In 2021 the Truth Has a Voice Foundation has been focusing its efforts in four areas, an educational film series, media literacy, candidate forums, and journalism internships for college and high school students.
Film series
The first event of our film series was held on August 25,2021, in Buena Vista, Colorado. Prior to the event, participants viewed the documentary on Thomas Sowell, a conservative economist, entitled Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World. The purpose of the event was to promote discussion between the political divisions in our county. The session was facilitated by Jim Height, trained through the Braver Angels program. The event consisted of discussion between two groups of participants, six left-leaning and six right-leaning, with 12 observers who could submit questions in writing.
The second film series event was a showing of the documentary The Social Dilema, at the Salida SteamPlant Center on October 21, 2021. A discussion followed. The film explores the impact of social media on the public’s trust in news, government and society in general, as well as the targeted business model behind it. The public could register at the SteamPlant website for free tickets to the event, and attend in person or watch the documentary on Netflix or YouTube prior to that date, then join in for the panel discussion either in person or on-line via the Steamplant website.
Media Literacy
The Truth Has a Voice Foundation is working with the Salida and Buena Vista School Districts to support instituting the new Colorado Media Literacy Standards that are to be incorporated into the teaching of civics, reading and writing. Materials for teachers and the new standards are presented in HB19-1110 and HB21-1103. Our organization is hoping to assist with teacher training in this important new area of instruction.
Candidate Forums
In October of 2020 Truth Has a Voice, in conjunction with Ark Valley Voice, sponsored a candidate forum for local county commission candidates.
Due to COVID-19 the session was viewed via Zoom and through the City of Salida closed circuit TV, providing the opportunity for voters to hear candidates deal with serious, probing questions even during this difficult period. Questions were submitted by residents prior to the session and during the session via Zoom Chat, as well as composed by AVV staff. The Forum is available on YouTube.
Journalism Scholarships
The Truth Has a Voice Foundation has sponsored two journalism scholarships for students, one in 2020 and one in 2021. These provided on-the-job experience for one recent college graduate and one recent high school graduate. Both interns have been placed with the Ark Valley Voice on-line newspaper.
The editorial focus of these internships is on stories directly related to county residents and businesses, focusing on teaching journalist skills for reporting and news writing; creating meaningful employment, launching a career path. Interns are trained in news gathering, fact verification, responsible reporting, the First Amendment, Associated Press news style, and the time expediency required of an accurate, daily digital news cycle. All are trained in uploading stories plus their own, courtesy or licensed images to the WordPress site for copy editing. Each intern has a coverage area, and is included in weekly Crew meetings. Interns meet every few weeks directly with the Managing Editor for one-on-one training based upon observed improvement areas.