CHAPTER 9
Our Collective Crisis and Constructive Journalism—Growing the Good and Possible
Kenn Burrows, Amber Yang, and Bethany Surface

The only war that matters is the war against the imagination

—Diane di Prima1

Welcome to our collective crisis. The signs are everywhere in a fragmented society incapable of civil dialogue and unable to solve its growing problems. Our shared crisis is twofold—first, a crisis of social disconnection; and second, a crisis of impaired imagination. Both are fed, in part, by a third crisis unleashed by the digital revolution and problem-focused news.

Medical experts cite loneliness and isolation as the primary public health problem in the United States.2 This is driven in part by the “shallow ties” of the digital age, with the average Facebook user having 338 friends yet feeling more alone than ever.3 Many are drowning in the busyness of digital life while isolating themselves through social media and online entertainment. A May 2018 survey of more than 20,000 adults revealed that most Americans are lonely, with 43 percent reporting that they felt isolated from others, with adults aged 18 to 22, known as “Generation Z,” comprising the loneliest generation of all.4

Furthermore, scientists have identified clear links between loneliness and illness, while noting that social isolation can even alter the human genome. Early human survival depended on communication and cooperation; thus, our greatest human need, after food and shelter, is for social connection. This leaves the United States—which highly prizes individuality—clearly at risk.5 The loneliness epidemic is also impacting other industrialized nations, including South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, a new government position, the Minister of Loneliness, was created to help manage this public health crisis.6

We propose that loneliness is not just an individual health problem, but also a societal problem. Our decline in social engagement may impact our abilities to work together to solve collective problems, leaving us feeling helpless and hopeless. Perhaps this diminished creativity is our ultimate crisis—a crisis of imagination. This crisis seems to be driven, in part, by today’s media and journalistic practices.

Journalism historically works to expose wrongdoing and generate awareness of possible threats. This fear-based, watchdog role is essential to a democratic society. However, it has led to an overload of news that feeds the evolutionary tendency of “threat awareness,” a biological and psychological response known as “negativity bias.” The recurrence of natural disasters, human failures, war, terror, and tragedy in the news contributes to a cycle of cynicism and disengagement.

Every crisis at its core is a failure of imagination. Where’s the empowering news that highlights human creativity and possibility? In a world gone awry with bad news, we have become passive consumers—instead of creative thinkers reaching out for justice and possibility.

This chapter calls for Constructive Journalism as a creative antidote to an exclusive focus on problem-based news. Constructive Journalism emphasizes our capacity to innovate and generate ideas, and foregrounds our social nature—highlighting community-generated news, solutions-based journalism, and the power of the arts to spark innovative thought and shared (positive) values.

At its best, journalism catalyzes and informs conversations and helps us consider possibilities for a wiser, more creative world. Armed with information, imagination, the willingness to engage one another, and a meaningful cause, we can and will solve the complex, deeply-rooted problems we face.

critical journalism informs about threats and public concerns—including critical examination of power inequalities, secrecy, accountability, and fairness/justice.

constructive journalism informs about interactive systems and creative possibilities, reinventing outdated narratives, and catalyzing collaboration and the common good.

THE THREE-FOLD “NEWS CRISIS” AND HOW CONSTRUCTIVE JOURNALISM CAN HELP

According to the Reuters Institute’s 2017 “Digital News Report,” less than half the population (43 percent) in 36 surveyed countries said they trust the media; in the United States, 38 percent reported actively avoiding the news.7 The report states, “People cluster to media organizations that fit their belief, and dismiss other outlets. The internet, once thought to open the world up to all the information possible and bring people together, has instead drawn people into their own corners.”8

Distrust and avoidance of vital news of the world around us threatens not only the future of journalism but also the basis for civil society itself; as Thomas Jefferson wrote, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”9 To get at the root of the public’s distrust for news media, let’s take a closer look at this ongoing news crisis:

