Lee Bush, associate professor in the School of Communications, published an op-ed column on civil discourse in the Jan. 16 issue of the Greensboro News & Record.
In the article, titled “Does anyone care about maintaining civil discourse?” Bush points out the role everyday citizens play in spreading divisive rhetoric through social media.”
Excerpts from the column:
“Read through public comments posted on any news or social media site — be it CNN, Fox News, the Huffington Post or Facebook — and you won’t have to scroll far to see the words ‘idiots,’ ‘hate mongers’ or ‘shut up’ thrown back and forth between posters.”
“If we now live in a mass participation society — one in which you and I are also citizen journalists, gatekeepers of rhetoric, able to publish our unedited, 140-word tweets globally within seconds — then we too must take responsibility for correcting the tone and rancor of our political discourse.”
” … we now have in our hands, literally — in laptops, iPads and smart phones — devices that allow us to share ‘all the vitriol, all the time.’ There are multiple apps for that. But we also have in our hands the power to use our evolving networks to start a new kind of discourse; one that positions us as the viral leaders of political civility.”
Bush’s column appeared on page 1 of the Ideas section in the Sunday edition.