Today, our media ecosystem is intensely fractured. There are fewer and fewer shared sources of truth and more people relying on algorithmically curated, bias-confirming feeds as “news.” Our shifting media habits, combined with social media’s ad-driven, engagement-maximizing business model, have distorted our realities and polarized our communities. Today, the number of news organizations trusted by even a small percent of Americans on both sides of the aisle is almost non-existent. Yet, one of CHT's fundamental beliefs is that we must have shared understanding to collectively build wise solutions to our greatest challenges. 

We believe that reaching across ideologies and experiences to enhance deep listening, nurture understanding, and rebuild relationships is foundational to repairing our communities and tackling extractive technology. That's why we intentionally go places where people have not heard our message or may be naturally inclined to be skeptical of it. Informed by work on conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and relationship building, we actively engage with diverse and differing media outlets in order to help close society’s perception gaps. However, appearing on a show or outlet is not an endorsement of it. In fact, we often intentionally engage with those we disagree with because our job is to raise awareness and increase problem-solving abilities – for everyone – when it comes to the insidious effects of today’s extractive technology systems. 

Choosing to appear on channels whose content we may not endorse comes with immense responsibility. We strive to account for and minimize the downstream effects of this choice. First, we weigh the tradeoffs. In general, we believe that the benefit of having these conversations outweighs the harms when a host with a large audience is open to a thoughtful, respectful, learning-based discussion. Second, we take these opportunities to point audiences to experts who can provide more profound knowledge on contentious topics in which we may not have expertise. We know we are not neutral in these situations; instead, we are actively trying to close social perception gaps and deepen our capacity to build a more humane world.

Thank you for engaging and being on this journey with us.