CDP Resource: Listening & Learning with "I" Statements

This resource is an accompaniment to our podcast, “I” Statements, where people with different identities come together to share their own beliefs, experiences, and perspectives, demonstrating both the power and the possibility inherent in communicating across difference.

Episode transcript

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kathryn, Khary, and Rachel talk about what they’ve been taught regarding objectivity, how it can show up in science and journalism and among friends and family, and when aspiring for objectivity undermines nuanced and accurate stories about power.

Discussion Questions

• What have you been taught about separating facts from feelings? Separating facts from biases? Separating facts from opinions?
• How do you make decisions about which media you consume? What role does objectivity play in these decisions?
• What role does objectivity play in your reactions to the media you consume?
• In what ways can a lack of representation/diversity in a profession (e.g., journalism, psychology, politics) skew the output produced by people working in that field?

Writing Prompt

How do you understand objectivity? What role do you think objectivity does play in society now? What role do you think objectivity should play in society now?

Related Readings

• A reckoning over objectivity, led by Black journalists (Lowery, 2020)
• How Trump should change the way journalists understand “objectivity” (Illing, 2020)
• The pitfalls of “objectivity” (Warner, 2017)
• The unbearable whiteness of mesearch (Ray, 2016)
• Awareness of our biases is essential to good science (Potochnik, 2020)