Guns, An American Conversation
How to Bridge Political Divides
By The Editors at Spaceship Media
From Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters: Can complete strangers representing every point along the political divide engage in civil and productive discourse on the topic of gun control?
As Americans, we spend a lot of time talking about guns. With the political division in the country, evidenced by the Capitol insurrection and voter fraud protests, it’s not surprising that we rarely have real conversations with people whose ideas don’t align with ours about gun ownership. Democrats and liberals usually talk with other Democrats and liberals, not Republicans and conservatives.
That is, perhaps, why the country is so divided when it comes to reducing gun violence.
Guns, an American Conversation features the results of a fascinating nationwide conversation about guns. A group of 150 strangers were brought together in a month-long moderated Facebook group chat. They featured teachers, Second Amendment advocates, hunters, police officers, and mothers and fathers from across the political spectrum and the fifty states.
Together, they participated in a project meant to foster civil, yet honest, dialogue between people whose backgrounds and beliefs led them to have opposing views on the issue of gun control.
Guns attempts to map out common territory in a nation driven by profound divides. It includes real information about gun laws in the United States, providing the reader with tools to continue the discussion in their own lives. With sidebars, charts, and graphics that are clear and easy to navigate, Guns might not change your mind about gun control, but it will help you learn to cross divides in conversation as America navigates the way forward on this difficult issue.
Publisher: Tiller Press (October 13, 2020) | Length: 192 pages | ISBN13: 9781982132989
“Eve Pearlman and her team at Spaceship Media have produced the clearest and most inspiring guide to civil discourse I’ve seen to date. This is so much more than a book about guns. This is a soul-nourishing and provocative vision of a world in which conversation, community, and technology can bring us closer together instead of further apart — and one that provides us all with the tools we need to get there. Ultimately, through the stories of others, Guns, An American Conversation reminds us of our own potential for decency and humanity. If a small team of journalists and a moderated Facebook group could build genuine community and nuanced conversation around the ever-divisive issue of guns, you just might be able to have a thoughtful conversation with your crazy uncle at Thanksgiving.” —Lisa Conn, cofounder and COO, Icebreaker, an online community events organization
“This book isn’t just about guns. It’s about learning to live in the same world with other people.” —Laurie L. Putnam, San Jose State University
“How do we find “we the people” in our polarized nation? Guns, An American Conversation offers a roadmap using dialogue and journalism to tackle complex, conflicted issues. By connecting with curiosity and compassion, people discover their shared humanity. Try it. —Peggy Holman, cofounder Journalism That Matters, author, Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity, and coauthor, The Change Handbook
“In a time marked by polarization and division, Pearlman offers us an optimistic blueprint for engaging across our differences in the pursuit of deeper understanding. Guns, An American Conversation is perfect for anyone interested in doing the difficult work of democratic citizenship that begins with talking with one another, not at each other. Our most challenging issues require nothing less.” — Cristin F. Brawner, Executive Director, David Mathews Center for Civic Life
“In this persuasive account of how “dialogue journalism” can foster understanding and empathy among people whose views are deeply divided, Eve Pearlman vividly recounts the life-changing conversations about guns that her groundbreaking organization hosted. The take-you-there detail allows readers to learn along with the participants and arrive with them at a sense of “hopefulness.” —Paula Ellis, Poynter Institute Trustee, Kettering Foundation senior association, National Conference on Citizenship director
“Eve Pearlman and Spaceship Media show the way for journalism and every citizen in society to relearn how we can have respectful, informed, and productive conversations with each other. This is a manual for a better democracy.” —Jeff Jarvis, author of Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New Futures for News and Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live
“Guns, an American Conversation offers a rare bit of hope in this polarized time that Americans are still capable of upholding the fragile core values that underpin our democratic experiment in self-governance: to deliberate over matters of public interest, consider other points of view, and make well-informed choices.
“The real-world efforts in this book show that people experiencing facts together in the context of dialogue and respectful disagreement reach greater understanding than [just] pelting facts at people. Equally, Guns inspires readers to, at the most defensive of moments, slow down, reinvigorate our curiosity about others’ perspectives, and measure our own words carefully. It is a new way to rebuild democratic communities in multicultural America.” —Subbu Vincent, Director, Journalism and Media Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
“Guns, An American Conversation shows that, not only are complicated and nuanced conversations possible in the midst of what seems like never-ending turmoil and tribalism, they are necessary if we have any genuine intention to make progress in collaborating toward solutions. The work of Spaceship Media is a clear and accessible roadmap to putting dialogue journalism into practice across the spectrum of difficult conversations we all need to be having.” —Heather Bryant, founder Project Facet
This book offers practical guidance and a host of resources for news organizations seeking to experiment with dialogue journalism, including clear steps to follow to facilitate productive conversations and many lively examples of how debate can play out in a constructive if impassioned way. The point is not to change minds, necessarily, but to open space for listening to each other and ensure that arguments have a factual basis. Many have long espoused these goals, but Spaceship Media is taking concrete steps toward making them happen, and what they have learned will be useful as this country continues to wrestle with many painful divides.”
—Carrie Brown, social journalism director, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
“This book offers a timely case study in the practice of dialogue journalism—an innovative model that uses journalism to support nuanced conversations on polarizing issues. As it unpacks the complexity of the gun debate in the U.S., it offers valuable insights on a process that should be of interest to journalists, journalism educators and students, and anyone interested in bridging divides.” —Andrea Wenzel, PhD, author of Community-Centered Journalism: Engaging People, Exploring Solutions, and Building Trust
“This engaging book is both a close-up exploration of Americans’ complex beliefs about guns, and a handbook for how journalism can engage deeply to bring citizens together across differences. “Dialogue journalism” offers journalists a path toward a more meaningful public service role and deepens the civic bonds on which democracy depends. In a time of unprecedented challenges for journalism and society, Guns, An American Conversation offers hope for both.” —Regina Lawrence, Associate Dean, School of Journalism and Communication,
University of Oregon
“Too much of what passes for engagement in American journalism puts journalists at the center of the work. Spaceship Media’s model is different. Instead of encouraging the public to help journalists do their jobs, Dialogue Journalism asks journalists to help the citizenry do its job -- by holding space for honest, informed and empathetic conversations among people who profoundly disagree on matters of civic importance like gun violence. It’s a model that, allowed to scale, could create the social capital and trust in media necessary for democracy to thrive.” —Linda Miller, board member, Journalism that Matters