Jeffco League to package misinformation workshop into shareable toolkit, plans July–September public sessions

Members of the League of Women Voters Jefferson County News Access & Literacy Task Force voted informally to assemble a shareable toolkit from a five‑week workshop series designed to help people spot misinformation and to begin sharing that package with local leagues across Colorado.

Rebecca, a Jefferson County League presenter, said the series — titled "Is Media Ruining America?" — covered source evaluation, exercises, and handouts and that the team plans to upload slide decks, speaker scripts, activity handouts, source lists and evaluation forms to a shared Google Docs folder for local reuse. "We have the slide presentations, we have the notes pages with the scripts, we have the handouts, we have the sources cited, and we have the evaluation form," Rebecca said.

The task force emphasized updating the curriculum to address recent advances in AI‑generated audio and imagery. A participant summarized the risk: "AI generated voices to sound like Joe Biden…to tell people not to vote," and said foreign actors are increasingly able to produce convincing synthetic content. The group agreed that the toolkit must include fresh, local examples and guidance on identifying AI‑driven content.

Rebecca said the workshops were reviewed by outside advisors, naming Dr. Philip Chen (University of Denver political science), Bob Steele (journalistic ethics) and Dennis Ryerson (former Denver Post) as contributors to content review and question‑handling. She also said the group secured a state grant to buy 40 additional copies of Cindy L. Otis’s True or False for local libraries to support the program.

Organizers left several decisions open but set specific next steps. They will: (1) create and share a Google Docs repository of materials, (2) solicit volunteer reviewers from local leagues, (3) schedule a three‑week review meeting on May 12 to refine the toolkit, and (4) promote live, interactive presentations in the community while retaining a recorded option. Rebecca said the Jeffco YouTube channel already hosts recordings of earlier sessions and that the team will link to them from the toolkit.

Speakers also discussed branding and nonpartisan framing. The group recommended that handouts be rebrandable for local leagues (e.g., LWV Colorado or county league names) and agreed materials should include an "overview of expectations" to preserve balance and nonpartisanship when adapted locally. Participants suggested partnering with civic groups such as Braver Angels for events that bring people from different political backgrounds together, but the group favored league‑led presentations as the primary model.

Logistics discussed included a Stanley Lake Library five‑week run starting July 14 and a Coline Library series from Aug. 11 through Sept. 8; volunteers offered to help with outreach and a member volunteered to polish handout graphics. The task force closed by reaffirming the timeline and thanking Rebecca and Beverly for developing and piloting the series.

The task force did not take formal votes or adopt ordinances; the meeting produced a set of operational directions and a concrete review schedule to prepare materials for broader distribution before the upcoming election cycle.