A storytelling commons applies the logic of the commons — a collective resource cared for by a community according to mutually agreed rules — to stories and the shared information space. Rather than our most powerful narratives being shaped by corporations or even public-service broadcasters, stories are generated by and for communities, according to values and principles those communities agree together. The framework comes from the People’s Newsroom at We Are Opus, whose Lessons for a Story Commons frames the shift as “a just transition for storytelling”: changing both what stories do — from reinforcing the status quo, fragmentation and division toward plurality, sensemaking and connection — and how they are made, from broadcast products controlled by gatekeeping creators toward co-created, commonly held story-sharing. The tables below set out the full set of shifts the commons proposes.
How might storytelling open the door to thriving futures?
“We’re seeking a just transition for storytelling that moves…”
| from… | to… |
|---|---|
| Stories of what is (status quo) | Stories of what has been, what is, and what could come |
| Stories for information alone (fragments) | Stories for knowledge, sensemaking and connection (wholeness) |
| Stories that present, and drive, homogeneity | Stories that reflect, and cultivate, plurality and help us hold multiple and connected knowledges, realities, complexities and uncertainty |
| Stories that control, punish, shame and exclude | Stories that invite us into collective participation, governance and transformative justice |
| Stories that demonise, isolate and divide us | Stories that reflect us, connect us and equip us to act |
| Stories for generating, protecting and hoarding wealth | Stories as generators, and distributors, of shared resources and wealth for all people |
| To do so, we need to shift how we create. To move | |
| from | to |
| Story-telling (products to be broadcast/consumed) | Story-sharing (a process, that invites us into co-creation) |
| Presenting stories as ‘new’ and the final word/record | Creating stories as ongoing drafts - that are additive, referential, relational and contextual to what has come before |
| Story creation that is extractive, immediate and overproduced | Story creation treated with care and intention for the betterment of our communities |
| Creators/journalists as gatekeepers and powerholders | Journalists/creators as facilitators and stewards that shift power so everyone can be part of the story |
| Creators/journalists as detached/dispassionate - creating stories detached from where they come from | Creators/journalists as part of the story, actively and intentionally recognising place and source |
| Limited access, via enclosure (paywalls, etc.) | Collective access, via commons |
Also see Lessons For a Storytelling Commons