SFCG’s Juiette Schmidt Discusses 1001 Stories of Common Ground

We recently spoke about 1001 Stories, SFCG’s newest online initiative for dialogue and understanding. 1001 Stories of Common Ground brings together bloggers, activists, journalists, women, youth and general readers to tell stories that highlight positive change while crossing religion, ethnicity, gender and race boundaries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The International Journalists Network, IJNet, interviewed Juliette Schmidt, the Assistant Director of Partners in Humanity at Search for Common Ground to learn more about the  website.

IJNet: How is the content gathered?

Juliette Schmidt: All photographs, videos and writings on the site are user-generated. Membership to the site is open to everyone, free of charge and any member over 18 can contribute content.

Search for Common Ground will share the most inspirational and popular stories, images and video through the Common Ground News Service (www.cgnews.org), a weekly news syndicate that distributes opinion articles that foster dialogue on important topics in Muslim-Western understanding to over 30,000 email subscribers and thousands of media outlets around the world who republish these articles in local languages.

IJNet: How does a story qualify as one of “positive change?”

JS: The most important aspect of any submitted content is that it tells a story of the diverse citizens of MENA countries – all backgrounds, genders, socio-economic classes, religions, ethnicities – working together to use collaborative, rather than adversarial, approaches to achieving shared goals.

IJNet: Your site mentions the goal is to improve Muslim-western relations, why not Muslim-Christian relations, East-West relations or even Arab-Western relations?

JS: Many stereotypes exist both within and between the so-called Muslim world and the so-called West which result in a tendency to see each group as a monolithic whole. Sites such as this one help to highlight the diversity within, while emphasizing the many, many groups working collaboratively for change.

Read the full interview here and easily sign up to be a member of 1001 Stories of Common Ground through your facebook account!