The Thought Leader Dialogue

One of the most interesting initiatives IVoH has undertaken in the last few years is the convening of thought leaders in journalism – something we are doing in partnership with the Fetzer Institute and, in 2009, with the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University.

On June 25, 21 of us convened at the Prindle Institute to reflect on how the upheaval in the world and in the field of journalism are affecting us.  Over the three days of intimate conversation as a group and in clusters, it became clear that our values, sense of vocation, and beliefs are our moorings in these times.  The experience of closeness and friendship that emerged from these conversations are impossible to translate.  I came to know and appreciate each one in the room.  The clear highlight for me and the “linchpin” of the dialogue was the writing and then the reading aloud of our own “This I Believe” essays.  Though I feel I work from a clear base of beliefs most of the time, writing this essay forced me to do some thinking and integrating of beliefs I have not done before.  More powerful than writing the essays, was hearing others read their beautiful pieces. Sitting in a circle, bent over our laptops or notebooks, we quietly read these most personal of reflection pieces aloud.  For over an hour there was pin drop silence punctuated by explosions of applause. We are at work now on ways to make them more widely available so that others who are struggling in these times might take benefit from the insights of this dialogue.