A SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM SERIES
About the series: For the third consecutive year, the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript is partnering with the Solutions Journalism Network to cover how our community responds to local challenges.
Preserving Our Region is a series that explores local environmental solutions. We begin with a look at efforts to mitigate milfoil, an invasive species threatening the region’s lakes, ponds and rivers. In the coming months, the series will focus on programs that reduce energy use, lower environmental impact and preserve our local landscape.
Our newsroom began this work two years ago through a rural media program focused on solutions journalism – an approach that reports on responses to problems rather than just the problems themselves. Last year, the Ledger-Transcript was one of only eight media organizations nationwide selected for an initiative to build sustainable support for this reporting.
Solutions journalism does not advocate for a particular path. Instead, it examines a response through four “pillars”: the response itself, evidence of its effectiveness, insights from those involved, and its limitations.
What is Solutions Journalism: Solutions journalism explores how people and communities are responding to challenges — and what we can learn from their efforts. Every story is built around the four “pillars” of response, evidence, insights and limitations, answering four key questions: What is the response? What evidence shows it’s working? What lessons can others take from it? And what are its limitations?
How you can get involved:
- Enter our contest: The Ledger-Transcript will award two $4,000 grants, funded by the Solutions Journalism Network’s Innovation Fund, for local environmental projects. Learn more and apply here.
- Give us feedback: Fill out the brief survey at the end of each online story to share your thoughts and future story ideas.
- Sign up for daily newsletters: Each week, one day’s newsletter will focus on local environmental stories and columns.
- Support our work: We are seeking financial support from organizations, businesses and individuals to sustain this project. For more information, contact publisher Heather McKernan at hmckernan@ledgertranscript.com or 603-369-3250.
Preserving Our Region: New Hampshire lake groups fight back against milfoil invasion
The Contoocook Lake Area Preservation Association (CLAPA) is fighting the invasive variable milfoil that has been plaguing New Hampshire lakes, ponds and rivers for decades, using chemical treatments and hand-pulling to keep the plant from taking over the lake.
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript launches environmental grant program
The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript is offering two $4,000 grants, funded by the Solutions Journalism Network’s Innovation Fund, to individuals or organizations in its coverage area for projects with a positive local environmental impact.
