Recommended for Student Discussions:
Trust Me
Trust Me (2022)
Trust me is a feature-length documentary exploring human nature, information technology, and the need for media literacy to help people trust one another, bring them together and create a more resilient population.
It premiered on PBS on January 4th, 2022, and shows how an avalanche of negative news and misinformation is making us all terrified of the world. This has led to mistrust of others, racism, polarization, mental health disorders and even crime.
Unlike The Social Dilemma, many of the people interviewed are Media Literacy educators, experts and journalists, with much more news footage, reflecting its news literacy bias. The News Literacy Project is a partner, developing a guide for the film.
TrustMe is free to watch on Kanopy, a streaming service requiring a library card. Otherwise, it is rentable from the website for $12.99.
Plus
News- and media-literacy based, with global examples of current events and video clips.
Uses five deep-dive stories from across the world which students find engaging.
Recommended by Common Sense Media.
Integrates well with NLP's Checkology.
Minus
Not dramatized (with actors and animated visualizations) like The Social Dilemma, so less accessible to middle school students.
The segments are wide-ranging (unlike Social Dilemma, which has a few points to make) so students could lose the thread.
Some of the content and language is raw and may upset students.
Interesting
Blog post contrasts it with Social Dilemma.
News Literacy Project has a guide with 5 lessons for before, during and after viewing, targeted for grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12+.
NLP's Guide includes graphic organizers to help build concepts and spark discussion.
Conclusion:
Use Trust Me to