About the Making Common Ground Project
Democracy is fighting for survival on multiple fronts. Social bubbles and toxic discourse are eroding our ability to discuss problems and find solutions. Instead of working towards a compromise, all we hear are monologues masquerading as debate.
The way news is packaged is partly to blame - but increasingly we are not reading beyond the headlines. This project seeks to kick-start better dialogue between different groups of individuals. Instead of dismissing people with lazy labels, people across the political spectrum will be brought together to discuss the big topics of the week, and encouraged to read news more broadly, as well as more in depth.
Catherine Neilan
Catherine has spent the last 15 years working as a journalist in London, covering a wide number of sectors across a spectrum of newspapers including the Guardian, Financial Times, CityAM and her current home at The Telegraph.
Having lived in China for two years, nowadays she is usually found chasing after ministers in Westminster or chasing after her children in South East London. Catherine is also a regular commentator, appearing on BBC Newsnight and World At One, as well as Sky, ITV and BBC News. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Bristol and a master's from City University and in 2020 was made an Alfred Landecker Foundation Fellow.
Making Common Ground is made possible through the Alfred Landecker Foundation, in partnership with Humanity in Action and the social impact agency Purpose. Catherine Neilan is one of 30 Alfred Landecker Foundation fellows from the UK, Europe and the United States. The programme is designed to support the fellows over one year as they create projects that reinvent democratic spaces, strengthen social cohesion and build community against the backdrop of COVID-19's impact on democracy.
Podcast production and website management by Martin Sebborn
Read more about the project on the Humanity in Action website