By Shannon Lukens.
The community is invited to a free showing of the film “Undivide Us.” The focus of the film is to learn, listen, and create a healthy and civil dialogue within the community, leading up to the 2024 election in November. The film focuses on disagreeing respectfully and improving public communication. It also shows how the polarization of American politics leads many to distrust their fellow citizens.
The screening will be hosted by Steamboat Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and Rocky Mountain Public Media as part of the “Above the Noise” Initiative. Partnerships in the project include Colorado Press Association, Colorado Media Project and Colorado State University’s Center for Public Deliberation.
- SHOWING #1 — 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the Allbright Family Auditorium at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs. REGISTER HERE
The showing of “Undivide Us” will be followed by a discussion on how to rise “Above the Noise” to heal the toxic political divide in the United States. The discussion will be led by Dr. Martin Carcasson, founder and director of the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University. His research focuses on helping local communities address differences through improved public communication, community problem-solving and collaborative decision-making.
Above the Noise Initiative
Colorado sources of local news—including newspapers, radio, TV, online, magazines and non-traditional community news sources—equals a total of 594 outlets. The Above the Noise initiative will create a stronger Colorado media ecosystem amidst a threatening landscape of lack of funding, resources, and capacity for these local news outlets across the state. This goal fosters a resilient and sustainable journalism ecosystem that adapts to and evolves with change, ensures equity in roles, and supports diverse and impactful storytelling.
Above the Noise Goals and Objectives
- 2024: Democracy and Civic Engagement
- 2025: Reconciliation and Healing
The film has won awards at several film festivals and focuses on identifying and healing this country’s vast and toxic political divides. The film’s producer Carri Conkol says:
“What happens when most Americans are silenced because they are too despondent or afraid to speak openly in schools or school board meetings, in college classrooms, in their communities, or at the family dinner table? We are dangerously close to a tipping point where the extremes on the right and the left make it impossible for the peaceful coexistence of varying viewpoints.
The growing divide of toxic polarization erodes our core American values like individuality, family, community, democracy, and freedom. It threatens and paralyzes the democratic institutions that make America the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. We are making this film to remind our fellow citizens that it’s ok to be different–that the acceptance and encouragement of diverse beliefs, cultures, and perspectives in our society is a feature and not a bug of the American system, and that they can lead the way to UNDIVIDE US.”
Rocky Mountain Public Media bursts the Colorado media bubble with Above the Noise newsroom partnership
