CHRIS BELL

‘When I was running for Congress in 2002, Richard Gephardt, the U.S. Representative from Missouri, came to Houston to campaign for me. I remember him telling me that he always liked to talk with the other side – because he wasn’t sure he was always right. And that’s really the problem we face now: All of us are sure that we are right. We just don’t want to hear what the other side has to say.

I believe that’s why we find ourselves so divided. We really don’t know, or care to know, what the other side thinks anymore.

Right now, I think we find ourselves at a very frightening time because one of the pillars that this country has stood on is a free press and reliable news – information that people can count on. I was trained in a way to take the truth seriously and to try to present a story in an unbiased fashion. It’s difficult because we all have personal beliefs that impact the way we act and think. But the effort has to be made.

Because in doing so, we narrow the divide. There are always going to be differences of opinion. There always will be, and there should be. But at least we’ll all be talking about the truth.