(1) Access to responsible news is in decline. The business model underlying journalism is failing as newsrooms are forced to compete with Google, Facebook, and the digital media revolution. Over this past decade, one in five newspapers have closed—creating an expanding “news desert” of communities without local news coverage. A 2011 Federal Communications Commission report established “news adequacy at 50,000 reporters across the U.S.,” but today only 25,000 reporters have jobs, Jessica Cohen reported in a Spring 2019 Utne Reader article.10 Research shows that in the absence of local news coverage there is less civic engagement, less community participation, more misconduct, and the possible emergence of partisan news sites.11

(2) Trust in journalism is at an all-time low. News media have become more corporate and less likely to challenge the most powerful. The increases in fake news, alternative facts, and weaponized social media seem to have overtaken society, impairing our ability to distinguish truth, connect meaningfully, and act collectively. How then do newsmakers and consumers navigate this post-truth age of media, propaganda, and censorship?

(3) New media are driving the reinvention of journalism. In the aftermath of closures of newspapers, and the digital devaluation of journalism—not to mention the rueful effects such developments have had on public trust and engagement—how should the news be gathered and distributed, and what methods and ethics ought to guide the process? Journalism needs more than just a new business model for its long-term survival. Critical Journalism and the news media need to be reinvigorated by incorporating Constructive Journalism as an equal partner in an expanded, integrative model of the “news.” We can begin to envision constructive journalistic reforms by reevaluating how our evolutionary inheritance has shaped today’s news coverage and our crisis of imagination, and by proposing alternative models to better serve both our needs and the stories covered.

FEAR BIAS IN JOURNALISM AND OPENING TO THE GOOD AND POSSIBLE

Humans evolved to be fearful, since that helped keep our ancestors alive. Our minds and behavior are shaped by threats—real and unreal.

For more than two million years, the human nervous system has evolved to approach rewards or avoid hazards. Consequently, our brain and body generally react more intensely (with more neural activity) to negative stimuli than to positive ones. The amygdala (the brain’s alarm system) uses about two-thirds of its neurons to monitor for perceived threats, and it reacts milliseconds faster than the (rational) prefrontal cortex does. This emotional overreaction is called the “amygdala hijack.”12 This fear-based, emotional perspective creates two core perceptual mistakes: overestimating threats and underestimating resources and possibilities.13

Journalism is not separate from this reactive orientation to the world. Journalists can improve society by reporting harmful realities as well as helpful realities.14 However, reporters tend to focus more on the former, and miss reporting the latter. Most news is about what we fear. This constant reporting of possible threats creates a view of the world as mean and dangerous. Furthermore, research shows that negative news overload can lead news consumers to feel depressed, anxious, and helpless. A 2014 study by National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health found that 40 percent of those polled said the news is one of their biggest daily stressors.15 As Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said, “We call this loosely ‘the hope gap,’ and it’s a serious problem. Perceived threat without efficacy of response is usually a recipe for disengagement or fatalism.”16

The prospect of people disconnecting from news should worry journalists—but the possibility that relentlessly negative news might actually weaken citizenship is even more troubling.17 A 2008 study by the Associated Press showed that the prevalence of constant crises in news headlines contributes to a cycle of disengagement—leading to “news fatigue” and “compassion fatigue” as news consumers tune out the news and lose their motivation to help others participating in solving societal problems.18 In contrast, where’s the empowering news that highlights human goodness, creativity, and possibility?

Constructive Journalism: Growing the Good

Constructive Journalism is built, in part, on the principles of positive psychology—the scientific study of the world’s innate goodness and the conditions that help individuals and communities heal and thrive. Just as our negativity bias has helped us to survive, constructive positivity communicates what is right and trustworthy in the world, providing a signal that our surroundings are safe and that new ways of seeing and understanding are possible.19

Constructive Journalism moves the spotlight from victims to creators by employing two types of constructive news, Solutions Journalism and Engagement Journalism.

Solutions Journalism recognizes that people need to sense that problems can be solved, and that we can contribute to those solutions. We need journalism that not only informs but also inspires and activates. Possibility-oriented stories feed our imagination.

