Testing a modular approach for Solutions Journalism

The Solutions Journalism Network defines four editorial pillars:

• a response to a problem
• evidence that it works
• insights into the mechanism
• and a frank account of its limitations.

The Modular Journalism framework operates from a parallel premise: that readers arrive at a story with specific, information needs, and that good journalism answers them directly and if it doesn't then it's dysfunctional. When the two frameworks are mapped together, a pattern emerges. Readers asking "Is there a solution?" or "How can someone affect what happens next?" are in the Response pillar. Those asking "What evidence would falsify the main claim?" or "How large is the sample?" are in Evidence. The diagram below makes the alignment explicit. This, of course, does not mean the mapping won't need further research and testing.

At Buffalo's Fire 🔥, we are testing this concept to produce what I believe may be the first user-needs-based content management system. Contributors will answer core questions ("What are the key facts?" "Why is this important?" "What do key people say?" and "Who is particularly affected?"). Then, an AI agent we trained for trauma-aware reporting will parse the information and suggest other questions to go deeper into the story. Contributors have the freedom to answer any questions, but the AI mediation may make the process smoother. The result is a modular-first story with a solutions journalism approach.

We custom-built our modular backend to integrate seamlessly with the JSON architecture used by our content management system, Payload.

Thank you to Ashley Hopkinson from Solutions Journalism Network and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear for wanting this, and being perhaps the first Editor-in-Chief to actually give modular journalism a spin to write a story.

What's in the diagram below:

Each line connects a SoJo pillar (left) to a user information need (right). Needs are grouped by their primary pillar and sorted by editorial priority: core questions first, then important, then supplementary. Some needs appear under more than one pillar—these are cross-pillar connections where the same question serves multiple editorial functions. Tap on any need to see its full definition in the reference table.