Video games transform media landscape
Students in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C., have an opportunity to participate in a fellowship program that will use video game theory to shape the next generation of newsroom leaders.
With the support of a $250,000 donation from the Knight Foundation, the Journalism Leadership Transformation (JoLT) program will support six fellows – three journalism students and three professional journalists. Fellows will enroll in American University’s game design master’s degree program, where they will organize and participate in multiple summits with academics and journalists in Washington D.C.
“Effective game designers excel at weaving together a compelling mix of context goals, challenges and rewards that encourages players’ ongoing involvement,” said Jeffrey Rutenbeck, dean of the School of Communication. “What can journalism learn from the way they think?”
Visit American University’s website to learn more about the JoLT program.
The Gannett Company, the nation’s largest publisher, is experimenting with the way it delivers news to audiences through an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Audiences can virtually follow the Harvest of Change campaign that features four rural Iowa farming families and the technological, economic and environmental challenges they face.
Screenshot from “Harvest of Change” campaign.
“This is the way we, as journalists, are going to need to communicate to the Minecraft generation,” said the Gannett Company’s Digital Vice President Mitch Gelman.
The ESA Foundation, the video game industry’s philanthropic arm, encourages this trend through a grant to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The Pulitzer Center used the grant to develop an educational role-playing game with Decode Global. The purpose of the game is to increase media literacy and global issue awareness among high school students from low-income communities. Students can learn journalism techniques and improve critical thinking skills by playing the role of an international journalist. |