skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Can What Unites Us End Toxic Polarization?

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 15, 2021   

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohioans of all political viewpoints and backgrounds are encouraged to learn how they can help defeat the toxic polarization plaguing the country.

This is a National Week of Conversation, designed to counteract the hostility often found online through understanding.

Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan Jr., executive director of the Ohio Council of Churches, said listening to differing points of view can challenge long-held beliefs and assumptions, which is understandably uncomfortable. He suggests starting a conversation with what unites us as human beings.

"As opposed to beginning with what we differ and what inflames us more," Sullivan suggested. "We have to figure out a way to neutralize the false sense of outrage and anger that are spewed out across society."

Instead of trying to sway someone's opinion on an issue, experts suggest less talking and more listening to understand their perspective. The National Week of Conversation promotes what organizers call "bridging norms," and features several virtual events each day.

Sullivan asserted what is good for our neighbors is also good for us, so whether motivated by faith or other reasons, he believes working toward a common good benefits everyone.

"We don't have to be bound by political parties or economic interests," Sullivan contended. "We could figure out some new ways to live to honor everybody and make sure everybody has clean water, nutritious food to eat, good-paying jobs, health care, good education. These are within our reach."

Sullivan urged religious groups and political leaders to forge conversations that can bring people together.

"If we were to subscribe to the values of love, justice, equity and built relationships and structures through which everybody can triumph, nobody would be trivialized," Sullivan concluded.

Disclosure: Ohio Council of Churches contributes to our fund for reporting on Human Rights/Racial Justice, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

Social Issues

play sound

Women are treated much differently than men by the criminal justice system, according to a new report detailing how and why mass incarceration is …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021