take a clear, hard look at what works to help ensure greater economic security, and what doesn’t. We aim to shift the dominant narrative on poverty by examining its complex causes and highlighting creative approaches that show promise. Above all, we seek to elevate the voice of those with lived experiences and to explore the agency that exists within low-income communities to bring about change in their own lives. Resolve will also gather information on what’s working elsewhere, bringing reporting home on successful models, programs, and policies that could be implemented locally.