Do you have a ‘good’ news story? Share it with The Guardian, UK
Good news stories are a rarity – not because they are not out there, but perhaps because they don’t sell papers.
Even in our own circles, we hear a lot about the challenges, and indeed the failures, of efforts to strengthen health systems, because no doubt there are many, and they are undeniable. Yet, we have at our fingertips inspiring stories of innovations, community ingenuity and, quite frankly, ‘good news’ of improving health systems.
Do you have some good news to share?
This is why we – the Health Systems Global (HSG) Communications Team – were excited when The Guardian UK announced its new initiative called The Upside. The Guardian are inviting readers to share their stories of replicable and robust ideas, initiatives and approaches that can ‘confront the big challenges of our times – the environment, health (particularly mental), atomised communities, flagging democracy, gender discrimination and technology’.
They are looking for communities trying to solve some of these problems to broaden their reach and understanding. Specifically, they want to know, what are the ideas that, with a little bit of mainstreaming, could bring us turning points?
We think this is a great opportunity for HSG members to get involved and share their ideas and stories to a wider community. We invite you to either post your idea directly to The Guardian, or share with us (v.benson@ids.ac.uk) for feedback (to really bring out the ‘good’ factor). If you do write directly to The Guardian, please let us know, as we want to hear about it too!
Keeping your idea clear and succinct
Remember that The Guardian is not a specialist outlet, so avoid jargon, acronyms or technical terminology. Quite simply, imagine that you are explaining your idea to someone that does not work in the field. Think about answering these questions:
- What is your idea? And why is it good news?
- Why does it matter?
- Why is it different?
- Is it replicable and robust?
- What challenge does it confront?
We look forward to hearing your ‘good news’!
