NewsFeed Defenders

NewsFeed Defenders is a challenging game that engages players with the standards of journalism, showing you how to spot examples of the viral deception we all face today, in all its forms. Join a fictional social media site focused on news and information, and meet the challenge to protect the site's integrity. This can only be achieved by spotting dubious posts that try to sneak in hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting. In addition to maintaining a high-quality site, you are charged with growing traffic while keeping the posts on topic. As you play you'll level up from guest user to site admin and unlock new ways to engage with the community.

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Teachers: Check out our classroom resources for NewsFeed Defenders. Just visit www.icivics.org!

Learning Objectives: Players will...
· identify markers of verification, transparency, accountability, and independence in news stories
· define and identify problematic news items, and other news-related types of misinformation
· explain a variety of strategies to verify images and information
· evaluate text for bias based on word choices and framing methods
· use third-party information to judge credibility of a source