Engagement Journalism supports a “narrative of belonging,” bridging our differences while inspiring people to come together on matters of shared interest. It brings out the best in us, reducing social isolation and loneliness while emphasizing collective power and common good.

 

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CRITICAL JOURNALISM (FOCUS: PROBLEMS)

News producers and consumers alike need to employ critical thinking skills to navigate the complexity of today’s news media, especially to counter propaganda and disinformation campaigns. Critical thinking promotes healthy skepticism of systems of power, including their abuses of power, unaccountability and lack of transparency, and injustices. Critical media literacy is necessary “not only to engage with the media, but to engage with society through the media.”20 Critical Journalism highlights important public issues by

  1. asking key questions (analyzing what’s in the frame, and what’s left out);
  2. using credible resources that include diverse perspectives;
  3. supporting awareness of power dynamics within media and culture;
  4. considering the message’s intended audience; and
  5. creating evidence-based interpretations.

Examples:

SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM (FOCUS: INNOVATION)

Reporting problems is not enough. Journalists have a special role as storytellers, and possibility-oriented storytelling can greatly shape the cultural narrative. Journalists can do this by building on the traditional fact-based questions—who, what, where, when, why, and how—by considering a seventh question: What’s possible now?23 When solutions are underreported, reforms go unrealized. Yet when journalists include solutions in their reporting, they “empower communities and individuals, shift public discourse, and address complex social challenges.”24 People report higher levels of self-efficacy and motivation to take action after being exposed to Solutions Journalism.25 Similarly, the Institute for Applied Positive Research discovered remarkable results in a study of struggling communities in Detroit. Researchers found that solutions-reporting increased news readers’ problem-solving skills by 20 percent.26 The readers in the study who focused on solutions also reported feeling more energized, less anxious, more connected to community, and more confident that their city was improving.27

Three unique practices underlie solutions-oriented journalism: appreciative inquiry, design thinking, and innovation theory. Research in appreciative inquiry shows a direct relationship between what we imagine (possibilities) and what we create.28 Appreciative inquiry is the act of recognizing and exploring the strengths and capacities of people and organizations. As such, appreciative inquiry involves “a fundamental shift in the overall perspective taken throughout the entire change process to ‘see’ the wholeness of the human system and to ‘inquire’ into that system’s strengths, possibilities, and successes.”29

Design thinking and innovation theory help us orient to complex problems and root out how we limit ourselves from seeing game-changing solutions.

Design thinking employs our abilities “to be intuitive, to recognize patterns,” and “to construct ideas that have emotional meaning.”30 It emphasizes goals, rather than problems to be solved, because complex problems can be approached in different ways. Coevolution of this problem-solving process leads to strategic insights and a deeper understanding of each issue’s context. The following graphic illustrates the design thinking process:31

 

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Innovation theory shows how creative change becomes accepted—and who accepts it. The Rogers Adoption Curve shows how new ideas (solutions) are accepted and adopted, in the order that each group adopts them, and what percentage of the total population each group represents:32

Innovators: 2.5 percent (risk-takers who are first to embrace an innovation)

Early Adopters: 13.5 percent (movers and shakers who push innovation into the broader culture)

Early Majority: 34 percent (pragmatists who adopt innovation only after it is proven)

Late Adopters: 34 percent (conservative ones, cautious in embracing new ways)

Laggards: 16 percent (the last group to embrace change, who are often forced to do so)

Innovation theory targets innovators and early adopters in order to develop a critical mass of support, while also fostering media partnerships to educate the public (early majority and late adopters) and reporting ongoing change.

Examples:

ENGAGEMENT JOURNALISM (FOCUS: THE GREATER GOOD)

It’s time we reassert the human agenda. And we must do so together—not as the individual players we have been led to imagine ourselves to be, but as the team we actually are, Team Human.

