What to Do About Conspiracy Theories and Speaking to People Who Believe Them

Start: Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 8:00 PM GMT

End: Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 10:00 PM GMT

This is a virtual event

Host Contact Info: Dave and Erin Ninehouser, 412-370-5247 or connect@hearyourselfthink.org

Misinformation, deception, and propaganda go “viral,” spreading just like physical contagion putting everyone at risk. Fox “News” and right-wing rage radio are “super spreaders” of intellectual contagion that infect hearts and poison minds. In the near term, we will not see the kind of media reforms that will protect the public and defend democracy. It’s up to all of us to flatten the crazy curve of this epidemic. We do that when we speak up consistently and effectively, refusing to allow lies and disinformation to be “the loudest voice in the room.”

HearYourselfThink is teaming up with the Democracy Reform Ranking Project and Professor John Cook from the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University to host an interactive conversation about conspiracy theories and how to talk to people who believe them.

This virtual event will be held via Zoom. Upon registration, you'll receive a unique link to log-in and participate. Contact Dave & Erin with any questions prior to the event: 412-370-5247.

About the trainers:

Long before 2016, HearYourselfThink Co-founders Dave and Erin Ninehouser recognized that right-wing propaganda was poisoning the public channels of communication and posed a grave threat to our democracy. They founded the HearYourselfThink Project in 2011 to expose the demagogues and begin to deprogram America from media indoctrination.

They come with years of experience in grassroots organizing, issue advocacy, and political communications in the Fox and talk radio saturated Rustbelt of Western Pennsylvania. Their training shares insights into how to engage people with more-light-less-heat conversations that can “puncture the propaganda” and move the interaction out of the reactive mind and into the reflective mind.