The Role of Journalism in Dialogic Innovation Processes—the Case of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute Multi-stakeholder Workshops

Journalists are increasingly invited to engage in dialogic innovation processes not only to report on innovations but also take part in identifying social problems and co-creating possible solutions. We analyze a series of multi-stakeholder innovation workshops at the health care social enterprise group Helsinki Deaconess Institute in Finland from 2012 to 2014 and the mediated results of the workshops. Journalists were part of all three stages in the innovation process: the creation of a holding space for innovation, creating concrete innovations, and communicating the outcomes at the level of mass communication. We suggest the model of participatory solutions journalism that could, in part, help open the gridlock journalism faces with corroding legitimacy from the outside and resistance to innovation from the inside. Our study builds on previous research suggesting that journalism should be seen as the “fourth strand” of the innovation ecosystem elements alongside the industry, the academia, and the government (Carayannis and Campell 2012; Bast et al. 2015). We add to this literature the finding that such a co-creating role can be supported by dialogic organizational development methods (Scharmer and Kaufer 2013; Bohm et al. 1991; Bohm 1996; Senge 1990). The pitfall of participatory solutions journalism includes the possible corrosion of journalistic impartiality.