Scaling solutions journalism: A systematic review of audience effects, narrative mediators, and organizational constraints

Solutions journalism (SoJo) has been widely promoted as a response to declining trust in news and growing audience disengagement, yet empirical evidence regarding its effectiveness remains fragmented across methods, contexts, and levels of analysis. This systematic review synthesizes 41 peer-reviewed studies (2016-2025) identified through preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses 2000 (PRISMA 2020)-guided searches to determine when, how, and under what conditions SoJo produces measurable outcomes. Integrating findings across contextual environments, narrative forms, audience processes, and institutional dynamics, the review shows that SoJo consistently improves affective responses and perceived efficacy but yields uneven behavioral effects. Outcomes vary systematically depending on narrative structure, audience relevance, and organizational feasibility, while structural constraints such as resource limitations, platform logics, and newsroom norms restrict scalability. By specifying how narrative design, media context, and institutional implementation interact in shaping civic outcomes, the study advances journalism communication theory and provides evidence-based guidance for practitioners. The findings reframe SoJo not as a universal remedy for journalism’s crisis but as a conditional innovation whose impact depends on identifiable mechanisms and contextual contingencies.