Pioneering solutions journalism organization since 2004. Made in France and Europe.
Reporters d'Espoirs in English
Welcome to Reporters of Hope NGO
Reporters d’Espoirs has become the pioneer organisation of solutions journalism since 2004. With the media, we spotlight people who take the initiative, encouraging society to be solutions-based, not only problem-focused. Our organization has worked on « solutions journalism » « impact journalism » and « constructive journalism » over the past 20 years.
As a non-governmental organisation, Reporters d’Espoirs has been promoting solutions-based news in the media since 2004.
Our mission is to encourage newsrooms to present not only contemporary problems but also possible solutions to these.
Climate change, poverty, unemployment, violence: these problems are not as unavoidable as people imagine, and initiatives do exist to help mitigate them. A louder voice can be given to people able to make a real difference. That is why we actively promote news that highlights the ideas and work of people who serve the public interest by putting forward solutions that address major contemporary issues for which we are collectively responsible.
From news to action
The news can often be distressing.
Yet there is a wide range of real solutions to today’s economic, social and environmental problems. We are convinced that the media, through its undeniable multiplier effect, can – by highlighting innovative and long-lasting initiatives that can be applied more widely – inspire and encourage the audience to take action.
Over the last twenty years, Reporters d’Espoirs has succeeded in developing a clearly identifiable brand appreciated by its partners in France and Europe.
One Christmas Eve, Laurent de Chérisey was surprised that, “even that day, the TV news only talked about oil spills and disasters!”. Some time later, he discovered in a report…
…by the journalist Pierre Prakash in Libération (a French newspaper), a social entrepreneur from Rajasthan. He had developed very simple local techniques allowing neighboring villagers to recreate an irrigation system to capture rainwater and recharge the water tables, and supply rural areas during periods of drought. This system, through dissemination, benefits seven hundred thousand villagers. Then Laurent had a simple idea: to promote a philosophy of “global information” presenting life as it is with its problems but also its solutions or its paths to resolution. “This article excited me and I said to myself that it would be extraordinary if there were more of them. For a journalist to talk not only about the tragedies – here, the consequences of drought in rural areas – but also about the social innovations that provide answers seemed to me to be a real journalistic work, complex, and with great potential because it talks about the world that is being built by highlighting what I call the “threat-opportunity couple” that is specific to a life dynamic.” He shares the idea with a friends, journalists and entrepreneurs. Together, they launch Reporters d’Espoirs as a French NGO in Paris in 2004.
Laurent de Chérisey, his wife and their five children meet « Passeurs d’espoir » from Vietnam to Brazil in 2004.
The first organization to institutionalize solutions journalism was born in France in 2004 with the launch of Reporters d’Espoirs / Reporters of Hope. From this story and many others where the media played a certain role, Reporters of Hope draws its founding hypothesis: depending on their content, the messages emitted by the media can participate in stimulating action. And, in this case, encourage the dissemination, or even the replication, of a concrete initiative that has a positive impact on society.
REPORTERS D’ESPOIRS LAB
We study the impact of solutions-based journalism and do teaching with the Reporters of Hope Lab
– analyse the evolution of solutions-based content in the media
– measure the impact of solutions-based journalism on the public, the media and the public will to engage
– train journalists and students, producing MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and courses for journalism professionals and students.
2 MOOCS:
REPORTERS D’ESPOIRS AWARDS
We promote media professionals
We meet with students and professionals, encouraging journalists and the future generation to make news socially responsible.
- Reporters d’Espoirs Awards for professionals
Several awards to honour journalists and media professionals who report on innovative and meaningful answers to major concerns of our time.
+160 winners since its creation in 2004. - Reporters d’Espoirs European Young Award
An award to encourage young French-speaking people under 30 from around the world to write a solutions journalism report, on a problem and initiatives undertaken in connection with Europe.
17 winners since its creation in 2021.
REPORTERS D’ESPOIRS MAGAZINE
We spread our message to the public realm
Showcasing the best in news reporting from the people who make it happen.
– Every year, a 148-page Reporters d’Espoirs magazine
– The best of French media reports on solutions
– Distributed by subscription, Relay and bookshops
– Issue 1 on the theme « Together we can go further ».
– Issue 2 on the theme of Nature
– Issue 3 on young people: the solution generation
LE PLUS by REPORTERS D’ESPOIRS
We monitor the media landscape and identify reproducible initiatives with our online platform
Reporters d’Espoirs is continually scanning the social, environmental and business landscape to identify successful initiatives that could be reproduced elsewhere.
- We have an online journalism platform called Le Plus
- 1800 fact sheets on initiatives that receive little or no media coverage
- 6000 reports referenced
- A search engine based on geographical and thematic criteria
- 5 themes: Culture and education / Planet / Economy / Society / Science & Tech
Reporters d’Espoirs is a team of journalists, media professionals, media analysts, event organizers, etc.
