Healing our democracy with balanced news, media bias ratings, and real conversation. AllSides exposes people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum so they can better understand the world — and each other. Our media technology is available for schools, nonprofits, media companies, and more.
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The news media can and should do a better job facilitating constructive citizen engagement — the kind of civic action that helps Americans right, left and center forge common ground and heal divides. This can be accomplished without compromising any journalistic principles. It isn't about telling anyone what to think or do. It's about putting a full range of options at every citizen's fingertips and letting them decide their best path forward.
Bridging the gap between information and action is exactly why The Fulcrum and Citizen Connect are embarking on an exciting new initiative. Bringing together a nationally recognized leader in cross-partisan journalism and an online platform that shares civic engagement opportunities from over 400 nonpartisan organizations is unprecedented. By joining forces, we will be able to seamlessly link political news stories to inspiring events and volunteer opportunities by the fall of this year. The organizations hosting these programs reflect the diversity of this great nation and were founded by Republicans, Democrats and independents. What they all have in common is a commitment to making America stronger by ramping up mutual respect, deep listening and pragmatic collaboration.
Right now, the media organizations most skillful at linking information and action aren't focused on collaboration and collective problem solving. They have very profitable business models based on triggering anger and fear. It's literally how they build, hold and engage their audience. Unfortunately, we are all suffering from what systematically fueling these negative emotions does to a democratic political system.
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Thankfully, these are not the only emotions that can be fostered by the media. We've all read news stories that open our hearts and minds to bigger possibilities for America — ideas that nourish a sense of hope, a recognition of common purpose and a yearning to play a personal role in supporting the nation we love. Landmark initiatives like America Talks, the National Week of Conversation and America in One Room prove that this isn't just wishful thinking. Initiatives like these have shown us that Americans from across the political spectrum can indeed come together, forge deeper relationships and identify actionable common ground.
However, to achieve meaningful change at scale we need to make it much easier for citizens to find these bridging and reform activities. How many times have we all read something that moved us only to have our busy lives sweep us away before we could follow up? That's why any realistic path forward needs to place relevant civic engagement opportunities "one click away" from whatever we're reading, listening to or viewing. Citizen Connect was created to make this vision a reality. With Citizen Connect, it's simple to find compelling events concerning issues you are passionate about, events that get you actively engaged rather than just sitting on the sidelines. And getting involved doesn't require a big investment in time — we have events that can fit into even the craziest of personal calendars.
Citizen Connect, together with our outstanding media partners The Fulcrum and AllSides, welcomes Americans with open arms regardless of political affiliation. Anger and fear are powerful motivators, but they exact a huge price personally and for the nation. Your media choices really matter to America's future — so consider cutting down on "us versus them" content and exploring and acting on alternatives that recognize we're ultimately all in this together. This shift in your "media diet" is not only important for healing America, but it is also much more interesting and rewarding.
To media companies and journalists, we invite you to join our pioneering partners — AllSides and The Fulcrum — in putting your readers in the driver's seat where they belong. You work very hard to share important ideas, stories and voices — it's time to make it dramatically easier for Americans to act on them by tapping into an amazing community of over 400 nonpartisan organizations.
We invite everyone to give Citizen Connect a test drive right now. You'll be amazed and inspired to see how many organizations and events want you to join in and help heal America!
As the debate over voting rights continues following the defeat of the For the People Act, The Fulcrum hosted a video discussion regarding the bill and Sen. Joe Manchin featuring Lee Drutman, Senior Fellow at New America; Chris Gates, Co-Director at Philanthropy Bridging Divides; and John Gable, Founder and President at AllSides.com.
Having civil conversations about politics can feel like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be that way.
To foster better discussions the focus should be on finding common ground, rather than concentrating on divisions. That's the aim of the National Week of Conversation, which concluded on Sunday.
While the event series is now over, democracy reform organizations are already looking to the future on how to continue these types of conversations, both on a larger scale and in everyday life.
The fourth annual National Week of Conversation kicked off on June 12 with America Talks, an event in which people were matched in one-on-one virtual conversations or small group discussions with individuals of differing political views. This led into a week of events hosted by democracy reform organizations to spur further dialogue and build connections on important issues.
When this initiative first launched in 2017, the Listen First Project and its member coalition hosted hundreds of conversations. But now, that reach has soared to more than 30 million people, said Graham Bodie, COO of the Listen First Project and a member of the America Talks team.
Part of that boost in participation is thanks to America Talks and the National Week of Conversation's inaugural partnership with USA Today and its network of 250 local news outlets. Leading up to the event series, USA Today invited readers to learn more and take part in the conversations.
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"By several measures I do think we succeeded in lifting the general spirit of the Listen First coalition and turning people's attention to a different way of being," Bodie said. "When we engage in those conversations we realize we have a lot more in common than the politicians would have us believe."
Moving forward, the Listen First coalition will be working on growing its base even more, especially when it comes to diversity. Overall, the participants in this year's events leaned white and progressive, Bodie said. For instance, during the one-on-one conversations for America Talks, there weren't enough Republicans to match up with Democrats.
John Gable, CEO of AllSides and a member of the America Talks team, said having political balance and diversity at these events and in conversations is critical to the outcome.
"Getting a bunch of progressives together at Berkeley to talk with each other does no one any good in the same way that getting a bunch of conservatives together in Texas doesn't," Gable said. "So it's not like the conversations weren't good if there's no political balance, they just didn't have any impact on the core mission we have."
Tying conversations to a specific issue area can help foster better diversity in a variety of ways, including political affiliation, Gable said. For future events, the Listen First coalition is looking to host discussions about current hot-button topics and issues in the news.
To have more productive conversations in everyday life, both Gable and Bodie agree that the focus should not be on what the other person thinks, but why they think that way.
"If you take the point of view of being truly curious about why they feel a certain way — not just what they feel — and ask questions to really understand, that completely changes the entire conversation," Gable said. "And usually if one person does it, the other person follows."
"We're all waking up to the potential for harm that technology can unleash on us."
Kristin Hansen is co-founder of AllSides Talks (formerly known as AllSides Connect), a technology platform that brings students from various backgrounds together to engage in constructive dialogue on difficult topics. AllSides Talks uses Mismatch, a tech platform that connects classrooms across the country with different political, socio-economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Hansen has been recognized by "Everyday Heroes," a collection of profiles of civic pioneers who are creating novel solutions to polarization in the United States. It's a companion series to "The Reunited States," an acclaimed feature documentary that follows everyday Americans seeking to bridge our political and racial divides.
EVERYDAY HEROES - Kristin Hansen, AllSides Connect youtu.be