—Douglas Rushkoff35

Engagement Journalism reduces the impact of loneliness by awakening a sense of connection (among individuals and within social systems) and by galvanizing the power of collective action. When people are socially engaged, they build collective efficacy—“the capacity of people to act together on matters of common interest.”36 In a fifteen-year study, Felton Earls, a Harvard professor of public health, showed that “collective efficacy” made the greatest difference in the health and well-being of individuals and neighborhoods throughout Chicago, more than wealth, access to healthcare, low crime levels, or any other factor.37

However, collective efficacy in our society has diminished steadily as social exclusion and disparities in wealth and income deepen. As this sense of separation builds, a meta-narrative emerges that either supports the breaking of communities (fear, anger, and othering) or the bridging of communities (belonging, empathy, and collective solidarity).38 The breaking of communities is frequently seen among social organizers, activists, and people who genuinely want an inclusive, caring society, but all too often organizers continue attempting to lead with the same ineffectual approaches of resistance and blame.

john a. powell, director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, is a strong voice for social connection. His intention is not to organize around hope or despair but to engage across our differences, and build “deep mutuality”39—what we are calling “engagement.” Examples of social engagement are everywhere, yet this is “a movement that doesn’t know it’s a movement.”40

Engagement Journalism supports social connection and news stories of successful breakthroughs. For example, Movement Journalism, an emerging project in the southern United States, publishes game-changing news stories of people “trying to build collective power and organizing together to make fundamental shifts in the power dynamics of our society.”41 Whether it is communities fighting for public education or activists advocating for the homeless, “deep down it is all the same work. It is building connection where there was no connection, creating relationships where there were no relationships, weaving thick neighborhoods where there were thin neighborhoods.”42

Engagement Journalism is a powerful force for awakening civic participation and supporting communities in making their own news. Here are five tools that have been used in Engagement Journalism that activists, reporters, and community members can employ to help improve society and its news:

#1: Meditation and Mindful Inquiry

Intimate relating begins with the self. It is a toxic fantasy to believe that we can be intimate with others when we have not learned (or are afraid) to be intimate with ourselves.

—Jerry A. Greenwald43

The first step in engagement is deepening and enriching your relationship with yourself. The regular practice of nonjudgmental, present-moment awareness expands our capacity to listen, relate, and connect compassionately to others. Mindful inquiry heals the illusion of separation that keeps us isolated and estranged. Journalists who focus on mindful inquiry promote the development of comfort in uncertainty and the complexity of systemic challenges.

Examples:

#2: Public Space and Collective Gathering

Shared places (such as parks, town squares, trails, nature centers, and libraries) belong to everyone. Strengthening civic commons counteracts gentrification and crime, lays groundwork for economic and social opportunity, and breaks down stark boundaries (for example, rich versus poor, or black versus white). News that highlights the value of the “Commons” is essential to our shared future.

Examples:

#3: Power of the Arts

The task of the artist . . . is to make the revolution irresistible.

—Toni Cade Bambara48

Art (including film, music, dance, and poetry) shapes the world by helping activists and community leaders become social catalysts, finding meaning in conflict, illness, and loss, and awakening and informing a slumbering humanity. Constructive journalists use art to bring stories off the page and into our lives—using art-infused reporting to highlight social issues. “Digital technology and increased competition have led journalists to employ more creative techniques to capture viewers’ attention, including multimedia storytelling, stylized visuals, and interactive techniques to create a more personal and emotional experience.”49

Examples:

#4: The Power of Play and Humor

Play is nothing less than the creation of the human we are meant to be. . . . We play to heal, not to defend, and in doing so create authentic playgrounds, time/places of safety and love, where everyone is included. We are beginners, allowing ourselves to touch and be touched by the wonder and mystery of the world. We feel our belonging.

—O. Fred Donaldson52

Mammals, including humans, learn best by exploring and playing. Play is essential to social-emotional intelligence, creative living, and complex problem-solving. Play and humor have a long history of helping activists speak truth to power while also awakening community awareness of the common good. Currently, many of us get our “news” from The Daily Show, or a mix of late-night television hosts who combine play, humor, and political commentary.