Our Team working on International Relations:
Myriam Crété is International Correspondent for Reporters d’Espoirs/Reporters of Hope. Myriam has worked and still collaborates with international influential media outlets and organisations such as CNN, The World Economic Forum, Accenture, E&Y, Havas Media, The Women’s Forum, Thomson Reuters Foundation, CNBC Europe, French Radio London, BBC World Service, BBC Media Action.
Passionate about innovation, storytelling and creativity as drivers for positive transformation, Myriam puts meaningful content at the heart of communications. Myriam delivers workshops and speaks on media leadership around the world including Algeria, Tunisia, Francophone and Anglophone Africa and the Middle East.
Gilles Vanderpooten has experience in the fields of both entrepreneuship, non-governemental organizations and civil society, journalism and writing. He his involved into various activities and organizations he contributed to launch and manage.
Editor in Chief and then Managing Director of Reporters d’Espoirs (Reporters of Hope) NGO , he works with the media to spotlight people who take the initiative all around the world.
He launched « La France des Solutions » annual event (2013-2021), an event that reached +4500 leaders and journalists and more than 25 millions citizens. He manages the « Reporters d’Espoirs Award » to honour journalists who report on innovative and meaningful answers to major concerns of our time. He created « Solutions in light » exhibition and charity at Palais d’Iena, with French designer Philippe Starck, and 60 artists -JonOne, Raymond Depardon, Jef Aerosol, Vladimir Velickovic, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, etc.
Cofounder of several organisations, he is particularly involved into answers to environmental challenges with the co-creation of: the Environmental Film Festival of Nantes (2006), REFEDD, the French network of students involved into sustainability (2007), Coordinator of PLANET-D AWARDS, rewarding students who lead social and environmental initiatives on campuses (2007), Founder of Le Tour de France du développement durable (2008).
As a journalist and editor, he writes books with people like: Ambassador writer of the best-seller « Indignez-vous ! » Stephane Hessel, famous designer Philippe Starck, first-lady Danielle Mitterrand, and scenarist Jean Claude Carrière honored by an Oscar.
As an entrepreneur, he launched his first business at the age of 14, with the creation of an activity dedicated to news and web creation.
Angelica Tarnowska (UK & Africa) is a multicultural journalist with a long track record of initiating, producing and directing in-depth features and reports for high profile, primetime, high-audience TV, print, web and radio programmes.
Highly adaptable and versatile, she has lived and worked in English and Spanish-speaking countries. She is an ‘out of the box’ thinker who quickly senses and captures situations, people and businesses to expose them creatively to the target audience.
In addition, with strong communication skills, she shares her expertise through coaching and media training. She is also excellent at inspiring and motivating teams and audiences. Beeing useful through constructive journalism and helpful through coaching that empower people are essential to her.
Native French, fluent English and Spanish, basic German and Polish.
Amélie Reichmuth (Sweden / Northern Europe) is a multilingual journalist and media advocate who believes that journalism has the power – and the responsibility – to bring the world closer, one story at a time.
When she is not working on making the media industry fit for the future, she produces multimedia content in five languages to empower and create positive change.
In 2023, her work was even rewarded with the “European Prize of the Young Reporter”, by the French NGO Reporters d’Espoirs.
She is Reporters d’Espoirs correspondent for Nothern Europe area.
We work with popular press, web, radio and TV groups, to spread initiatives among the general public. In collaboration with several news services, we create and cobrand special issues, thematic columns and programme content.
Examples of our successful productions with the media are:
- Ouest France des solutions: a special issue of the newspaper Ouest France, distributed in 15 localities and attracting 2.5 million readers
- Libé des solutions: a special issue of the newspaper Libération, distributed for seven years with a 22% growth in sales
- TF1: a special edition of the TV midday news with Reporters d’Espoirs, attracting six million viewers and up to 50% audience share
- Passage à l’acte (‘Acting out’): a regular column on the news website Rue89 since 2009, giving a voice to people offering real solutions
- Week of Media Solutions / « La France des solutions » media week: special issues on initiatives that move France, with 4.5 million citizens reached in 2014 through the regional press (Ouest France, La Voix du Nord and Nice Matin) and 25 million citizens in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 with 50 national and regional media.
We build a network and develop relationships with similar organisations working on constructive/solutions journalism in the world as:
- The Solutions Journalism Network (USA)
- Windesheim University (The Netherlands)
- European Broadcasting Union, EBU (Europe)
- EnPositivo (Spain)
- Positive News (United Kingdom)
- The Constructive Journalism Network (United Kingdom)
- Constructive Institute (Denmark)
- …
Solutions journalism is about practicing broad-spectrum journalism, which analyzes and reports on problems, difficulties, dysfunctions, and answers and ‘solutions’ when they exist.
We have developed several supports to allow you to discover and deepen the method (in French):
Reporters d’Espoirs headquarter is based in Paris (France).
We have offices in London (United Kingdom) and Brussels (Belgium).