Pioneers Post and Sparknews: two stories of journalism for impact

There are many news services that are focusing more and more on impact as their main mission. Some of them have been developing for decades and are Today particularly interesting and inspiring.

As media organisations, they believe a successful impact economy relies on forging engaging and authentic communications between a diverse range of people and organisations – from entrepreneurs and enterprises, investors and business leaders, to foundations and philanthropists, charities and NGOs, advisors, researchers, policymakers, intermediaries and market builders.

Pioneers Post qualifies itself as the magazine for social entrepreneurs, impact investors and mission-driven businesses around the world. Over two decades, they have established themselves as the main source of insight for pioneers across the impact economy, from social entrepreneurs and impact investors, to changemakers working across business, civil society, philanthropy, government and public services. As an independent media platform committed to ‘solutions-led’ journalism they aim to explore, explain, connect, challenge and inspire this new wave of changemakers around the globe, whose pioneering approaches seek to build a better future. They affirm that their readers and stakeholders work across sectors and geographies to build a world in which profit and purpose are balanced in a new equilibrium – the ‘impact economy’ – that delivers positive, purposeful and sustainable solutions for people and planet. Pioneers Post divides its content into key sections. News & Views – what happened when and what people think about it; Business School – how did it happen and how to do it better; Collections – thematic and partner-curated content streams; Publications – reports, guides and multimedia features; Videos and Podcasts – from 60-second video-bites to classic 3-minute film interviews, from 1-2-1 business profiles to 30-minute podcast discussions.

Sparknews is another key web site in the impact journalism scenario. At the age of 24, Christian de Boisredon and two friends set off around the world to discover positive initiatives, against the backdrop of the depressing information he found in the media and he deepened his conviction: the media can reach their audience by being more constructive. He therefore co-founded the association Reporters d’Espoirs and launched Libé des solutions (a special solutions’ journalism issue of the French newspaper Libération) in 2007. In 2012, he decides to explore new ways to convince editorial offices around the world to focus on solutions and funds Sparknews. The social enterprise organises collaborative editorial operations that highlight positive initiatives. The emblematic Impact Journalism Day brings together 20 media outlets in its first year, then 40 in 2014 and finally 54 media outlets in 2018 that publish a supplementary section on solutions on the same day – illustrating that world news can be told differently. This new way of editorialising and disseminating stories is recognised in 2014 as a large-scale solution to contemporary social and environmental issues: Christian becomes an Ashoka fellow.

In the years that followed, the Sparknews team grew and chose to explore more specific themes of ecological and social transition. Solutions&Co was born during the COP21, bringing together 20 media outlets focused on business and finance to highlight climate initiatives in the corporate world. Following the success of Solutions&Co, more thematic media operations were created, including Women In Action, Rethink Health, Women in Businesses for Good, Earth Beats and 7.7 billion. In 2016, the Sparknews team decided to use their expertise to help those who want to bring new narratives to the core of their business. The Positive Innovation Club was created, and has by now brought together more than 3,000 managers and executives who want to help move their companies in a more sustainable direction. Over the years, Sparknews has been a catalyst for action, for example at Danone, Adéo, Suez, Facebook, BNP-Paribas, Bouygues and AXA.

Italy has interesting experiences too, starting with the historic Vita, a monthly dedicated to social stories, volunteering, economic and environmental sustainability and, in general, the non-profit world. Spanning Italian and international issues, current affairs and events, it gives space to information on corporate social responsibility, on good practices of public administration and on the activities of non-profit organizations and social organizations. Also the Corriere della Sera – Buone Notizie newsletter works on the same vision.