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Evelyn Messinger

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    Media

    Is there a solution to the news problem from hell?

    Evelyn Messinger
    October 18, 2022
    Moberly, Missouri

    The News Ambassadors program will help the people of Moberly, Mo., (above) and Brooklyn learn about one another.

    larrybraunphotography.com/Getty Images

    Messinger is the founder of Digital Citizen, a media engagement nonprofit that 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.

    This is the news problem from hell: a profound division in how the media portray what is true. The problem isn’t new – it’s baked into the U.S. Constitution – but today it’s worse. Online platforms pretending to carry news array their wares before me; “us” or “them” are the only choices. Toxic cable channels boost ratings by selling me biased reporting and fabricated facts.

    I know deep down I am an idiot to bite, but I bite.

    Then there’s the hyperpartisanship. I live in an all-encompassing info-bubble that always shows me how I am right and those others are wrong. And put a cherry on top of this poisonous sundae: A lethal dose of extremist lies from the far right fringe is creeping into accepted political discourse. Add it up and the role of news reporting in this democracy is under threat.

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    media bias

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    Civic Ed

    A place to go: How democracy can save itself

    Evelyn Messinger
    August 13, 2019
    The Mismatch chatroom will be framed with ample instructions and safeguards, such as this original design.
    How Mismatch by AllSides Heals Political Polarization
    www.youtube.com

    Messinger is the founder of Digital Citizen, a media engagement nonprofit that connects Americans to their leaders, each other, and the world.

    At summer's end, families buy school supplies and young people hit the town on warm nights. On just such a weekend, the nation was again shattered by mass shootings: this time in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso. The media coverage, complete with pundits debating gun regulations and mental illness, kicked in immediately. Even President Trump said a few healing words.

    What was missing was the voice of the public. What was missing was a place where we Americans, when troubled and saddened, could go to safely connect to each other and our leaders, a place where we might discuss how to solve this horrific problem.

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    civic ed
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