Professor: Hearing the public is not the same as listening

Hearing the public is not the same as listening, Graham Bodie wrote in an opinion essay for Mississippi Today. Bodie, a professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Mississippi, said city meetings and comment periods give residents a chance to speak but often fail to shape decisions.

Bodie pointed to a recent Mississippi Today story about a proposed data center in Clarksdale as an example of the familiar process. City leaders have scheduled rezoning discussions, highlighted potential economic benefits and organized opportunities for residents to weigh in, he wrote.

He cited communication scholar Jim Macnamara’s phrase “architecture of speaking,” and said governments invest heavily in presentations and announcements while doing far less of the work required to listen. Bodie wrote that listening at scale requires systems, resources and a willingness to let public input shape outcomes.

Bodie also described practical barriers to meaningful participation. He wrote that meetings are often scheduled at inconvenient times, formats limit speakers to two or three minutes and the result is that a small number of motivated participants dominate. He said many residents stay home because they fear repercussions or believe their comments will not affect the final decision.

To improve public engagement, Bodie recommended bringing conversations to places where people already gather — churches, parks, community centers and schools — and using smaller group discussions to encourage deliberation. He wrote that better listening can improve debate over projects such as data centers, which raise questions about land use, water and energy consumption and tax incentives. Bodie concluded by urging communities to build civic processes that make participation realistic and meaningful; he told Mississippi Today that when asked what he does for a living he responds, “I teach people to listen.”

Source: Original Article