How Can Games Enhance News Literacy?

Determining what is fact and fiction when it comes to news has become more and more difficult.   The term “mainstream media” is an oxymoron that has glorified platforms such as FOX News, CNN, MSNBC and now Parlor, that epitomize slanted coverage and opinionated information.

It’s not a game.  It’s a real-life quandary for many to know what is fact, what is opinion and if the source of the information is reliable and trustworthy.

But enhancing your own news literacy CAN be a game.

The Public Relations Society of America released a few games that people of all ages can play to help themselves in this world of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.

Clemson University has created “Spot The Troll.” You can also play “Bad News,” or the “Go Viral Game.”

If games aren’t your style, you can subscribe to the BBC’s twice monthly – or fortnightly as they call it – newsletter, Disinformation Watch,  which covers the latest news about disinformation, including case studies, research and reporting from the BBC, international media and leading experts in the field.

The Atlantic Council has established a Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)that  has operationalized the study of disinformation by exposing falsehoods and fake news, documenting human rights abuses and building digital resilience worldwide.

You can also visit Harvard’s “Misinformation Review.”

Resources such as these can help all of us in determining what is fact and what is not.