Can We Talk? Public Access, Security And Civility In A Hyper-Partisan Age

In hopes of de-escalating the increasingly fraught relations between the press and the people they cover, the National Press Club’s nonprofit Journalism Institute on Aug. 4 convened Can We Talk?, an open meeting for newsmakers, the people who protect them and the people who cover them. After a year of violent words and sometimes violent acts, we believe the time has come to talk with each other —instead of at each other — about how we can all do a better job for the democracy we serve. We hope this will mark the beginning of a continuing conversation. We are starting with a focus on Capitol Hill because it is the center of so much that happens in Washington (including press credentialing). One of our goals: To surface some of the themes and issues we hope to explore further in a larger First Amendment Summit later this year with the help of the National Institute of Civil Discourse.