Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Transforming News: How Mediation Principles Can Depolarize Public Talk, Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

News media interviews bring opposing voices into the public forum where, ideally, audience members can deliberate and reach democratic compromise. But in today’s politically polarized atmosphere, partisans increasingly accuse each other of being a threat to the country, and prospects for compromise have suffered. Journalists have been urged to take a more affirmative role, promoting problem-solving and opposing conflict. They have stopped short, citing professional norms that demand a stance of neutral detachment.

This Article turns to the principles of transformative mediation. Like journalism, it is detached from any goal of settlement. It aims instead at increasing the capacity of …