Episode 27 - Civility in the Age of Trump: a chat with David Plazas

Nashville Sounding Board

David Plazas leads the Civility Tennessee campaign. Plazas is the opinion and engagement director for the USA Today Network Tennessee. He writes editorials and columns, manages community engagement, and serves on The Tennessean Editorial board. Topics by minute: 1:08 - Book Recommendation 1:45 - First year of Civility Tennessee campaign 4:50 - Civility as more than politeness 7:42 - Does "civility" suppress the voices of marginalized people? 11:30 - BLM protest. With protest speech is there still a need for civility? 14:50 - The place for incivility 16:00 - Can policy positions themselves be uncivil? 17:04 - Destroying each other on social media 17:55 - Kid Rock uproar 21:45 - The 2016 editorial that Plazas regrets 27:36 - Unfriending and incivility on social media 30:00 - Incivility decreased after Twitter increased the character limit 33:50 - How does The Tennesseean decide on when (not) to endorse? 38:34 - Endorsements in the digital age and the process for 2019 47:50 - Year 2 of Civility Campaign...what can we expect? Nashville Sounding Board is a podcast dedicated to discussing social and political issues affecting Middle Tennessee. www.nashvillesoundingboard.com www.facebook.com/NashvilleSoundingBoard www.twitter.com/NashSoundBoard NSB is produced by Benjamin Eagles. Views expressed by Benjamin Eagles in this podcast and on social media are his alone and do not reflect the views of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Music by Craig Turner and Joe Halberstadt