Professor Renee Hobbs offers a workshop on conspiracy theories to German teachers and students, with support from the U.S. Department of State.

1. Renee Hobbs
Professor of Communication Studies
Director, Media Education Lab
University of Rhode Island USA
Twitter: @reneehobbs
A Workshop:
Critically Analyzing Conspiracy Theories
Landeszentrale fur politische Bildung Berlin
May 19, 2017

2. @reneehobbs @MedEduLab
www.mediaeducationlab.com

4. Summer Institute in Digital Literacy
July 23 – 28, 2017

5. Can learning about conspiracy theories advance your
digital and media literacy competencies?

7. LOVE HATE
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
How Many Do You Recognize?
Who Killed JFK? 9/11
Area 51 Holocaust
Birtherism Moon Landings
Jesus and Mary Magdalene Illuminati
CIA Experiments Chemtrails
Elvis Ebola
Vaccines Global Warming

8. DEFINE SOME VOCABULARY WORDS
TO UNDERSTAND CONSPIRACY THEORIES
conspiracy
anxiety
hoax
paranoid
pessimism
“false flag”

9. Are conspiracy theories
beneficial, harmless or
harmful?
Should students learn
to critically analyze
conspiracy theories in
school? Why or why
not?

10. Some Conspiracy Theories are True

11. Conspiracy Theories
in an Information Age
1. Choice Overload
2. Sharing in a Network Culture
3. Six Types of Fake News
4. New Forms of Authority
5. Norms of Human Information Processing
6. Why We Share
7. How Context Shapes Text
8. Familiarity = Believability

12. Choice Overload
entertainment
information
persuasion

13. New Realities in a
Networked Global Society
 Cost to produce
content is low
 Massive
fragmentation of
production &
consumption
 Viral sharing means
popularity = profit
 Content is consumed
as unbundled
snippets on social
media

14. Six Types of Fake News
Disinformation
Propaganda
Hoax
Parody/Satire
Errors in Journalism
Partisanship
Informing and Engaging the Public
Controlling Knowledge, Attitudes & Values
Cultural Criticism or Creative Expression

15. New Forms of Authority
Attention economics is surpassing traditional forms of authority and expertise
our attention — and
most of it free —
being found is
valuable."
 Immediacy
 Personalization
 Interpretation
 Findability

16.  Selective exposure
 Confirmation bias
 Reality maintenance
 Performative sharing
60% of people share
content without
reading/viewing it
Human
Information Processing

17. Report from Iron Mountain

18. Government
commission concludes:
Peace is not in the
interest of a stable
society.
Even if lasting peace
"could be achieved, it
would almost certainly
not be in the best
interests of society to
achieve it.”
Context Shapes Text

19. Becomes a best selling
book, translated into 15
languages
1972: Leonard Lewin
admits he is the author
& explains its purpose
as dark political satire
Context Shapes Text

20. 1990:
Liberty Lobby publishes
the report as a public
domain document
Right-wing websites re-
distribute it online
Context Shapes Text

21. Both LEFT AND RIGHT
WING radicals believe
that government
creates war for
economic benefit
Context Shapes Text

22. Familiarity
Equals Believability
THE POWER OF A SINGLE EXPOSURE
Participants who were exposed to a conspiracy video were
significantly less likely to :
• think that there is widespread scientific agreement on
human-caused climate change
• sign a petition to help reduce global warming
• donate or volunteer for a charity in the next six months.
--Daniel Jolley and Karen Douglas, 2013

23. Autocomplete Censorship

24. Media Literacy: A Pedagogy of Inquiry
TEAM 1

25. Media Literacy: A Pedagogy of Inquiry
TEAM 2

26. Media Literacy: A Pedagogy of Inquiry
TEAM 3

27. What did you learn?
What new questions
have emerged?
TIME TO REFLECT

28. Workshop: Critically Analyzing
Conspiracy Theories

29. http://bit.ly/markdice
Annotate a Video to Critically Analyze It

30. https://flipgrid.com/40fe49

31. REFLECT ON SOMETHING YOU LIKED OR LEARNED
Using Today’s Meet
www.todaysmeet.com/conspiracy

32. Media Literacy: A Pedagogy of Inquiry
“The thing is, Google
search isn’t neutral. Like
any other set of complex
algorithms, search is shot
through with the values
of its creators.”
-Wohlsen, 2016

33. re
Conspiracy theories are alarm systems
that help people deal with threat. They
resonate most among groups suffering
from loss, weakness, or disunity.
--Uscinski & Parent, 2014

34. Are conspiracy
theories beneficial,
harmless or harmful?
Should students learn
how to critically
analyze conspiracy
theories in school?
Why or why not?
TIME TO REFLECT

35.  Understand differences in the quality of information
sources
 Distinguish between anecdote and authoritative evidence
 Recognize disinformation and propaganda
 Understand how search engines operate
 Use a variety of websites with different perspectives and
recognize their points of view
 Apply critical questions to analyze YouTube video
 Appreciate the importance of source verification of online
information
 Participate in online dialogue by composing responses that
demonstrate independent thinking and respect for others’
views

36. By exploring conspiracy theories, students strengthen
critical thinking skills that advance media literacy

37. Discussion of conspiracy theories is
motivating to adolescent learners
 Students improve Internet search skills
 They practice reasoning and analysis skills
in a structured way
 They improve their communication and
collaboration skills
 The topic is perceived as relevant and
timely
 Discussion and critical analysis promotes
intellectual curiosity

38. Teaching about conspiracy theories risks
validating them
 There’s not enough time in class to
examine evidence in depth
 There’s too much junk information online
on these topics
 It’s too easy to trivialize conspiracy
theories, reinforcing “us” and “them”
thinking

39. Are conspiracy
theories beneficial,
harmless or harmful?
Should students learn
how to critically
analyze conspiracy
theories in school?
Why or why not?
TIME TO REFLECT

40. Conspiracy theories are constructed by people, they have
an author, purpose, point of view & bias
Even brief exposures to conspiracy theories can increase
their believability
Composing critical commentary about conspiracy
theories using digital annotation tools may advance the
development of critical thinking skills
Conspiracy theories resonate in an age of anxiety by
simplifying complex and ambiguous realities
People need to take time to reflect on how conspiracy
theories reflect and shape perceptions of the world

41. www.mindovermedia.tv@reneehobbs

42. www.mindovermedia.tv@reneehobbs

44. @reneehobbs

45. @reneehobbs

46. Digital and Media Literacy
Empowers People as Both Consumers and Creators

47. Renee Hobbs
Professor of Communication Studies
Director, Media Education Lab
Harrington School of Communication
and Media
University of Rhode Island USA
Email: hobbs@uri.edu
Twitter: @reneehobbs
WEB: www.mediaeducationlab.com