Choose Civility: Allegany County Podcast Brings Conservatives and Liberals Together
How do you react when political issues come up in conversation? Do you avoid these conversations altogether out of fear, anxiety, or anger? The escalation of partisan polarization in recent years has led to the destruction of friendships, relationships, and family ties. Neighbors avoid eye contact while checking for their mail, parents isolate their children from peers raised following the “other” party, and social engagement between students of differing ideology continues to dwindle.
But if we cannot so much as gaze in the opposite party’s direction, how will we ever engage in civil political discourse? Will we ever truly “reach across the aisle” again?
That is the question asked in Choose Civility: Allegany County’s 2022 Day of Civility podcast, which featured participants from both ends of the political spectrum. Guests were brought together through collaboration with FSU’s Communication Leadership Lab and the Choose Civility: Allegany County chapter, and ranged from current FSU students and staff and faculty to alumni in various fields of political and civic engagement.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Elesha Ruminski, director of the Communication Leadership Lab. Participants were asked pre-determined questions by Mr. Todd Lassa, Editor of local news outlet The Hustings, and student Delanie Blubaugh, The Bottom Line’s Editor in Chief. The podcast is now available on YouTube to be enjoyed.
Below is the official press release for the podcast:
What happened to civil discourse in America? How can we repair our nation’s propensity for contentious political discussion? To celebrate the annual Day of Civility in Allegany County on Thursday, April 7th, partners in the local chapter of Choose Civility began a new podcast where liberals and conservatives can talk to each other in a respectful manner. A rarity these days.
The podcast, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyb4xVPfB1M and through the Choose Civility: Allegany County page of the Allegany County Library System website, features a facilitated discussion among faculty, students, alumni of Frostburg State University, and the local community members listed below:
• Justin Brick, FSU Communication Studies senior and Communication Leadership Lab assistant
• RJ Caster, FSU alumnus and CEO, Techne Media
• Colin Creagan, FSU Mass Communication junior
• Tanya Gomer, FSU alumna, Grants Manager and Pretrial Risk Assessment Coordinator at the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center, Leadership Allegany! Alumni chair, and President of the Allegany County Republican Women’s Club
• Professor Tim Magrath, Associate Professor of Political Science at FSU, Director of the Beall Institute for Public Affairs, and former Field Representative for Senator Paul Sarbanes
• Patrick O’Brien, FSU alumnus and Director of FSU’s Office of Civic Engagement
With a focus on how to improve our ability to have constructive bipartisan political interactions, the discussion was led by Delanie Blubaugh, editor of FSU’s The
Bottom Line, and Todd Lassa, founding editor of The Hustings (https://thehustings.news/). Each periodical will link feature stories and editorials to the theme of political civility and this discussion. The Hustings invites listeners to continue the discussion by emailing comments to editors@thehustings.news.
The Choose Civility: Allegany County podcast series is a collaboration of the FSU Communication Leadership Lab and the Choose Civility: Allegany County chapter. The podcast was edited by Dr. John Lombardi of the Department of Communication. For more information and opportunities to partner, and biographies on the participants, contact Dr. Elesha L. Ruminski (elruminski@frostburg.edu) or the Choose Civility: Allegany County chapter via Renee Mason (rmason@alleganycountylibrary.info).
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