Truth Be Told
Correcting toxic disinformation, debunking lies and empowering critical thinking
What’s This Mini ‘Zine About?
“Airborne leaflet propaganda” is a tactic that dates back over 100 years where airplanes drop clusters of paper with political messages in an effort to influence morale and behaviors.
What if we used it for good? What if we used this methodology (minus the airplanes) to “paper” our world with facts about democracy, the Constitution, voting and disenfranchisement?
Where do people get their information? A 2024 Pew survey suggests that an increasingly number of people often rely on digital connections for news and information:
Digital devices: 57%
Television: 33%
Radio: 11%
Print: 6%
When “friends, family and neighbors” are added to the mix, the survey results change drastically: 73% of respondents said they often/sometimes get news from these word-of-mouth sources.
While those are the most consulted platforms for information, that doesn’t speak to trust. In marketing, we know that word of mouth remains the single most effective channel for trusted information. This 2025 article from Buyapowa summarizes several surveys that confirm that consumers trust brand recommendations from people they know.
What do consumer attitudes have to do with voter attitudes? Our hypothesis for this tactic is that, borrowing from consumer studies, we believe that word-of-mouth messaging can be more powerful than the misinformation, disinformation and mal-information being spread by alt-Right propaganda machines.
Read more about the history of ‘zines from the Daily Tar Heel.
Don’t litter: Share the ‘zines with friends, acquaintances and family, and leave them in places where people frequently gather.
Sources of Truth
Donald Trump told 30,573 lies in his first presidency. That’s 20 per day on average. (WaPo)
In the first 150 days of 47, the president’s personal wealth has doubled to about $5.4 billion. Has your net worth doubled? Bloomberg
Cult of personality: “exaggerated devotion to a charismatic political, religious, or other leader.” Verywellmind Wikipedia List of Cults of Personalities
Trump said a vote against H.R. 1 (his big beautiful bill) will make our national debt “explode” to 117% of GDP. He said it will cut our deficit in half by 2034. Both are false. The bill itself will increase the debt by $3.3 trillion. False claim: White House; accurate analyses compiled by Snopes
10 Rules from the Authoritarian Playbook (Commons Library). We cannot allow this regime to divide us. Find a democratic, progressive or anti-fascist/anti-authoritarian group or resource and join, follow and share. Get involved, subscribe to their newsletters. When we stand in solidarity, we protect our country.
3.5% It takes only a small minority of the population to actively participate in peaceful protests to effect a change. BBC
False: “If people come into our country illegally, theres a different standard [for due process]” — DJT
True: The first two words of the Fifth Amendment are “No person,” not “no citizen.” There are no exceptions.
Source: Politifact and everyone who’s ever read the U.S. Constitution.
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