Examples:

#5: Storytelling, Symbol, and Metaphor

Storytelling is fundamental to human experience. Stories touch people on an experiential level. That’s where change occurs. We make sense and give meaning to our lives through stories, metaphors, and symbols. The new journalist understands that people need more than information. She/he will work with the community to be a force for good through positive storytelling.

Examples:

CONCLUSION

A crisis occurs when the old world isn’t working, and the new one hasn’t been born yet. This new world will not be created by old thinking and strategies, but rather by how we make meaning of our human condition and the greater good as it emerges. Constructive Journalism—that is, the combined strength of Solutions Journalism and Engagement Journalism, alongside Critical Journalism—reminds us that “facts” are not enough. We are just awakening to the profound significance of the creative process that is driving evolution, and the emerging role of “possibility journalism” in leading this revolution.

kenn burrows has been an educator and consultant for more than 30 years, teaching holistic health studies at San Francisco State University since 1991. He is founder and director of the Holistic Health Learning Center, a unique interdisciplinary library and community action center at the university. He is also a member of the executive board of Media Freedom Foundation, which oversees Project Censored, a national effort to educate the public about media literacy, the importance of independent news, and the common good. He also serves as faculty advisor to Project Censored’s San Francisco State University affiliate.

amber aang (BA, Psychology; minor, Holistic Health) has served as co-president of Project Censored’s San Francisco State University affiliate. She has been an educator for the San Francisco Unified School District as a paraprofessional for at-risk students with trauma and intensive emotional needs, and has extensive experience teaching yoga and mindfulness to youth. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in organization development at Sonoma State University.

bethany surface graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in holistic health. While attending the university, she was co-president of the Project Censored affiliate club for two years, where she researched and published numerous stories for the Project, planned and hosted community teach-ins on campus, and appeared on radio shows and at community events for Project Censored. She spent the last three years working as a personal consultant in the cannabis industry, combining the knowledge of her studies with the critical media literacy skills gained from working with Project Censored. She is currently studying and teaching yoga with her community, and is studying to become a yoga therapist and Ayurvedic practitioner.

Notes

  1. 1.

    Diane di Prima, “Rant (Revolutionary Letter #75),” Revolutionary Letters, 5th ed. (San Francisco: Last Gasp of San Francisco, 2007), 103–106, 104.

  2. 2.

    Emily Holland, “The Government’s Role in Combating Loneliness,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-governments-role-in-combating-loneliness-1505268240.

  3. 3.

    Steven Mazie, “Do You Have Too Many Facebook Friends?” Big Think, October 9, 2014, https://bigthink.com/praxis/do-you-have-too-many-facebook-friends.

  4. 4.

    Ellie Polack, “New Cigna Study Reveals Loneliness at Epidemic Levels in America,” Cigna, May 1, 2018, https://www.cigna.com/newsroom/news-releases/2018/new-cigna-study-reveals-loneliness-at-epidemic-levels-in-america.

  5. 5.

    Amy Ellis Nutt, “Loneliness Grows from Individual Ache to Public Health Hazard,” Washington Post, January 31, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/loneliness-grows-from-individual-ache-to-public-health-hazard/2016/01/31/cf246c56-ba20-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html.

  6. 6.

    Dan Hancox, “Why Countries Worldwide are Watching How the UK’s Newest Minister is Handling the Loneliness Crisis,” Shareable, March 26, 2019, https://www.shareable.net/why-countries-worldwide-are-watching-how-the-uks-newest-minister-is-handling-the-loneliness-crisis/.

  7. 7.

    Nic Newman with Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, David A.L. Levy, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, “Reuters Institute: Digital News Report 2017,” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, March 2019, http://www.reuterscommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/risj-digital-news-report-2017.pdf, 29.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816, printed in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Vol. 9, ed. J. Jefferson Looney (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 331.

  10. 10.

    Jessica Cohen, “Education in the News Wasteland,” Utne Reader, Spring 2019, https://www.utne.com/media/education-in-the-news-wasteland-zm0z19szhoe.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (New York: Bantam Books, 2005).

