Two noted authorities on media and family care spoke at NY&MI Sojo’s two-day conference on how journalists can better report on important issues of contemporary life, such as caregiving and mental health.
Journalist David Bornstein delivered the keynote address to the New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative summit in Detroit on Sept. 19, discussing how journalists can confront evolving challenges in the news around trust, audience engagement, equity and sustainability. Borenstein, co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, began his career reporting on metro issues for New York Newsday, then shifted to international reporting, contributing to numerous publications, including The New York Times’ Fixes column, which examined efforts to solve social and environmental problems. He is the author of “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas,” “The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank,” and “Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know.” Watch his video here.
Amy Goyer, national family and caregiving expert for AARP, spoke to the summit on Sept. 20 on “Choosing to Care,” focusing on the intersection of mental health and caregiving and real-world solutions for journalists to vet and turn into impactful stories. Goyer, moderator of AARP’s Family Caregivers Discussion Group on Facebook, has more than 35 years of experience serving and advocating for older adults, children and families, and people with disabilities. She has been a family caregiver her entire adult life, caring for her grandparents, parents, sisters and other relatives and friends. The author of three books, she regularly appears as a caregiving authority on prominent TV shows, including NBC’s “Today,” “Dr. Phil” and “The Doctors.” Watch her video here.
The New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative (NYMI SOJO) is a group of news and community organizations covering chronic problems with a solutions lens. Its inaugural project, Invisible Army: Caregiving on the Front Lines, has explored successful responses to challenges experienced by caregivers and older adults. It will host the summit with the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative, whose Mental Wellness Project is a solutions-oriented initiative focused on mental health issues.
“The pandemic exacerbated issues facing caregivers of older adults and people struggling with mental health,” said Karen Magnuson, project director of New York and Michigan for the Solutions Journalism Network. “It’s never been more critical for journalists to move beyond reporting on just the problems to provide options for positive change.”
A third partner in the project, Detroit Public TV, helped plan and organize the summit, providing communications guidance and making the keynote talks available to a national audience through PBS Books, which streamed these two talks live to libraries and public television stations nationwide, as well as to the general public at PBSBooks.org.