Using new media tools to simulate and analyze conflict environments, the oneblue team offers intergroup Facilitations and Mediation services and both virtual and in-person Workshop Trainings. We combine effective conflict resolution skills with mechanisms to address the multidisciplinary dimensions of human interaction and communications platforms.
Our Story
In the aftermath of 9/11, America tackled a deadly threat while coming to terms with gross public misinformation about the Middle East and South Asia - its people, history, politics, and cultural values.
It was amid these struggling times that a freelance broadcast journalist covering State Department news for a small cable television network met a former State Department interpreter who was covering religious strife in Thailand. They commiserated over how perceptions of "the other" are shaped in the media and are increasingly responsible for misinforming as much as informing the American public. Their passion for promoting understanding sparked a desire to create an entity of their own.
Interpreter John Boyer and freelance journalist Sarah Basha formed Oneblue, inc., in 2006 in an effort to shed light on how television and social media platforms influence narratives during conflicts. Together John and Sarah worked the terrain in Washington, DC, building relationships, facilitating workshops, and winning projects around conflict resolution and the media.
Over a decade later, we have increasingly witnessed how algorithms supporting social media networks, click-bait culture, and polarizing media narratives continually serve agenda-driven decisions across the globe. From election turmoil to viral misrepresentations of reality, Oneblue addresses the multi-faceted dynamics that contribute to perceptions in a conflict. Not only does it offer Mediation services to clients, but it hosts workshops on how media tools can be used productively to transform conflict.
Our goal is to bring people together to negotiate solutions, to be a force of understanding amid turmoil, and to demonstrate how media can and should be used productively rather than destructively across conflict landscapes. Whether we conduct a one-on-one mediation, facilitate factional and group negotiations, provide workshops on media and conflict dynamics, Oneblue is devoted to using reasonable discourse and achieving win-win solutions for its clients.