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I want to say something to our readers and our supporters here at Civic News Company about last week’s presidential election. However you voted, many of us right now are united in a sense that our politics are broken — and that our country may not be able to take on the challenges we face.
I think we can. But to get there, we have to repair something that goes deeper than politics. We have to repair the fabric of our civic life.
Healthy civic exchange across diverse American communities — real-life, non-virtual communities — has been fraying for decades. But that erosion has sparked a counter-force, a fledgling movement for civic renewal. People trading toxic shouting for real conversation. Communities crossing divides. Journalists like us forming outlets like Chalkbeat, Votebeat, and Healthbeat, where people can get trustworthy reporting about issues in their communities, in defiance of polarization and misinformation.
The truth is that when Americans get the tools to work on real issues in their local communities, they solve problems and create healthier politics. They become what we at Civic News Company call “civic catalysts.” They show up to public meetings; they start organizations; they run for office.
We’ve seen this in our work at Civic News Company through both the Trump and Biden years. We’ve seen ordinary people take action to bolster the integrity of their county elections after Votebeat reports on proposed or real changes. We’ve seen parents and students become aware through Chalkbeat of well-intended changes in education laws that went awry and work to overturn them. In many cases, we have seen Republicans and Democrats work together, changing course when Chalkbeat and Votebeat’s reporting showed them that their actions harmed fair voting or local schools.
We need many more civic catalysts. Because whether you find the potential policies of the second Trump administration thrilling or terrifying, you have to see that our country has challenging business in front of us. We’ll have to consider and track Trump’s explosive policies as they shape life in actual communities, from promised deportations to his proposal to eliminate the Department of Education to the possibility of a vaccine skeptic holding the highest public health position in the land.
Trump aside, schools face an “education depression”: Student achievement has declined for the first time in decades (a trend that actually preceded Covid). Since Civic News Company has started reporting on public health with the launch of Healthbeat this summer, we’ve learned that many experts see another pandemic as not an if but a when. Meanwhile, our public health system remains unprepared, and on top of that faces a public health skeptic in the incoming president.
Pillars of our democracy that we were fortunate to take for granted now require vigilant attention. The U.S. system for elections was severely tested, and while it actually came out stronger, it is nonetheless plagued by distrust. The Jan. 6 attack and two recent assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump show a rising tendency toward political violence. And our media is corrupted by misinformation, magical thinking, foreign interference, and a fourth estate reduced both by diminishing economic prospects and declining credibility.
In the face of these challenges, we cannot throw up our hands. We have to enter the arena. Like you, our readers and supporters, already do.
You support organizations like ours as a vote for a healthier democracy.
And you are yourselves civic catalysts.
You are teachers, young people, and parents who look out not just for your own interest, but ask what’s going on in your community and what you can do to help. You are voters, election officials, and poll workers who monitor democracy’s most precious system, and take action if a law or policy threatens it. You are community leaders who work to improve your neighbors’ health.
You are the reason I know that we can set toxicity aside and start solving the big problems in front of us. And you inspire me to be my own civic catalyst, in the best way I know how — doing everything in my power to keep Chalkbeat, Votebeat, and Healthbeat strong. With your support, we can help you make this country a better place, one local issue at a time.
Elizabeth Green is the founder and CEO of Civic News Company.
