One More Thing: Issue #14

6 min readNov 22, 2020

Saturday, November 21, 2020 Post Election Actions

GEORGIA RUNOFF NEWS

Strategic Messaging for GA Senate Runoff
ZOOM MEETING: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23–6 PM

This Monday, join a webinar with Martha Shockey (leader of Indivisible GA Coalition and GA-04) along with reps from Fair Fight, the Ossoff campaign to discuss strategic messaging for the GA races. The session will include a section on fighting disinformation as well. Please share in your groups.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

CLICK HERE: Sign Up for GA Senate Runoff Webinar

COUNTERING MISINFORMATION

As many of us prepare for the first holiday of the winter season, Thanksgiving, we know that many will be celebrating with family. Whether you’re sticking to online means or choosing to meet in person, many of us will be having our first post-election conversations with some people who have different views, and this is a time when our natural echo chambers are disturbed. If you know that you’ll be sharing space with family who you may love but seriously disagree with, then this campaign is for you.

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Our country successfully held an election, but it is far from successfully fighting disinformation. There is still a LOT of disinformation spreading across social media and right-wing media — including political claims related to voter fraud, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the Georgia Senate races — plus dangerous health claims about COVID-19, masks, and vaccines.
Social media disinformation is breeding real offline distrust. A recent Reuters poll shows 52% of Republicans think Trump “rightfully won” and Gallup shows 12% of Americans plan to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine due to a general distrust of vaccines. These aren’t just numbers — these statistics represent real people in our lives.
Together, we as the Truth Brigade typically promote positive messages online to counter disinformation — but in a moment where a lot of these false claims may be spilling over into our real-life conversations, it is important for us to step back and think about how we can best tackle disinformation offline as well.

HERE’S THE PLAN:

ENJOY FAMILY TIME — It’s been a long year and our work isn’t over yet! Recharging with family is an important way to keep our energies up for the fight ahead.
LISTEN FOR DISINFORMATION AT THE DINNER TABLE — While you are spending time with family, listen out for pieces of disinformation that are being shared. Whether it’s about COVID or the election, we know that disinformation is not only shared online but in real life too.
USE THE OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS MODEL BELOW — Deciding to engage in conversation with loved ones who are sharing disinformation is a powerful and important organizing act. Use the overcoming objection model (see below) to help guide you in these conversations.
SHARE YOUR STORIES WITH US ON SLACK- We want to know of your successes and hiccups! Jump into the Truth Brigade Slack to let us know what happened at your dinner table.
CONTINUE TO SHARE OUR CURRENT CAMPAIGN ONLINE AND OFF — We won. The voters decided. The other side is spreading disinformation and asking for money to serve themselves — not to serve our country. Here are the message guidelines to counter the ongoing assault on our election.

The Overcoming Objections Conversation Model

The Overcoming Objections model is based on an assumption: that you know what shared values you have with the person you’re speaking. The unspoken step in the model is to start the conversation from a place of curiosity. You will be best set-up to persuade someone to open their mind if you already know what shared values you have with the person you’re talking to.

Here are some questions to help you get at shared values:

🎯 What was the top reason you decided to vote this year?
🎯 As our lives have changed with COVID, has anything become more important to you than ever before? If yes, what?
🎯 If you had a magic wand, what would you change about our … (world, country, family, etc)

After hearing something that’s different from your belief …

🎯 Why do you believe that?
🎯 Why is that important to you?
🎯 Could you tell me more about that?

When the inevitable moment happens that you are presented with a piece of disinformation at the dinner table, follow these four steps:.

1. Truly empathize. Before any of us can listen to a new idea, we must truly believe that what we said has been heard — that’s true for the people we disagree with as well. Be sure to find something to empathize with based on the disinformation you hear.

2. Briefly correct the disinformation. It’s easy to spend too much time on this step and begin an argument — don’t be tempted to over-explain! Be brief and while correcting the disinformation, be sure to use “I” language and give specific examples. Here are some options for how to correct disinformation:

🎯 Call out the motives of those spreading false information (e.g. “I have seen that story come from highly partisan sources who are using it for political gain.”)
🎯 We talk a lot about not amplifying disinformation. That is still a good principle to follow, but in the case of offline conversations we don’t have to factor in amplification through social media algorithms. That said, it’s still better not to parrot false claims if you can help it (e.g. avoid statements like, “Yes, the people who say that also believe X conspiracy” or “I heard a different variation of that story that claimed X.”

3. Bring it back to something you both care about. This is where leading with curiosity earlier will come in handy. Be sure to bring the conversation back to something you both believe in order to create unity and connection.

4. End on a question that continues the conversation. Invite the person to keep talking by ending with a question that touches at your family members’ heart.

👉 Sign up here to participate in Indivisible’s Truth Brigade directly: https://act.indivisible.org/signup/indivisible-truth-brigade

THANKSGIVING: Help Our Neighbors

Fight Hunger and Feed Hope in Our Communities

If you are downsizing your holiday meal or you just want to make holiday better for others, please consider donating to the St. Louis Area Food Bank! https://stlfoodbank.org/

The St. Louis Area Foodbank is a non-profit 501(c)(3) food distribution center that serves 14 counties in eastern Missouri and 12 counties in southwestern Illinois. Their mission is to build stronger communities by empowering people with food and hope.