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A crowd of protesters in Times Square, New York City, with one person holding a sign that reads "PROJECT 2025 is CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM" by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The sign includes the hashtags #StopProject2025 and au.org/project2025. The background features prominent advertisements, including a Meta billboard and the Nasdaq building.

Rumors of Project 2025’s Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

Socialism vs. capitalism

Can you define socialism?

Department of Veterans Affairs building

Project 2025: The Department of Veterans Affairs

Donald Trump at a podium

Can’t we get back to solving problems?

The women who lead democracy reform

Sara Bonk, Jackie Salit, Justine Williams
Shakira Mills
By Shakira MillsMar 14, 2022
Shakira Mills
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While women remain significantly underrepresented in government, there is at least one adjacent field in which they have achieved gender parity in leadership: the universe of democracy reform and bridge-building organizations.

In its 2021 Diversity Report, the Bridge Alliance found that half of the executives leading its 100 member organizations are women. (Disclosure: The Fulcrum is a program within the Bridge Alliance, which brings together organizations working toward a healthy democracy.)

To mark Women’s History Month, The Fulcrum is spotlighting just some of the women leading these organizations.

Karen Suhaka

Karen Suhaka, Bill Track 50

Founder and President, Bill Track 50

"I founded BillTrack50 to make our democracy more democratic by helping everyone understand and participate in the legislative process. I really admire Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America, for her practical approach to getting everyday people involved in improving our government, and Jennifer Briney, of the Congressional Dish, podcast for helping us all understand Congress."

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People protesting for voting rights in front of the Capitol
Governance & Legislation

Project 2025: The Voting Rights Act

person hacking a website
Media & Technology

The end of privacy?

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Hugo Balta

Meet the change leaders: Hugo Balta

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Hugo Balta is a 30-year multimedia journalism veteran with multiple market and platform experience that includes leadership positions at NBC, Telemundo, ABC, CBS and PB. He is a two-time president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Balta, who lives in Chicago with his family, is the publisher of the Latino News Network. LNN’s mission is to provide greater visibility and voice to the Hispanic-Latino community, amplify the work of others in doing the same, mentor and provide young journalists with real world experiences, and apply the principles of solutions journalism in producing stories focused on the social determinants of health and democracy.

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Sen. Robert La Follette

Sen. Robert La Follette led the way on election reforms 100 years ago. There's another way upon us now.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Will election reforms make a difference (again)?

Klug served in the House of Representatives from 1991 to 1999. He hosts the political podcast “Lost in the Middle: America’s Political Orphans.”

As Mark Twain famously wrote: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

At the turn of the 20th century, a wave of political reform swept the country, led by Wisconsin Sen. Robert La Follette and his sometimes ally — and often sparring partner — President Theodore Roosevelt.

Today it seems hard to believe that one of their cornerstone initiatives was even necessary: They reached halfway across the world to steal from the Australians the secret ballot. Before then, pre-printed, filled-out ballots were handed out by political machines in major U.S. cities.

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Archive Photos/Getty Images

A solutions journalism approach to covering democracy (not politics)

Balta is director of solutions journalism and DEI initiatives for The Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is publisher of the Latino News Network and a trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network.

The 2024 presidential election poses a unique set of challenges and opportunities for journalists tasked with covering it. Today's audiences expect more from news media than just the traditional “who is leading in the polls” reporting and problem-focused coverage. They are calling for a shift towards highlighting responses that address community challenges.

People across the country are feeling frustrated and disillusioned with U.S. politics and the journalism that reports on it. While coverage often focuses on extremes, poll numbers, accusations, and sensational statements, research shows that this approach falls short of meeting the public's needs. What people truly desire is news that helps them comprehend and navigate the complexities of the world around them.

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wallet with dollar bills, on top of an American flag
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Everyone votes with their wallet

Sturner is the author of “Fairness Matters” and managing partner of Entourage Effect Capital.

This is the fifth entry in the “Fairness Matters” series, examining structural problems with the current political systems, critical policies issues that are going unaddressed and the state of the 2024 election.

Let me start by saying that I’m a capitalist whose study of economics was forged in business school in the early 1980s, grounded in Milton Friedman’s view of neoliberalism and an embrace of the free market. But, as any good student of Friedman will tell you, we don’t actually live in a free market economy, because our markets are distorted by the hand of the government.

But that’s just the starting point for this discussion. If you’re like me, and you too vote with your wallet, then it’s important to understand how narratives used by the politics industry distort reality and influence public opinion.

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