Dear friends of My Country Talks,

Hello everyone and welcome to our October newsletter. This has been a historic month, and we feel the need for constructive dialogue and journalism now more than ever. Read on for an update about our next Europe Talks event, which will bring voters across Europe into one-on-one debates before the EU Parlaiment elections next Spring. If you are journalist or media outlet who would like to engage your readers before this pivotal election, please reach out to us! More information can be found below.

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Thailand Talks returns for the third year

We are happy to announce the third edition of Thailand Talks, which launched earlier this month. The event is organized once again by our partners at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, together with 10 independent media partners from around the country. Registrations are open until mid-November, and the national day of dialogue will take place on November 26 with an event in Bangkok.  

This year, the participants of Thailand Talks will be matched on their answers to the following discussion questions: 

• Should marijuana be legalized for recreational use? 
• Should all politicians exhibit moral integrity? 
• Should we stand in cinemas to show respect during the national anthem? 
• Should issues related to daily life take precedence over politics? 
• Will a welfare state make people lazy? 
• Is having a quota for women in the parliament fair to all genders? 
• Is reducing public transportation fares in Bangkok through taxation fair to everyone? 

Learn more and sign up at thailandtalks.org

Connect your readers to the continent

Join the Europe Talks 2024 media partner network! In the Spring of 2024, Europeans will elect the next EU Parlaiment. With multiple global crises, rising extremism, and a surge of disinformation, it’s more important than ever for Europeans to connect across borders. Europe Talks 2024 will connect thousands of Europeans for cross-border conversations about the issues dividing the continent. One-on-one discussions will take place over eight online dialogue weekends, and four onsite events will bring politicians, journalists, and citizens together for constructive dialogue.  

Europe Talks 2024 will bring together the leading news organizations from across Europe to engage their readers and create constructive, multimedia stories. Give your readers the opportunity to meet someone with a different perspective and debate the most pressing pan-European issues. As a partner, you also get exclusive access to thousands of real, human stories from all around Europe. 

For more information, reach out to MCT Project Lead Hanna Israel at hanna.israel@mycountrytalks.org 

Spotlight: The Sinking Cities Project

Congratulations to our friends at Unbias the News who recently received the 2023 Climate Journalism Award from The European Journalism Centre for their investigation, The Sinking Cities Project. Unbias the News is a feminist, cross-border newsroom based in Berlin. This project “is a global cross-border investigation that examines how sea-level rise is impacting major cities and how their governments are responding to the consequences of climate crisis.” Journalists spent six months in six coastal cities around the world documenting rising sea levels and their impact on ecosystems, infrastructure, politics, and communities. 

Looking for more? Unbias the News is consistently a great resource for global-minded and constructive journalism. Check out this Instagram post for constructive resources to help journalists report on crises and conflicts.