Submitted by montanacate on Sun, 12/27/2009 – 1:50pm
Session Reporter: Cate Montana
Conversationalist 1: Nancy Amidei
Conversationalist 2: Cate Montana
The meaning gleaned from our conversation was most likely the same as the fundamental meaning of the whole conference: the vital importance of people from different perspectives connecting and addressing issues, and the rich harvest of ideas and possibilities that comes from such a diverse connection.
Although neither Nancy or I are directly connected with the field of journalism, (at least not anymore!) it was instantly clear we are both deeply concerned about the quality of information the press disseminates, and agree how important it is that a broad spectrum of unbiased ideas and voices be heard.
Nancy’s current “bee in the bonnet” is that she is “troubled by the degree journalists are speeding up the general cynicism for the government.” She cited as an example a recent joke cracked by NPR Weekend Edition host, Scott Simon: “How do you address a former felon?” Answer: Senator. Nancy points out, “I think journalists are not being self-critical enough. They are not aware of how they are contributing to the problem.”
Cate would like to see “direct channels of information to all levels of government develop, so that individual and group innovations in areas such as drug abuse, poverty, education, economics etc. can get to the right people so that effective programs they can be implemented on a broad scale.”
Both of us were delighted and inspired by our conversation. Nancy was especially relieved to hear my positive stories about a conference I attended that employed Open Space Technology. Both of us can’t wait to meet each other in person!