|
|
StoryCorps will record conversations between community members of opposing viewpoints
North Shore Community Radio has partnered with StoryCorps, the national nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs, as part of StoryCorps’ One Small Step Radio Station Hubs project. WTIP is one of six public radio stations across the country selected to receive training and production assistance to collaborate on StoryCorps’ One Small Step initiative, which facilitates conversation and connection between people of opposing viewpoints. One Small Step Communities is made possible with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
Executive Director Matthew Brown says, “WTIP is excited about the opportunity to partner with StoryCorps. We know how powerful this project will be for our community and how it will help us do our part to build community connection during these very divided times. We encourage our listeners and community members to apply to participate. This is a great opportunity to listen to and learn from, and with, each other.”
“Since StoryCorps’ founding almost 20 years ago, our mission has been to remind each other of our shared humanity through the act of listening. One Small Step builds on this work to address the crisis of contempt ripping at the seams of our nation,” said Dave Isay, StoryCorps’ founder and president. “We are grateful to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for supporting One Small Step, and to WTIP for partnering with us to gather and share recordings. The initiative is ambitious, but we’re confident that by working together in communities on the North Shore, we can show the country that an alternative to toxic polarization is possible.”
«One Small Step uses conversation to help people reach across political divides to find common ground,» said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “By working with local public radio stations to connect people with different backgrounds and political beliefs, One Small Step is helping stations strengthen their communities, one step at a time.”
About One Small Step
Launched by StoryCorps in 2018 in response to growing division in the country, and recently profiled by CBS’ “60 Minutes,” One Small Step is a nationwide initiative that provides two strangers who hold different views with the opportunity to take part in facilitated and recorded conversations— specifically to counteract intensifying political divides and to enable those who disagree to listen to each other with respect. Rather than spark additional political debates, One Small Step encourages answers to questions like, “Was there a moment, event, or person in your life that shaped your political views?” and “What scares you most when you think about the future?”
About the One Small Step Radio Station Hubs Project
Each year, StoryCorps partners with public radio stations to administer One Small Step, connecting people in their communities. The 2022 One Small Step Radio Station Hubs are WDET, in Detroit, Mich.; WUTC, in Chattanooga, Tenn.; KSUT, in Ignacio, Colo.; Georgia Public Broadcasting radio stations across the state of Georgia; WHQR, in Wilmington, N.C.; and WTIP, in Grand Marais, Minn. For recording dates and locations in these communities, visit storycorps.org/onesmallstep.
Two members of each participating station are trained by StoryCorps staff. The stations will receive program support and a customized set of professional recording equipment for in-person recording, as well as access to StoryCorps’ remote recording platform, which can be used to host conversations virtually. Trained station staff members will facilitate and record conversations between community residents of differing political persuasions and selected interviews will be shared across each station’s media platforms. Stations will also team up with a variety of community organizations to spread the word, and will collaborate with StoryCorps to match participants and record conversations through the end of the year. The project includes a series of public listening events, streamed online.
Public radio stations have played an integral role in helping StoryCorps realize its aspiration to touch the lives of every American. Since 2005, more than 150 stations in all 50 states have hosted the StoryCorps Mobile Tour, providing local access to a mobile recording booth that travels the country, reaching people of all backgrounds and providing opportunities to capture stories of communities that might otherwise go untold.
StoryCorps’ One Small Step initiative is made possible by the generous support of The Hearthland Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Charles Koch Institute. StoryCorps thanks these donors for their commitment to this project and to bridging divides in America.
Leave a Reply