Closing the gap that divides us

A few days after we dug out from the last snowstorm, we headed South. We bought a small place in Florida for the few unbearable Iowa winter months.

So, we’ve been meeting new people and getting acquainted. Happy hour every day at 4:15 has us finding out what we have in common with other Yankees yearning for sun.

We have quite a bit in common with the people we’ve met. They may be from different political parties, social backgrounds, and different parts of the country, but there’s commonality.

I started thinking about why America is divided and seems lacking in a common identity and purpose. It’s too easy to shrug and blame the other political party. There are many factors contributing to this divide, but two factors are the demise of local newspapers and the explosion of social media. It took years for this divide to become dangerous. Now is the time to build bridges instead of walls.

• The demise of local news.

It’s not a secret that many local newspapers across the country, and in Iowa, are on hospice care. Philip Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, said, “Journalism is the first draft of history.” We’re losing first drafts, along with common history and identity.

For example, The Jesup Citizen Herald recently died after printing for 122 years. But small-town newspapers aren’t the only casualties.

In May of 2023, Lee Enterprises announced the Sioux City Journal, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil would provide print editions only three days a week.

Why does this matter?

Yes, print editions may die. But no matter how well-done online publications are in covering local news, shrinking newspapers are shedding journalists and coverage. Those left are doing double duties.

Local TV news is available, but the local news must compete with national headlines and commercials crammed into 30 second sound bites for 30 minutes.

Many choose TV news outlets that mirror their beliefs. If you’re conservative, you watch Fox or One America. If you’re liberal, you relish MSNBC. We’ve traded objective news coverage for news that makes us comfortable instead of informed.

Not having ready access to local news hurts in developing a common town culture and it prevents people from understanding each other within the community.

• Social media isolates.

Through social media, it’s now possible to find long lost friends and connect. But that connection is often superficial.

Social media also isolates us. It allows groupthink without being face to face with a group. Because we can tailor content to our own beliefs it reinforces those beliefs, and we never encounter disagreement if we choose not to. This results in never listening to the other side or critically thinking about our own position.

The only way this divide will be mended is through conversation and by finding a common American identity. We can narrow the divide if we recognize what we all have in common.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City, taught in public schools for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring.