S.F. Chronicle joins international Human Journalism Network

The Human Journalism Network seeks to share solutions journalism done around the world, which should be of interest to our readers who would want to consider if we can apply those lessons here. Chani Guyot is a brilliant editor and a longtime friend who is one of the few people capable of making this work.”

Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor, San Francisco Chronicle

From Sarah Feldberg, editor for emerging product and audio:

The San Francisco Chronicle is proud to announce its participation in the Human Journalism Network, a new initiative that amplifies the reach of solutions-oriented reporting from around the world. 

The network was created by RED/ACCIÓN, a publication based in Argentina, with support from the International Center for Journalists, and it’s a partnership between international media organizations, including ElDiario.es (Spain), The Irish News (Ireland), Convoca (Perú) and The Daily Maverick (South Africa). For the next five months, participating publications will share and republish select articles across the network, bringing local stories to wider audiences.

“We want to highlight the stories of people making significant efforts to cope with our social challenges regarding climate change, education, inclusion, immigration or health, for example,” said Chani Guyot, CEO and publisher at RED/ACCIÓN and former editor in chief at La Nación in Argentina. 

Each publication is choosing its own stories to share with the network, focused on how local people in their communities are navigating various challenges.

“We have partners in South Africa, the Philippines, Cuba, Ecuador, the UK, Canada and The San Francisco Chronicle in the U.S., among many others,” Guyot said. “Each of these media is reporting many local stories that, in a sense, are also universal: how to bring consciousness around inclusion, how to reduce the use of cars in a particular city, and how to prevent youth suicides. In some way, we are all dealing with our furious present, and to know how others are answering that call is not only interesting, but it can also be useful.”

The program parallels what The Chronicle has done locally with SFNext, a project that seeks to convene residents and help solve the city's most pressing problems and to report on potential solutions.

“The Human Journalism Network seeks to share solutions journalism done around the world, which should be of interest to our readers who would want to consider if we can apply those lessons here,” said Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, The Chronicle's editor. “Chani Guyot is a brilliant editor and a longtime friend who is one of the few people capable of making this work.”

The first story that The Chronicle is publishing as part of the Human Journalism Network is about an effort to restrict cars in central Oxford that spawned death threats and conspiracy theories, originally reported by ElDiario.es.

“Our goal is to put these stories (great examples of outstanding journalism) in front of new audiences, so as to offer a better picture of our diverse world,” said Guyot. “It's a kind of extreme collaboration effort among very different media that share values around why some stories need to be told and reach as big an audience as they deserve.”

About The San Francisco Chronicle:

The San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfchronicle.com) is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle.