An interesting article on growing responses to the polarization in news reporting. I find this encouraging. Are these trends significant? Do you think we can reverse the tide? Note the reference to Braver Angels.
In the context of crucial midterm elections, Americans are polarized and are having trouble simply talking to each other and agreeing on basic facts. Some of the standard practices of the media in covering politics and controversy aren’t helping bridge that divide — and, in fact, are exacerbating it. Complicating this quandary: a news culture and social media universe that steamroll nuance and amplify extremes, and the corrosive tendency of the press to center the “game” of politics — and the candidates and officials who “play” it — versus the problems the electorate deeply cares about and wants addressed.
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Braver Angels uses “bridging” techniques — some of which derive from approaches used in couples therapy — to get people at extremes of the political spectrum to actively listen to each other. The group connects people through “Walk a Mile in My News” pairings “designed to break people out of their media silos by getting them to read articles from the other side of the political divide, and get to know someone who appreciates what those articles are saying,” according to a piece published on the Braver Angels website by Mónica Guzmán, senior fellow for public practice at the organization.
In the case of political news coverage, “a lot of people [just] don’t think that the people creating that media even know what their concerns truly are,” says Guzmán. In one session, two women — “red” Wynette and “blue” Vera — read and talked about voter rights and election integrity. Vera sent Wynette a New York Times piece that called restrictive voting laws “Jim Crow 2.0,” for example. Wynette sent Vera an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on two GOP lawmakers who deliberately used fake signatures as a test to apply successfully for absentee ballots. The women were ultimately able to have a civil, genuine conversation — and a better understanding of why they still disagreed on key points.
“When it comes to understanding what an issue is truly about, I think where we miss out … is taking the time to hear people [out] fully, not just, ‘What do you think? Tell me your opinion,’ but ‘Where did that opinion come from? What are the experiences that inform that for you? And then what are the concerns that animated for you?’ If you can get some of those experiences and concerns behind somebody’s opinion … you give your readers a way into that person’s perspective,” Guzmán says.
Source:
Political Coverage is Changing to Get Beyond ‘Us Versus Them’
A more nuanced depiction of voters and issues can help newsrooms better report on elections and political campaigns
By Celeste Katz Marston
Nieman Reports
https://niemanreports.org/articles/polarization-politics-midterms/
