How to Bridge Left vs. Right Realities? The Supreme Court Approach to Information

TL;DR for years I have been questioning how to avoid the polarization in our society, which has devolved to unfathomable levels. Hatred and parallel realities are destroying our democracy. I am resurfacing my idea for a news source that attempts to unify the truth and strengthen the center, by exposing each side to the “best arguments” from the other side. I welcome criticism and suggestions to see if anyone can come with anything that can make a dent in this problem.

For decades I have been thinking about how to address the problem of media bias, and how to find “truth”. This of course has been magnified in the era of digital media and social networks, and current events are perhaps even crazier than our wildest out-of-control scenarios. Tens of millions of Americans believe other tens of millions of Americans are fed lies that lead them to believe complete untruths. This is the basis for an unraveling of society.

People I know (myself included) have attempted to “understand” the other side and get to one set of facts. Unfortunately, the two ways we have typically done it self-evidently don’t work:

(1) read on our typical news sources what the other side is saying → this typically showcases the most idiotic version of facts and leads us to further outrage at the other side’s delusion

(2) turn on the other news source → this doesn’t work because we watch too infrequently, and because since they are “preaching to the choir” they rarely advocate the basic facts and increasingly cater to the edges vs. the center

My proposed solution: allow each side to advocate for itself to the other side like a lawyer would go to the judge to state his or her case. Like a debate team, they would need to understand where the other side is coming from and craft the arguments they think will most win a skeptic or broadly informed person over. Each side gets to pick the best arguments made by the most coherent voices to explain their worldview to the other side.

Do I think this will eliminate the crazy fringes? NO. Do I think this will get everyone to agree on diagnosis, policy, or solutions? NO. But I DO believe this will give more power to the (in my opinion) BIG, FAT CENTER which can move society forward in a constructive way.

Here are some details on how I thought this could work: https://patriciahalfenwexler.medium.com/would-you-eat-kale-to-save-democracy-9db32ef87534

(The TastyKale URL is no longer mine but the name sucked anyway so the idea is what matters. Thoughts welcome)