On Monday, November 11, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the webinar “Impact Journalism: stories that make a difference” will take place. This is the third webinar organized as part of the Torino Impact Journalism initiative, sponsored by Social Impact Agenda for Italy.
The event will feature journalists and experts who will discuss impact journalism experiences on both national and international levels, exploring how to integrate approaches and strategies into daily journalistic practices.
If we had to summarize the ambitious mission that drives Sparknews and its founder Christian de Boisredon in one sentence, we would use their own words: “To make the world a better place, let’s start by changing the way we talk about it”. For over 10 years, Sparknews has been a global reference in building innovative ecosystems that raise awareness of global challenges with a solution-oriented approach. It achieves this by not only promoting new narratives but, more importantly, by creating connections among change leaders to amplify their voices within organizations and communities, so they can, in turn, inspire others to act.
Promoting cultural changes with positive impact
As mentioned, the founder of this project, born in France, is Christian de Boisredon: impact entrepreneur, pioneer of solutions journalism, cultural transformation consultant, and motivational speaker. At the age of 24, he began his journey around the world, discovering positive initiatives ignored by mainstream media, inspiring a travel book that became a bestseller.
In 2003, he launched a solutions journalism movement, demonstrating the positive impact of this then-unknown approach. Later, in 2011, he founded Sparknews with the mission to explore new ways to encourage newsrooms worldwide to focus more on solutions.
Today, this social enterprise runs collaborative solutions-oriented journalism programs with major media outlets in 50 countries. Over the years, these editorial collaborations have highlighted positive initiatives: the emblematic Impact Journalism Day brought together 20 media outlets in its first year, 40 in 2014, and finally 54 media outlets in 2018, proving that world news can be told differently.
From the business world to civil society to foster action-oriented commitment
Since becoming a B-Corp in 2019, Sparknews has strengthened its expertise to help “change agents” create new narratives within their organizations. Its efforts target not only journalists, employees, managers, and organizational leaders but also creators and officials. Moreover, it connects entrepreneurs, media, and businesses to promote and sustain action-oriented commitment, both in the business world and in civil society.
Among its main activities, Sparknews identifies positive initiatives worldwide through its extensive network of experts, influencers, and partner institutions; creates and disseminates engaging educational formats and content; strengthens communities that foster positive dynamics and encourage the multiplication of impactful initiatives; and supports the spread of new narratives focused on social and ecological transitions in society and organizations.
Sparknews’ impact, in numbers
Since its founding, the Sparknews team has leveraged its expertise to support those who want to place new narratives at the heart of their activities. Along the way, it has:
- Collaborated with over 100 major news outlets globally to participate in more than 20 solutions-oriented media programs
- Identified 5,500 projects with significant social and environmental impact
- Highlighted more than 3,000 impactful projects through its activities
- Gathered over 3,000 decision-makers at the Positive Innovation Club in Paris, New York, London, and Hong Kong, encouraging them to adopt more inclusive and sustainable approaches within their companies
- Raised awareness among 300 million readers worldwide through its media campaigns.
These numbers reflect the impact of a virtuous vision, expressed in Sparknews’ own words: “We create links between change-makers; we plant seeds that can spark action; we create sparks that can capture attention”.
