Leaning away from one-sided views


gives independent media space to expand people’s perspectives and positive expectations for the future. The seven-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Christian Science Monitor international news organization was established in Boston over a century ago to till human thought and thereby improve human lives via an uplifted journalistic standard. “Its quiet insistence for human rights and against tyranny; for generosity and against selfi shness; for intelligence, charity, courage, integrity and, most of all, for progress and hope—surely that has helped,” remarks John Yemma, current columnist and former editor. “We work to uncover where progress is occurring, even though headlines proclaim the contrary. There are always two sides to a story,” says Susan Hackney, a senior director with the Monitor, which consistently resists the sensational in favor of the meaningful. Magazines such as Natural


Awakenings, Mother Jones, The Optimist and Yes! are likewise stirring up conversations on meaningful issues via larger perspectives with a focus on tangible solutions. They address such areas as the damaging health and environmental effects of genetically- engineered food, championed by Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology. “Europe could kick genetically-


modifi ed ingredients (GMO) out of their food supply because their mainstream media covered the health dangers, while U.S. mainstream media ignored them and kept Americans in the dark. Independent media in the U.S. enable democracy and consumer-inspired transformations of all kinds. Knowledge has organizing power,” advises Smith.


Success Stories With Fran Korten at its helm, the ad- free, subscription-supported, nonprofi t Yes! is helping to reframe our biggest issues. “Mainstream media, dependent upon advertisers that would have us believe that we can buy happiness, celebrate stories of the rich and powerful, leaving everyone else feeling small and powerless. Independents can help resist such ways of seeing the world, help people see a different path to success and happiness and perceive


We in America are the best entertained and least informed society in the world.


~Neil Postman, media theorist and educator


themselves as change agents. Together, we share engaging stories of how people are carving out new ways of living that hold the hope of a world more in balance with the living Earth and where everyone’s inherent worth and dignity are recognized,” says Korten. Allan Savory, founder of the Savory Institute and originator of a holistic land management systems approach to recover and preserve sustainable resources, underscores the need for change leaders and independent thinkers. “As we ponder who they might be, we realize it’s not those that discover new, counterintuitive insights, but those that spread the knowledge. The groundbreakers are pioneers like writers, poets, artists, speakers and social networkers. After 50 years of trying to understand the intense institutional resistance to and ridiculing of my work of managing complexity in a simple manner, holistic management is now quickly spreading globally. This is only due to social networking, independent writers and my TED talk that went viral,” observes Savory. Laurie McCammon, change leader and author of Enough! How to Liberate Yourself and Remake the World with Just One Word, contracted with independent publisher Red Wheel Weiser to get her message out. “It’s been building awareness of forbidden knowledge—that we each have unrealized potential to affect reality by changing our thoughts. We can nurture a shift in global culture away from an existing way of life that has bred fear, lack and a belief in scarcity,” explains McCammon.


She suggests that to preview a new vision of, “I am enough and have enough,” and, “We are enough and have enough,” we should look to the fertile fringes; small communities of intentional and conscious people actively reinventing society. “Look at what


22 Central Florida natural awakenings


independent media are reporting on—as well as their unprecedented use of new terms such as organic, wellness, sustainability, permaculture, transition


town, sharing economy, social responsibility,


biomimicry and the butterfl y effect,” says McCammon. The existing worldview, with all of its core assumptions and rules, aims to restrain awakening individual and collective consciousness. McCammon observes, “As long as the ‘old story’ was told repeatedly by mainstream media with conviction, it could command our attention and make us doubt our inner story. Trusting that the outer world had our own best interests in mind meant that there was no need to turn within. This is changing. Thanks to farseeing, courageous and strong enough independent media, there’s been an overturning to a more wholesome story of mind-body-spirit, abundance, innovation, collaboration and cooperation.”


Mainstream and independent media coexist like two sides of a coin. Mainstream media’s talking heads tell us how to act and think while independent media invite us to engage, educate and think for ourselves, dig deeper and take action. Without independent media, we would know little about the benefi ts of the ever-evolving grassroots movement of holistic, alternative, complementary, integrative and functional medicine. Nor would we know the truth about climate change; the health advantages of plant-based diets and community gardens; food deserts and nutrition- related illnesses; the prevalence of environmental toxins; signs of spiritual progress; alternative education; and the benefi ts of eco-villages to people and the planet.


Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings. Connect at ItsAllAboutWe.com.


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