Richer solutions journalism through multi-semiotic news storytelling

Kyser Lough. “Richer solutions journalism through multi-semiotic news storytelling,” extended abstract accepted for presentation at the 19 Oct 2022 ECREA pre-conference: Constructive Journalism: Where are we now and what are the ways to a better future?, Aarhus Denmark.

Abstract: Today’s news stories rarely resemble what one might find in the news of 100 years ago. Instead of reading a text-heavy story printed in the newspaper, a reader now has a world of still images, video, animation, data visualization and audio to help bring them deeper into the story. Each aspect of this multisemiotic news storytelling (Caple, 2013) offers sensory engagement and a unique contribution to the social construction of the story. My study will deconstruct the multisemiotic news story into its base elements, with a focus on solutions journalism, to better define the contributions each component makes. By applying the various multisemiotic news story elements to the four pillars of solutions journalism (Solutions Journalism Network, 2020), I will cultivate a richer understanding of how each contributes to the social construction of the broader story.