To get reporters and editors on the same page, I would like to create a one-page sheet or chart that shows the cross-section between traditional reporting and solutions-oriented stories. The two aren't that far apart in my view.
This "crosswalk" chart would be intended to show practical ways to report on a problem while also identifying what's being done about it on the ground level.
In interviews, reporters already are taught to ask what do you want done about an issue under consideration. That's traditional reporting.
The solutions aspect might be identifying an unlikely individual or organization in the community who is working on the problem. Next, who do they know outside the community who is tackling the issue in this way. Finally, what data exists related to this proposed solution? Can this story be broken down into a main story and a sidebar or follow-up piece (solutions workflow)?
I don't believe reporters should be coming up with solutions in community journalism. Perhaps readers are tired of hearing about problems because no one is asking regular citizens what they want done about it. Let them tell you what the solutions might be.