Dear friends of My Country Talks,

Welcome to the August edition of the My Country Talks newsletter. As summer comes to an end, we are preparing many exciting events for the autumn. This month, we are putting a special focus on two events that will take place in September. Thailand Talks is back for a second edition organized by a coalition of seven independent media partners. Chemnitz spricht will also happen for the second time, and we will be launching a new format aimed to bridge divides in hyper-polarized local communities.

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Thailand Talks is back!

The second edition of Thailand’s national dialogue event will take place on September 24, 2022. This year, participants will discuss controversial issues including equality in the education system, freedom of speech, data security, and medically assisted suicide.

The event is organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom along with Thai media partners Thairath Plus, Decode and Citizen.plus, WorkPointTODAY, Voice TV, SONGSUE MEDIA LAB, Thai PBS and The Matter. Participants can meet online or in person at a final event, which will be hosted in Bangkok.

You can register and learn more at thailandtalks.org

Looking back at Thailand Talks 2021

Photo by Lauren DeCicca für ZEIT ONLINE

ZEIT ONLINE covered the conversation between two participants of Thailand Talks 2021. Thanan and Uangfon disagreed on four questions, including the role of religion in schools, election reform, and how Thailand is managing the economy after covid. Through their discussion, their attitudes and personal histories give a glimpse into complicated and divided Thai politics.

“In tourism advertising, the tropical country likes to present itself as a harmonious "land of smiles". But in reality, society has been deeply divided for decades - and has not yet found a way to mend the rift.” - Mathias Peer, excerpt from ZEIT ONLINE

Read the full article (in German) here

Chemnitz spricht 2022

We are very excited to announce the launch of Chemnitz spricht, a new event from our My City Talks series - with a twist. On September 17, residents of Chemnitz will meet at the City Hall to be matched into groups of up to five participants to discuss divisive local issues. The small-group conversations are designed to foster healthy dialogue in such a hyper-polarized community. 

This is the second MCT event in Chemnitz, a city known in Germany for being at the heart of many polarizing debates. In 2018, the first dialogue day was organized after asylum seekers were attacked on the streets of Chemnitz, sparking demonstrations. This year, the conversations will focus on the future of Chemnitz in relation to equality, climate change, and its role as the 2025 European Capital of Culture. 

Chemnitz spricht is an initiative from the city as well as the local newspaper, The Freie Presse. We would like to thank the Robert Bosch Stiftung for supporting this event and the My City Talks series in Germany. 

Follow this link for more information

What we’re reading

"Solutions journalism" can be a daunting term - for readers and journalists alike. When it comes to implementing solutions journalism in a newsroom it's hard to know how and where to start. This guide from The Fix breaks down five steps for incorporating SolJo in your newsroom:

"Five manageable ways to introduce solutions journalism to your newsroom"

Three universities in the USA, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University, have opened the Polarization Research Lab. The Lab aims to conduct research, collect data, map trends across the country to better understand polarization, trust, and political violence. They are also accepting proposals for academic projects.

Read about Lab and its mission here