  13. 13.

    Rick Hanson with Richard Mendius, Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (Oakland, California: New Harbinger Publications, 2009).

  14. 14.

    Solutions Journalism, “Ten Reasons Why We Need Solutions Journalism,” The Whole Story (Medium), November 10, 2016, https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/ten-reasons-why-we-need-solutions-journalism-a4b29c663086.

  15. 15.

    NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard School of Public Health, “The Burden of Stress in America,” Public Opinion Poll Series, July 2014, https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2014/rwjf414295.

  16. 16.

    Christopher Reeve, “News and the Negativity Bias: What the Research Says,” The Whole Story (Medium), November 10, 2016, https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/news-and-the-negativity-bias-what-the-research-says-78a0bca05b11.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Martin Seligman, “The New Era of Positive Psychology,” TED Talk video, February 2004, https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.

  20. 20.

    Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, quoted in Akshat Rathi, “We Get the Journalism We Deserve,” Quartz, February 17, 2019, https://qz.com/1552503/media-literacy-is-crucial-to-help-sustain-high-quality-journalism.

  21. 21.

    John Michael Dulalas, Bethany Surface, Kamila Janik, Shannon Cowley, Kenn Burrows, and Rob Williams, “How Big Wireless Convinced Us Cell Phones and Wi-Fi are Safe,” in Censored 2019: Fighting the Fake News Invasion, eds. Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth with Project Censored (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2018), 48–52, https://www.projectcensored.org/4-how-big-wireless-convinced-us-cell-phones-and-wi-fi-are-safe/.

  22. 22.

    Julia Conley, “Despite Promises of ACA, Study Shows Two-Thirds of Personal Bankruptcies Still Caused by Illness and Medical Bills,” Common Dreams, February 7, 2019, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/despite-promises-aca-study-shows-two-thirds-personal-bankruptcies-still-caused.

  23. 23.

    Peggy Holman, “Journalism for Navigating Uncertainty: The Possibility Principle,” Journalism That Matters, September 18, 2013, http://journalismthatmatters.org/blog/2013/09/18/the-possibility-principle/.

  24. 24.

    Lindsay Green-Barber, “What We Know (And Don’t) about the Impact of Solutions Journalism,” The Whole Story (Medium), October 8, 2018, https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/what-we-know-and-dont-about-the-impact-of-solutions-journalism-61ae0c4a0890.

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    Michelle Gielan, Brent Furl, Jodie Jackson, the Solutions Journalism Network, and the Detroit Free Press, “Solution-focused News Increases Optimism, Empowerment and Connectedness to Community,” Institute for Applied Positive Research, March 2017, http://michellegielan.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Solution-focused-News.pdf.

  27. 27.

    Ibid, 4.

  28. 28.

    “Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry,” Appreciative Inquiry Commons, undated, https://appreciativeinquiry.champlain.edu/learn/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/ [accessed May 14, 2019].

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    Tim Brown and Jocelyn Wyatt, “Design Thinking for Social Innovation,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2010, https://ssir.org/articles/entry/design_thinking_for_social_innovation.

  31. 31.

    “Design Thinking and Social Innovation Overview,” Elon University, undated, https://blogs.elon.edu/innovationstudio/design-thinking-and-social-innovation-overview/ [accessed April 24, 2019].

  32. 32.

    John-Pierre Maeli, “The Rogers Adoption Curve & How You Spread New Ideas Throughout Culture,” The Political Informer (Medium), May 6, 2016, https://medium.com/the-political-informer/the-rogers-adoption-curve-how-you-spread-new-ideas-throughout-culture-d848462fcd24.

  33. 33.

    Amber Yang and Kenn Burrows, “Regenerative Agriculture as ‘Next Stage’ of Civilization,” in Censored 2019, 57–58, https://www.projectcensored.org/7-regenerative-agriculture-as-next-stage-of-civilization/.

  34. 34.

