ABOUT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Community Connections is a lesson collection designed for adult learners and community colleges, with the goal of inspiring student civic action. This might be respectful debate or conversation about a local issue, planning a community event, or a creative project that helps connect local, national and global issues.

To use this lesson: First, watch the video and answer the questions below as a warm up. Next, choose one or more of the activities under "Take Action" that best fits your classroom. Or, use the segment above to inspire your own original classroom activities — the spirit of these lessons is to connect current events to actions that make your community a better place for everyone!

SUMMARY

Like millions of Americans, Karen Robertson of Iuka, Mississippi, believed in conspiracy theories. But one day she had an experience that convinced her to challenge her beliefs. She spoke about that moment with student reporter Makenna Mead of Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Youth Media Project. Their conversation is part of our Student Reporting Labs series on misinformation, "Moments of Truth."

For a transcript of this story, click here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

• Who is profiled in this story, and what is her background?
• What are some of the conspiracy theories that Karen Robertson believed?
• Why did Robertson come to believe the conspiracy theories?
• When did Robertson come to doubt the conspiracy theories she had believed in?
• How does Robertson suggest others can avoid believing in such theories?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

What do you think is the most important lesson others can take from Robertson's experience?

Media literacy: How is the impact of this story shaped by having a young reporter interview Robertson?

TAKE ACTION

Do you have anyone in your life that believes in conspiracy theories? What do you think is the best way to talk with them about believing in such theories after watching this story?

Practice talking to family and friends using these interview guidelines and interview each other in class. You might also use these oral history guidelines for a more in-depth project.

You can ask each other some of the following questions, and don't forget to follow up with questions of your own.

• Can you think of a time when you saw something online that was obviously fake?
• Can you think of a time when you saw something online that you believed to be true but turned out not to be?
• What do you think is the difference between material you've seen online that appears to be true (but isn't) and misinformation that is obviously fake?
• Can you think of a someone in your life that has encountered problems off-line based on something false they believed that they saw online?

You may want to watch the following News Hour Classroom video on misinformation and how to spot it.

This project was funded under the 2024 Leonore Annenberg Civic Mission of the Nation Initiative, sponsored by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics. LAIC is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

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