Finding Common Ground on Media, Politics & Polarization

Sunday, April 24, 2022 8pm–9pm ET
On Zoom Streaming Live

How can the media play a role in decreasing polarization? Watch our conversation with two leading political journalists.

Common Ground Committee and Bridge Alliance were honored to host a special virtual event to kick off the National Week of Conversation 2022. For decades, journalists Chris Wallace and Jonathan Karl have covered the political scene – from interviewing Vladimir Putin to covering President Biden’s inauguration. In this evening of candid discussion, they sought common ground on how the media impacts American attitudes and how public trust can be restored as news outlets navigate a changing landscape. Watch this conversation with two award-winning journalists, moderated by former CBS News correspondent and author Jacqueline Adams.

Featured Speakers

Chris Wallace
CNN+ Anchor & Former Host, Fox News Sunday
Panelist

Chris Wallace, CNN+ anchor and former host of Fox News Sunday, is one of the country’s most prominent broadcast journalists. Over his decades-long career, he reported from the ABC News desk as a senior correspondent for Primetime and 20/20, and as an anchor on NBC News’ Meet the Press. Chris has won every major broadcast news award, including three Emmys. In 2016, he earned praise from both sides of the aisle for his sterling performance moderating the final presidential debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. In 2019, Chris was nominated for an Emmy for Best Live Interview for his interview of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Jonathan Karl
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent
Panelist

Jonathan Karl is the Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News and the co-anchor of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Karl is the former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and served as the Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News from December 2012 through the end of the Trump administration in January 2021.
He is the author of the 2020 book “Front Row at the Trump Show” and the 2021 book “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.” Both books are New York Times bestsellers.

Jacqueline Adams
Former CBS News Correspondent & Author
Moderator

Jacqueline Adams launched a second career as a communications strategist after more than two decades as an Emmy Award-winning CBS News correspondent. Ms. Adams covered the groundbreaking campaigns of Jesse Jackson for President and Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President before spending five years as a White House correspondent during the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. Through her firm, J Adams: Strategic Communications, LLC, she now counsels both corporate and nonprofit clients. Ms. Adams is the author of “A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive.”

Presented by

Common Ground Committee

Common Ground Committee (CGC) is a non-partisan, citizen-led organization dedicated to fostering more progress and less division in politics. By bringing together today’s smartest thinkers to find common ground on critical issues, we inspire citizens and leaders to bring light, not heat, to public discourse. Since 2010, we’ve hosted dozens of notable panelists representing views across the political spectrum, from John Kerry and Condoleezza Rice to Michael Steele and Donna Brazile. As a partner in the democracy reform movement, we also share actionable tools to help people heal division in civil discourse. Subscribe to our podcast and try our Common Ground Scorecard to find candidates that work across the aisle.
The event is co-sponsored by Bridge Alliance, a coalition of more than 90 organizations working to improve government effectiveness through civic reform and civil discourse, for the National Week of Conversation 2022. As an annual event powered by the #ListenFirst Coalition, the National Week of Conversation invites Americans of all stripes to listen, extend grace, and discover common interests with the goal of transforming division into connection and understanding.