Solutions Journalism
Solutions Journalism is rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. The Solutions Journalism Hub of the South, housed at UGA’s Cox Institute, trains students to tell “the whole story” by applying the same investigative and thorough reporting skills to ways in which people and organizations are responding to the challenges and obstacles in our communities.
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How Madison County Residents Successfully Lobbied Legislators Over Pollution Concerns
The law-altering conversations about air pollution in Georgia did not originate in the Capitol building chambers that hosted them. They started between a group of friends in a living room in the small Madison County town of Colbert, Georgia. Eight months of lobbying later, Governor Brian Kemp’s signed a…
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Clubhouse Atlanta: Combatting Unemployment Through Community-Based Approach
Whether it is due to stigma, a past criminal record or debilitating symptoms, people with mental illness find it harder to secure employment. Georgia has the fourth-highest prevalence of mental illness in the nation. With the pervasiveness of mental illness in Georgia, how can we combat unemployment in this population?…
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How One Atlanta News Station Is Fighting Against Fake News
Virtually any question can be answered in seconds. Mobile phones, computers and tablets have given access to so much information. However, not all information is good information. Inaccurate and misleading information is known as fake news or disinformation. 11Alive is a Georgia news station that is helping Georgia residents get…
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How Digital Campaigning Increased Georgia Voter Participation
968,420 more Georgia voters showed up to the polls in the 2020 elections than the previous 2016 cycle How did Georgia increase voter participation by almost 1 million votes despite the U.S. Census reporting a population increase of only 300,000? Bluebird PAC, a grassroots progressive action committee based out…
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Georgia College Political Society Sparks Conversations as Solution to Political Polarization
As a new administration rolls into U.S. political office, the divide in political ideology of Americans is still very apparent. Political polarization is something that has affected the United States through several administrations. It has only increased over the past decades, but one organization believes that simple conversations might be…
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Athens Banner-Herald to Implement Athens Equality Lab: Here’s What You Should Know
News deserts, or areas that lack local journalism, have been increasing over the last 30 years. Northeast Georgia proves to be no exception, as some counties in the area are without a local newspaper. According to a study by the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media,…
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Georgia Daze Strives to Increase Black Student Applicants
Since Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault desegregated the University of Georgia and took their first steps on campus, diversity has been celebrated — but it has not increased by much statistically. According to the UGA Fact Book, the Black student population was 1,854 students in 2004. In 2020, 2,116 students…
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Avid Bookshop’s New Book Club Promotes Literature About Race and Labor
After the George Floyd protests, members of the University of Georgia’s United Campus Workers of Georgia, UCWUGA, realized there are not enough opportunities for open dialogue on racial issues in the Athens community. “We wanted to educate others and ourselves about racial justice,” said Jessica Roberts, a member of UCWUGA’s…
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One Year Later: How Sustainable Are Our Self-Care Methods In A Pandemic?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national state of emergency in March 2020, people have resorted to practicing creative and necessary forms of self-care to help preserve their mental health. The country has endured quarantine periods, work and school from home, a turbulent election and a general overwhelming sense…
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“From A to B to Z”: The Sparrow’s Nest Commits to Community-Based Approach to Poverty
“Putting people experiencing poverty on track “to go on to the next step: from A to B to Z…” That, in Executive Director James Scott’s words, is the traction-gaining tactic of The Sparrow’s Nest. The Athens-based nonprofit organization is exploring an alternative plan of attack against the city’s age-old poverty…