Are we polarized? Or just isolated, disoriented and reacting with 'flight or fight' responses? New report argues the latter

Rich Harwood discussed his "civic virus" theory on "Meet the Press Daily" on Feb. 15. To watch it, click here.

It's become conventional wisdom that American society has become polarized, politically and culturally, but is that the whole truth? Richard C. Harwood, whose business is helping communities improve their civic life, doesn't think so; he explains his view in a new report, Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis, from his Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and the Kettering Foundation. News media have an essential role to play in fostering civic life, and the report could be good fodder for commentary that serves your community.

Harwood says polarization is a misguided assumption. Instead, he says, we are isolated, disoriented, and reacting with "fight or flight" responses. He bases this on 16 in-depth focus groups he held across the country, asking these questions: How do people describe the nation today? Who are the individuals, groups, institutions, or leaders whom people believe and trust? Where do people get their information and news about what’s happening around them and in the larger world? What community actions did people see in response to Covid-19, and what, if any, lessons might these hold for the country moving forward? And what does it mean to be an American?

The report on these conversations offers some thoughts on how to combat what Harwood calls "the civic virus" and inoculate the nation moving forward, and local journalism has roles to play. To download a free copy, click here.