The goal of Solutions is twofold. The first year of Solutions was spent entirely on these stories, and reader reaction was tremendous. We found that people had a far greater hunger for these stories than we had imagined. And the most common thing people commented on was the placement of these stories on the front page.
Readers know that the front-page is the most valuable real estate in the newspaper.
When the face of a community member appears on the front page, often above the fold, we send a message that these community stories are just as important as anything else. Last year, one high school volunteer whose picture was featured told us he knew that what he was doing must be important because his picture was on the same page as the president's. With every Solutions story, we provide readers with information on ways they can get involved or how to get in touch with organizers to find out how to start similar programs themselves. The object is to use explanatory journalism to detail the problem but not to stop there. We also look at efforts to deal with the problem and provide readers with ideas of things they can do if they want to get involved in working toward a solution.