MEET JANE WHITNEY
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM JANE
Looking at the morning headlines, which regularly portray a country I barely recognize, I often yearn to push a reset button. In my mind, it would reboot our better selves, allowing us to strive and prosper together in a country where we’d work as an ensemble to solve our most complex problems - including the great global threat of climate change.
Then, last winter I was forced to hit another type of reset button.
An incurable disease ravaged my lungs and robbed me of my ability to breathe. An oxygen compressor extended my life but wouldn’t suffice. My only chance, the doctors told me, was a lung transplant.
As a self-avowed control freak who's never even bought a lottery ticket, I wrestled with this life-or-death decision. As a 75-year-old, my chance of scoring a lung were little better than winning the lottery. But, as doctors later said, my fierce will to stay alive — for family and friends – plus my commitment to civic engagement helped me win my longshot fight for a second chance.
Three months ago I underwent transplant surgery. Now, for me, the sweetest music is the quiet rhythm of my breath.
But rather than squander it venting about what can’t be done to rein in the chaos, I’m thrilled to be involved with our exciting new environmental show “Sacred Ground with Tim Daly,” featuring everyday people who are helping to save our planet with homegrown ideas. Hosted by actor and social justice activist Tim Daly (“Madam President”, “Wings”) "Sacred Ground" will air on PBS stations nationally.​
“Sacred Ground” is designed to engage and inspire viewers to ward off the angst and apathy that thwart taking action to mitigate the climate crisis. It accepts as a guiding principle that this complex threat is remaking our own backyards and that no one person can fix it.
Every episode of “Sacred Ground” will tell the story of how activism starts with passion — not strategy; of how you can make a difference in your backyard and therefore to the future of our planet.
But we need your help. If you have a story idea for “Sacred Ground,” let us know. And please support this vital endeavor by donating now.
Finally, I couldn’t be more excited to announce we’re also planning another season of “Common Ground with Jane Whitney”.
As always, we’ll feature a diversity of voices who can help us rebuild a collective good — one that embraces all Americans regardless of their politics.
Thank you for being part of such a generous community that reaches out in times of adversity — as you did with me — and to support the values and ideals that once made America the shining city on the hill.
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Gratefully,
Jane
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN — A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE FROM JANE
This is the easiest Thanksgiving message I’ve ever written.
After a year in which a lung disease made each breath a machine-assisted labor, I can breathe again. On my own.
Now, each breath is the sound of a miracle.

The biggest takeaway from the devastating ordeal that nearly cost me my life is the ethos of Thanksgiving -- that the small things we all take for granted are worth celebrating.
I used to pay lip service to the bromide that those who are grateful for what they have — rather than focusing what they don’t have — are happier. But it took a near-death experience for those words to resonate and become the cri de coeur that spurs my recovery.
That lesson didn’t come naturally. Even though I’d been diagnosed with an incurable lung disease, I had no symptoms and buffered myself from reality with a coping mechanism composed of a cross between Peter Pan optimism and willful disregard for disturbing news. And then it all collapsed. I had a flare and needed a machine to power each breath. Overnight, my world shrank to the length of the plastic tubing that was my lifeline. Then, one day, I watched a young woman outside my hospital window bound up a flight of stairs. Tears filled my eyes as I realized that my life — as I knew it — had changed forever.
Miraculously, the transplant has given me a second chance. But, as my husband noted, it’s up to me to unleash my Type A persona, take the reins and re-learn skills needed to restore my independence.
Suddenly, mastering how to get dressed or walk 10 feet or apply mascara (a priority) are humbling struggles that morph into hard-won triumphs. Since coming home last month, I continue to be a work-in-progress, honing skills I first learned as a child.
Everything old is, indeed, new again.
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And worth celebrating.
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I only wish I had a dollar to donate to the national transplant non-profit UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) for everyone who’s asked me how I got through such a grueling, painful year.
Aside from being too stubborn to concede the long game, I fought against falling into fatalism or wallowing in misery. Instead, I focused on all the mitzvahs in my life — family, friends, work. And now, in a tumultuous time where chaos, fear and anger eclipse our better angels, consciously appreciating the blessings in my life - above all, the simple act of breathing - has been transformative.

The first thing I see every morning and the last thing I see every night is “The Rider,” a sculpture by artist Elaine Housman that reflects a spirit of hope and optimism and freedom.
One day I aspire to breathe as fulsomely as the figure astride the wheel.
In the meantime, I am grateful to you and the “Common Ground” community that cheers me on — your support means the world.
Wishing you all the blessings of a healthy, safe and joyous Thanksgiving,
Jane
WHEN TALK ISN'T CHEAP
I started my career in television believing that television could be a force for good.
Initially, the shows I hosted lived up to that standard. Following in the footsteps of the iconic Phil Donahue, who turned his studio into a town hall, those early programs aspired to shed light – not heat – by delving into then-closeted controversies such as alcoholic teens and gay rights.
The stakes had changed when I returned to start a new syndicated talk show after stint as a network correspondent. Gone was the gentler, kinder look at complex issues of daily life. TV talk had morphed from forums of enlightening encounters into spectacles of dysfunction and confrontation. “My Mother is a Party Animal” was in; “Should Kids Be Tried as Adults?” was out. Soon thereafter, unwilling to deliver what America’s viewers wanted to hear, so was I.
But now, as we continue to grapple with the fallout of two pandemics – one, a deadly virus; the other a nation frozen in the vice grip of bitter divide - my faith in television as an antidote to anxiety is back.
Currently Jane is being considered for an Emmy -
Watch her highlights reel and learn why.
Today I moderate “Common Ground with Jane Whitney” a series that 10 years ago launched its unlikely path from a church hall in rural Connecticut to PBS national syndication. The constant struggle that continues to test our resilience inspired us to name the show something that captures how we’d all like to return to a better place of civility and unity.
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When you tune in, you’ll find a diversity of voices focusing on issues that make a difference in your life. You’ll discover discussions that transcend the sound bite mentality and may help you hear opposing points of view in a new way. Most of all, you’ll find a respite from the tumult and chaos that divides us -- a show that strives to reaffirm the democratic principle that out of many, we are one. Look for “Common Ground with Jane Whitney” on your local PBS station.
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Until then, take care. - Jane
Jane Whitney, Our Moderator
During her 25+ year career in television, Jane Whitney was a correspondent for NBC News based in Central America and a reporter for "Entertainment Tonight." Ms. Whitney also anchored topical talk/news broadcasts for PBS, CNN and CNBC and WCAU-TV in her hometown of Philadelphia. Finally, she was dubbed a "recovering talk show host" by New York times columnist Maureen Dowd after she hosted the Warner Bros. nationally syndicated TV program "The Jane Whitney Show.” Her social commentaries and essays have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine and The New York Observer. Currently, she also helps manage two foundations that support services for domestic violence victims, the homeless and at risk children.