How to lead a conversation between people who disagree | Eve Pearlman

159,997 views ・ 2019-04-22

TED


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Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz
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So in the run-up to the 2016 election,
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I was, like most of us, watching the rise in discord and vitriol
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and nastiness in our public spaces.
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It was this crazy uptick in polarization.
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It was both disheartening and distressing.
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And so I started thinking, with a fellow journalist, Jeremy Hay,
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about how we might practice our craft differently.
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How we might go to the heart of divides,
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to places of conflict,
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like journalists always have,
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but then, once there, do something really different.
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We knew we wanted to take the core tools of our craft --
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careful vetting of information, diligent research, curiosity,
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a commitment to serving the public good --
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to serving our democracy --
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and do something new.
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And so we mapped out this process,
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what we call dialogue journalism,
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for going to the heart of social and political divides,
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and then, once there, building journalism-supported conversations
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between people on opposite sides of polarizing issues.
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But how actually to do this in a world that's so divided,
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so deeply divided --
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when we live in a world
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in which cousins and aunts and uncles can't talk to one another,
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when we often live in separate and distinct news ecosystems,
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and when we reflexively and habitually malign and dismiss
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those with whom we disagree?
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But we wanted to try.
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And so right after the 2016 election,
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in that time between the election and the inauguration,
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we partnered with the Alabama Media Group to do something really different.
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We brought 25 Trump supporters from Alabama together
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in conversation with 25 Clinton supporters from California.
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And we brought them together in a closed, moderated Facebook group
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that we kept open for a month.
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What we wanted to do
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was to give them a place to engage with genuine curiosity and openness.
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And we wanted to support them in building relationships,
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not just with each other but with us as journalists.
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And then we wanted to supply facts and information --
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facts and information that they could actually receive and process
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and use to undergird their conversations.
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And so as a prelude to this conversation,
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the first step in what we call dialogue journalism,
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we asked what they thought the other side thought of them.
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So when we asked the Trump supporters from Alabama
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what they thought the Clinton supporters in California thought of them,
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this is some of what they said.
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"They think we are religious Bible thumpers."
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"That we're backwards and hickish, and stupid."
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"They think that we all have Confederate flags in our yards,
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that we're racist and sexist and uneducated."
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"They think we're barefoot and pregnant, with dirt driveways."
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"And they think we're all prissy butts
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and that we walk around in hoop skirts with cotton fields in the background."
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And then we asked that same question of the Californians:
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"What do you think the Alabamians think about you?"
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And they said this: "That we're crazy, liberal Californians."
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"That we're not patriotic."
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"We're snobby and we're elitist."
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"We're godless and we're permissive with our children."
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"And that we're focused on our careers, not our family."
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"That we're elitist, pie-in-the-sky intellectuals,
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rich people, Whole Foods-eating,
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very out of touch."
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So by asking questions like this at the start of every conversation
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and by identifying and sharing stereotypes,
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we find that people -- people on all sides --
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begin to see the simplistic and often mean-spirited caricatures they carry.
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And in that --
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after that, we can move into a process of genuine conversation.
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So in the two years since that launch -- California/Alabama Project --
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we've gone on to host dialogues and partnerships
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with media organizations across the country.
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And they've been about some of our most contentious issues:
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guns, immigration, race, education.
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And what we found,
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remarkably,
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is that real dialogue is in fact possible.
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And that when given a chance and structure around doing so,
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many, not all, but many of our fellow citizens
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are eager to engage with the other.
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Too often journalists have sharpened divides
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in the name of drama or readership or in service to our own views.
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And too often we've gone to each side quoting a partisan voice on one side
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and a partisan voice on the other
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with a telling anecdotal lead and a pithy final quote,
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all of which readers are keen to mine for bias.
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But our dialogue-based process has a slower pace and a different center.
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And our work is guided by the principle
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that dialogue across difference is essential to a functioning democracy,
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and that journalism and journalists have a multifaceted role to play
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in supporting that.
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So how do we work?
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At every stage, we're as transparent as possible
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about our methods and our motives.
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At every stage, we take time to answer people's questions --
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explain why we're doing what we're doing.
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We tell people that it's not a trap:
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no one's there to tell you you're stupid,
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no one's there to tell you your experience doesn't matter.
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And we always ask for a really different sort of behavior,
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a repatterning away from the reflexive name-calling,
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so entrenched in our discourse
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that most of us, on all sides, don't even notice it anymore.
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So people often come into our conversations a bit angrily.
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They say things like, "How can you believe X?"
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and "How can you read Y?"
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and "Can you believe that this happened?"
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But generally, in this miracle that delights us every time,
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people begin to introduce themselves.
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And they begin to explain who they are and where they come from,
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and they begin to ask questions of one another.
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And slowly, over time, people circle back again and again to difficult topics,
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each time with a little more empathy, a little more nuance,
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a little more curiosity.
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And our journalists and moderators work really hard to support this
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because it's not a debate, it's not a battle,
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it's not a Sunday morning talk show.
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It's not the flinging of talking points.
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It's not the stacking of memes and gifs
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or articles with headlines that prove a point.
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And it's not about scoring political victories with question traps.
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So what we've learned is that our state of discord is bad for everyone.
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It is a deeply unhappy state of being.
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And people tell us this again and again.
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They say they appreciate the chance to engage respectfully,
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with curiosity and with openness,
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and that they're glad and relieved for a chance to put down their arms.
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And so we do our work in direct challenge
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to the political climate in our country right now,
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and we do it knowing that it is difficult, challenging work
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to hold and support people in opposing backgrounds in conversation.
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And we do it knowing democracy depends on our ability
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to address our shared problems together.
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And we do this work by putting community at the heart of our journalistic process,
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by putting our egos to the side to listen first, to listen deeply,
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to listen around and through our own biases,
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our own habits of thought,
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and to support others in doing the same.
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And we do this work
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knowing that journalism as an institution is struggling,
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and that it has always had a role to play and will continue to have a role to play
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in supporting the exchange of ideas and views.
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For many of the participants in our groups,
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there are lasting reverberations.
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Many people have become Facebook friends and in-real-life friends too,
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across political lines.
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After we closed that first Trump/Clinton project,
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about two-thirds of the women went on to form their own Facebook group
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and they chose a moderator from each state
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and they continue to talk about difficult and challenging issues.
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People tell us again and again that they're grateful for the opportunity
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to be a part of this work,
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grateful to know that people on the other side aren't crazy,
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grateful that they've had a chance to connect with people
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they wouldn't have otherwise talked to.
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A lot of what we've seen and learned,
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despite the fact that we call ourselves Spaceship Media,
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is not at all rocket science.
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If you call people names, if you label them, if you insult them,
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they are not inclined to listen to you.
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Snark doesn't help, shame doesn't help,
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condescension doesn't help.
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Genuine communication takes practice and effort
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and restraint and self-awareness.
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There isn't an algorithm to solve where we are.
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Because real human connection is in fact real human connection.
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So lead with curiosity,
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emphasize discussion not debate,
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get out of your silo,
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because real connection across difference ...
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this is a salve that our democracy sorely needs.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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