At Media Party Chicago 2023, Sara Cooper presented My Country Talks, an initiative designed to combat affective polarization through private conversations between people with opposing political views. Using questionnaires to match ideological opposites, the platform fosters direct dialogue where democratic debate is most threatened.
Research from Harvard and Stanford shows that a single face-to-face conversation can significantly reduce animosity. Beyond individual impact, media outlets leverage these encounters to produce solutions-focused journalism, combining hard political data with human stories to build empathy.
Highlighting global initiatives like The World Talks, which connects people across 17 countries, Cooper invited newsrooms to join the movement and actively cultivate democratic dialogue to bridge deep ideological divides worldwide.
Don’t miss the full presentation! Watch Sara Cooper’s Keynote at Media Party Chicago 2023.
