Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Digital Citizen

Digital Citizen, a pioneer in citizen engagement media since 1998, connects Americans to their leaders, each other, and the world.

Our deeply divided nation agrees on one thing, at least: Your facts and my facts are irrevocably different.


Digital Citizen is a pioneer in citizen engagement media since 1998 that connects Americans to their leaders, each other, and the world. As a strategic partner in innovative media design, the non-profit produces for television and the Internet, and combines media and mediation in numerous projects in the U.S. and around the world, working with organizations including PBS.org, the World Bank, The Bridge Alliance, Oakland Tribune, United Republic, Twin Cities Public TV, Link TV, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, and many more.

Digital Citizen has been involved in a range of projects, including under our original name, Internews Interactive. These include the News Ambassadors radio pilot; the Goldziher award for journalists in 2017, 2019 and 2022; the TV and web video series This Planet; and a special program about the 2016 US election for Link TV and KCET.

Citizen engagement projects history

Besides contributing to the engagement community’s vital work through frequent writing, we remain involved in connecting Americans and Russians in dialogue, and have produced a number of TV and online projects, including the 2013 Real Dialogues “Work & Wages” project and Digital Citizen 2012. InterAct grew out of our work in the analog era, connecting Americans to the world using technologies like satellites to produce the Emmy Award-winning Spacebridges, and videoconferencing for Vis a Vis and other TV series. Clips of citizen engagement programs we produced in the US and around the world between 1998 and 2004 can be seen at our Archive Page. Articles we have written and news stories about our work can be found at the Archive: Articles page of this website.

This short video from the Transpartisan Leadership Workshop at the World Affairs Council of Northern California provides a good overview of Interact’s work:


Read More

A U.S flag flying.

Constitution Day gets little fanfare compared to July 4th, but an attorney argues it should remind every American of their role in defending democracy.

Prasit photo/Getty Images

Defending the Constitution Is a Year-Round Responsibility—No Oath Required

For 250 years and counting, Americans have celebrated Independence Day on July 4 through fireworks, concerts, parades, barbecues, and more. By contrast, Constitution Day arrives soon after, on September 17, with far less fanfare. It is not a time to hear patriotic medleys on the radio, enjoy 20% off a new air-conditioner, watch a hot-dog-eating contest, or exchange cheerful greetings with neighbors. The observance marks the anniversary of the moment when 39 delegates signed our nation’s founding document at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Constitution Day came and went last month with little public awareness. But the observance should inspire all Americans to protect our cherished Constitution throughout the year.

Presidents of the United States recite an oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” This oath, familiar to many Americans who watch Inauguration Day ceremonies, is mandated by the Constitution itself (Article II, Section 1, Clause 8). Public officials, judges, service members, and lawyers like me also swear oaths to support the Constitution as part of their public or professional roles.

Keep ReadingShow less
Capitol building
white concrete building during daytime

Congress Broke the Constitutional Order — And Now They Want Voters to Forget

How can leaders who broke the constitutional order, ignored their oath, weakened rights, and harmed the people now ask Americans to forget — and reward them with reelection? The question is not abstract — it goes to the heart of what the Constitution demands from those who swear an oath to uphold it.

The constitutional order is the framework that protects the Republic: three branches, checks and balances, oversight, limits on executive power, and the oath every member of Congress swears — to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Yet in recent years, Congress has allowed that order to erode. Oversight collapsed. Guardrails bent. Silence replaced accountability. Loyalty to a president replaced loyalty to the Constitution.

Keep ReadingShow less
MICROPHONE WITH FLAG

Microphone with flag

Photo provided

On the Ballot, But Not the Stage: Illinois Independent Faces Familiar Debate Lock Out

CHICAGO, Illinois — Independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett held a press conference outside WTTW Chicago studios Tuesday demanding access to an upcoming candidate forum on October 13 that will feature Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey.

- YouTube youtu.be

Keep ReadingShow less