The re-released paper and its contributors discuss a range of approaches to reforming our public square.
By Matt Leighninger
Full paper published at www.medium.com/infogagement
In 2014, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) released a paper entitled, Infogagement: Citizenship and Democracy in the Age of Connection, written by Public Agenda’s Vice President of Public Engagement Matt Leighninger, which delved into the intersection of journalism, technology, and civic engagement. The original paper was inspired by the prediction that these worlds were on a collision course.
Today, there is no more decisive moment to delve into that collision–and how it continues to shape American democracy. With support from the Rita Allen Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, PACE has re-released this important paper, with a new introduction from Matt, and a series of commentaries from thought leaders across these fields.
With this re-launch, made possible by support from the Rita Allen Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the paper and its contributors discuss a range of approaches to reforming our public square–from re-invigorating youth engagement to tackling the plague of online disinformation and reforming the trust deficit in big data.
Contributors to the project include: Kelly Born, Program Officer for the Madison Initiative at the Hewlett Foundation; Jennifer Brandel, CEO and Co-Founder of Hearken; Jenny Choi, Associate Director of the News Integrity Initiative; Lilian Coral, Director of National Strategy at the Knight Foundation; Darryl Holiday, Co-founder and Labs Director at City Bureau; Micah Sifry, Co-founder of Civic Hall; Abby Keisa, Director of Impact at CIRCLE, DC Vito, Co-founder of the LAMP Project, and Josh Stearns, Director of Public Square Program, Paul Waters, Senior Associate, and Tom Glaisyer Managing Director of the Public Square Program, at the Democracy Fund.
