Jochen Wegner: What happened when we paired up thousands of strangers to talk politics
יוכן וגנר: מה קרה כשהזמנו אלפי זוגות של זרים לדבר על פוליטיקה
Jochen Wegner edits Zeit Online, the website of German weekly "Die Zeit," which prizes deep dives into cultural issues. Full bio
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a thousand kilometers,
and he's a customer manager from Germany.
totally at odds over European politics,
בנוגע לפוליטיקה אירופית,
to Russia or whatever.
או דברים כאלה.
a somewhat irritating email.
every single minute of it!"
and Nils from Germany.
of their local football team,
המקומיות שלהם,
and Tottenham Hotspurs.
בורוסיה דורטמונד וטוטנהאם הוטספר.
where football roots were invented,
שבו הומצאו שורשי הכדורגל,
about this contentious topic,
על הנושא השנוי במחלוקת הזה,
enjoyed it very much."
from 33 countries
a stranger with a different opinion,
כדי להיפגש עם אדם זר בעל דעה שונה,
called "Europe Talks."
"אירופה מדברת."
amongst people with different opinions
בין אנשים בעלי דעות שונות
friends no longer talk to each other.
חברים מפסיקים לדבר זה עם זה.
are amplified by social media,
מועצמות בידי הרשתות החברתיות,
in the core, a digital product.
that contradict our convictions.
שנוגדות את האמונות שלנו.
is definitely necessary,
to get a divided society
at least some research,
to get a new perspective:
have your opinion.
the world in a new way,
news organizations in Germany.
הגדולים בגרמניה.
as a really modest editorial exercise.
בתור תרגיל מערכת צנוע.
especially over the issue of migration.
במיוחד בנושא של הגירה.
a million refugees in 2015 and 2016
ב-2015 ו-2016
about our own upcoming election in 2017,
the way we were dealing with politics.
את האופן שבו אנחנו עוסקים בפוליטיקה.
many very strange digital product ideas,
למוצרים דיגיטליים,
together with different opinions.
a "minimum viable product."
"מוצר בר-קיימא מינימלי".
"Germany Talks" --
can use to make surveys online.
כדי לעשות סקרים מקוונים.
we embedded simple questions like this:
"Does the West treat Russia fairly?"
"האם המערב מתייחס לרוסיה באופן הוגן?"
be allowed to marry?"
לזוגות הומוסקסואליים להינשא?"
we asked one more question:
שאלנו אתכם עוד שאלה אחת:
who totally disagrees with you?"
שממש לא מסכים איתכם?"
with no budget whatsoever.
hundred-ish people to register,
by hand, the pairs.
1,000 people had registered.
12,000 Germans had signed up
with a different opinion.
the perfect Tinder matches,
having answered the questions
שענו על השאלות
we had many concerns.
היו לנו הרבה חששות.
in real life would be awful.
in our database.
and talked about politics peacefully.
ודברו בנחת על פוליטיקה.
or was against -- gay marriage,
לנישואי הומוסקסואלים,
in a domestic partnership
for hours about all the topics
by his statements about gay marriage,
בנוגע לנישואי הומוסקסואלים,
his own assumptions.
and are friends.
for example, this court bailiff.
את פקיד בית המשפט הזה.
populist party AfD in Germany,
AfD בגרמניה,
of the Green Party.
and his student.
and his very own daughter-in-law,
but have really different opinions.
אבל הדעות שלהם שונות מאוד.
document the discussions,
people to perform in any way.
neighborhood called Prenzlauer Berg,
שנקראת פרנצלאואר ברג,
Mirko didn't want to be in the picture.
מירקו לא רצה להיות בתמונה.
all the hipsters in our area,
and I found him to be a wonderful person.
really different opinions
of women's rights,
his thoughts --
he used to be a neo-Nazi.
because I want to get over it.
כי אני רוצה לשים את זה מאחורי.
to talk about it anymore."
a history like that could never change,
לעולם לא יוכלו להשתנות,
who sent us thousands of emails
if some of the pairs got married.
and wanted to do it again,
ורצינו לעשות את זה שוב,
of the participants,
they were mainly our readers.
הם היו בעיקר קוראים שלנו.
among 11 major German media houses
בין 11 כלי תקשורת גרמניים מובילים
28,000 people applied this time.
הפעם נרשמו 28,000 אנשים.
in the center of the picture --
in the summer of 2018
with a different opinion.
to Berlin to a special event.
for "Germany Talks."
של "גרמניה מדברת."
a bus driver and boxing trainer,
נהג אוטובוס ומאמן אגרוף,
of a children's help center.
we asked differently.
any impact on the participants.
to survey the participants.
that they learned something
that their viewpoints converged.
שנקודות המבט שלהם הצטלבו.
seemed also higher after the event,
עלתה אחרי האירוע,
they enjoyed their discussion.
enjoy their discussion,
simply, their partner didn't show up.
by many international media outlets,
הרבה כלי תקשורת בינלאומיים,
a serious and secure platform.
פלטפורמה רצינית ומאובטחת.
"My Country Talks" has already been used
כבר שימשה
local and national events
or "Suomi puhuu" in Finland
ו-Suomi puhuu בפינלנד
we also launched "Europe Talks,"
השקנו גם את "אירופה מדברת,"
international media partners,
to "Helsingin Sanomat" in Finland.
ועד ל-Helsingin Sanomat בפינלנד.
with a total stranger
by more than 150 global media outlets,
יותר מ-150 כלי תקשורת גלובליים,
something like "The World Talks,"
"העולם מדבר,"
of participants.
to talk in person for hours
כדי לדבר פנים אל פנים במשך שעות,
discussion by discussion.
face-to-face discussions,
we are introduced to
or in a gym or at a conference.
או בחדר הכושר או בוועידה.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jochen Wegner - JournalistJochen Wegner edits Zeit Online, the website of German weekly "Die Zeit," which prizes deep dives into cultural issues.
Why you should listen
Jochen Wegner never thought he could make a living out of writing, yet ultimately he found himself editing Zeit Online, one of Germany's major media websites. With a team of 150, Zeit Online delivers around-the-clock information about breaking and developing stories, distinguished by deep reporting and data visualizations. Zeit also hosts a number of Germany's most popular podcasts.
By taking journalism beyond reporting and into the realm of real-time discussion, Wegner is creating tools that could change the political climate by encouraging wide varieties of people to engage in public discourse. His "My Country Talks" platform organizes personal, one-on-one conversations between people from all over the ideological map, inviting them to find common ground between viewpoints that are at first seemingly irreconcilable.
Jochen Wegner | Speaker | TED.com