    Malcolm Pinson and Kenn Burrows, “Eight Use of Force Policies to Prevent Killings by Police,” in Censored 2018: Press Freedoms in a “Post-Truth” World, eds. Andy Lee Roth and Mickey Huff with Project Censored (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2017), 96–98, https://www.projectcensored.org/24-eight-use-force-policies-prevent-killings-police/.

  35. 35.

    Douglas Rushkoff, Team Human (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019), 7.

  36. 36.

    Tom Borrup, “5 Ways Arts Projects Can Improve Struggling Communities,” Project for Public Spaces, January 1, 2009, https://www.pps.org/article/artsprojects.

  37. 37.

    Ibid.

  38. 38.

    john a. powell, “Co-Creating Alternative Spaces to Heal,” Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, October 22, 2017, video uploaded to YouTube on November 20, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3gNspcW7Z8.

  39. 39.

    UpFront, “Could Increasing Housing Density Alleviate the Bay Area’s Affordability Crisis? Plus: The Othering and Belonging Conference Kicks Off April 9–10—We Spend the Hour with john a. powell” (audio recording), KPFA, April 3, 2019, https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-april-3-2019/.

  40. 40.

    “The Relationalist Manifesto,” Weave: The Social Fabric Project, Aspen Institute, February 2019, https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/2019/02/Weave-Relationalist-Manifesto.pdf.

  41. 41.

    Christine Schmidt, “A Survey of Independent Media in the South Asks If ‘Movement Journalism’ Can Help Newsrooms Better Cover Social Justice Strife,” Nieman Lab, August 14, 2017, https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/08/a-survey-of-independent-media-in-the-south-asks-if-movement-journalism-can-help-newsrooms-better-cover-social-justice-strife/.

  42. 42.

    “The Relationalist Manifesto” (Weave: The Social Fabric Project).

  43. 43.

    Jerry A. Greenwald, Creative Intimacy: How to Break the Patterns That Poison Your Relationships (New York: Penguin, 1987 [first published by Simon & Schuster in 1975]), 42.

  44. 44.

    James Gaines, “This School Replaced Detention with Meditation. The Results are Stunning,” Upworthy, September 22, 2016, https://www.upworthy.com/this-school-replaced-detention-with-meditation-the-results-are-stunning.

  45. 45.

    Jenn Director Knudsen, “Mindfulness Reduces Stress and Anger in Police,” Greater Good Magazine, August 1, 2016, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/mindfulness_reduces_stress_and_anger_in_police.

  46. 46.

    Nadia Khomami, “UK’s Largest ‘Disco Soup’ Attracts 1,000 People to London Market,” The Guardian, September 15, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/15/uks-largest-disco-soup-attracts-1000-people-to-london-market.

  47. 47.

    Amber Yang and Kenn Burrows, “Digital Justice: Internet Co-ops Resist Net Neutrality Rollbacks,” in Censored 2019, 71–73, https://www.projectcensored.org/15-digital-justice-internet-co-ops-resist-net-neutrality-rollbacks/.

  48. 48.

    Kay Bonetti, “An Interview with Toni Cade Bambara” (1982), in Conversations with Toni Cade Bambara, ed. Thabiti Lewis (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012), 35–47, 35.

  49. 49.

    Michael Blanding, “Journalism and Art: Complementary and Collaborative Storytelling,” Nieman Storyboard, March 28, 2016, https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/journalism-and-art-complementary-and-collaborative-storytelling/.

  50. 50.

    Eris Heim, “Focusing on Arts and Humanities to Develop Well-Rounded Physicians,” Project Censored, April 3, 2018, https://www.projectcensored.org/focusing-arts-humanities-develop-well-rounded-physicians/.

  51. 51.

    Michael Verity, “Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement,” LiveAbout (formerly at ThoughtCo), May 31, 2017, updated July 15, 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/jazz-and-the-civil-rights-movement-2039542.

  52. 52.

    O. Fred Donaldson, “Playing by Heart,” Touch the Future, undated, https://ttfuture.org/academy/o-fred-donaldson/o-fred-donaldson [accessed May 14, 2019].

  53. 53.

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