The SolutionsPaper is a multimedia publication leveraging solutions and constructive journalism to provide investigative coverage of how Africans are solving the continent’s social and development problems.
What we are Looking for
We seek multimedia, immersive, data-driven, and solutions-focused stories with a focus on how problems are being solved across communities in Africa. We utilize a nuanced and character-driven storytelling approach.
We are looking for solutions-focused stories that investigate how communities, groups, NGOs, or individuals are responding to the numerous social-economic and development issues in Africa with a particular focus on how communities are benefitting. We also consider story ideas that look at instructive failure. In such cases, we look at why innovative responses fail with a keen focus on highlighting what can be learnt from the failure.
Our newly organized website now features specific areas of focus, which will allow our readers to find the type of stories they love to read and enable journalists tell important community, solutions and constructive focused stories. The focus areas are:
- Community Driven Responses. This includes stories shaped by people and for people, created with the needs and interests of communities in mind. This also allows our writers to submit their own stories and content to reflect the specific problems and unique responses within communities.
- Election and Tech. This focuses on how technology could be a viable response to problem faced during elections. The goal is to provide in-depth, nuanced coverage of these topics, with a focus on how they impact the lives of ordinary people.
- Wildlife, Environment and Climate. This includes stories on wildlife conservation, climate change, renewable energy, and other environmental-focused solutions. It features innovative solutions to environmental challenges, as well as interviews with experts and activists working on these issues.
- Ethnic and Religious Extremism. This area explores the causes and consequences of religious and ethnic violence around the continent and how communities are staying resilient to them. This focuses on the strategies being used to counter violence, peacebuilding efforts and how effective they are.
Our editorial process is rigorous but also collaborative. Writers are fully involved across all stages of the editorial process and also receive guidance and mentorship from experts to make them better storytellers.
We pay our freelancers a modest fee for a 1,200 -1,500-word story length within three (3) weeks of publication. We typically decide on a pitch and reply within 14 days.
To pitch us, download our in-house pitch template, edit it to capture your story idea and send back the completed template to Zubaida@solutionspaper.com
To download, click here