Julia Ross, Presentation Image

Photo taken of the red graffiti that reads "Doctor, your turn." Written by Omar's friends in the schoolyard, Syrian Revolution origin myth.

(Photo displayed here is a screenshot of the photo displayed in a VICE article).

Presentation Image

Tracking the Untraceable

#manpads Conversation

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Panel: What are Some Examples of Gaming used in News Narratives?

The picture is taken in 2015. Riot Games hosted the League of Legends 2015 World Championship over the month of October 2015, and as expected, the huge event broke tons of League and esports records.

I was a fan of the League of Legends. I spend lots of time watching games as what other fans do.

Notably, since the event happened in Berlin, those finals took place at an absurdly early hour of the day for those watching in North America. That didn't stop 36 million total unique viewers from tuning in around the world, a number that Riot calls "a record-breaking high for any esports event." It also represents an increase of nearly 10 million unique viewers from League of Legends' 2014 World Championship.

Riot also notes that the 73 games played throughout the course of the series averaged 4.2 million viewers. 334 million people tuned in at some point during the four weeks of games, up from 288 million in 2014.

The game industry have grow so quick in the past few years. Mobile games, Console video games, and PC games are the major games. Two big trends that game industry related to new journalism are: More and more people are caring more about game news. The game media are growing fast. Also, lots of games have been growing into competitive games. Professional players and professional league are trying to push “games” into official sports.

Questions:

Do you think game news are newsworthy enough to take place in the media?

Depends on the audience who receive most of the game news, what should journalists do to report game news within modern media ?

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/4/17/10760222/lol-viewing-guide-how-to-follow-league-of-legends

The "Live Video" Feature on Facebook Reshapes Storytelling

A New Form of Storytelling:
With technology and media ever-evolving, it is not surprise that news is becoming shared in more creative ways as the digital age emerges. Things like humorous and satirical news has become popular, as has interactive documentary and other online sources of news that engage the audience in ways that traditional journalism cannot.
Perhaps one of Facebook's newest additions is the Live Video aspect that is similar to an app known as Periscope. Periscope lets users stream live videos, which are only available for 24 hours. On Facebook, the video can be streamed live, but afterwards is left on that person's timeline or page for as long as they'd like.

(Photo courtesy of Facebook Newsroom, 2016)

The Facebook Live Video can be used for friends and family to share with others or for popular pages on Facebook to share a real-time video. This new feature further emphasizes Facebook as a news platform. Over the years, Facebook users have noted that the platform is one of their primary ways that they get news, whether it be a status, shared article or even a video that they scroll by on their timeline. Now, there is a live video function that pulls viewers in by the flashing pink icon, stating "live video" and intrigues the viewers to know what that specific person or company is doing/sharing at this exact moment.
I went to CU Boulder's graduation a few weeks ago, and the speaker took a Facebook Live video in the midst of her speech as the newly grads sang their alma mater song.
This feature makes storytelling even easier. Facebook is one of the most heavily used social media platforms and undeniably an outlet for story telling (statuses, likes, photos, videos, etc.). Not only does the live video feature add to the means of storytelling but it does so in a way that is relevant and shares ideas that are anything but old news.

Questions:
1. Have you ever used the live video function on Facebook or seen someone who has? What was your reaction to it?
2. Why do you think Facebook added this feature, what sets it apart from it's other features? Is it important?

Sources:
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/30/facebooks-live-video-hands-on/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/04/26/facebook-live-everything-you-need-to-know/#534d5f147a82
http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/04/introducing-new-ways-to-create-share-and-discover-live-video-on-facebook/

The history and present of Newsgames

            Within the spectrum of modern technology, news-games are relatively new. A major part of the media industry has to do with finding new ways to present the news in a way that is refreshing, entertaining and still informative. Around 2007, in Brazil, a media outlet created one of the first newsgames to become popular. The game they created was made to spread awareness of disease in spinach. The game was called Bacteria Salad and it was meant to inform people about the spreading of E.colli in raw spinach. The years between 2008 and 2012 were very important in the development of newsgames. The magazine Superinteressante played a large roll in these years. Them, along with their developers, Fred Di Giacomo and Rafael Kemski created 12 games during the four-year span. The game that caught on most was Filosofighters, a game which was intended to inform players of the teachings of different philosophers through a wrestling metaphor. As well as being one of the most successful newsgames, it also received positive reviews from, and made the lists for PC Gamer. 

The news games take on many different forms. Some, are roll playing games where you play as a character and move through the game-world as that character. Other games, you simply put in information and the return information is interesting or funny while also being informative. An example of this kind of newsgame is The World at 7Billion. This is a game made by the BBC that tells you how many people of the 7 billion on earth were born before and after you, as well as exactly what number you are. While this is not necessarily a fast paced interesting game you could play for a while, it had a major social media presence and made its way all around the world. Another style of news games are lists and quizzes. The best example of these are made by, Buzzfeed. While a lot of their lists are trivial like, “How well do you know High School Musical?” they also make ones that are informative. An example of this would be quizzes like “Can you pick that one annoying drunk friend”, which teaches players the early signs of alcohol poisoning and how to tell when to stop drinking.

Overall, although it is a relatively new way to deliver media, newsgames are a positive way of sharing information and are being used by major companies around the world.

Questions: 

1. How do news games fit into the world of modern media?

2. Do you see news games becoming a main source of news in the future?

Panel: What are Some Examples of Gaming used in News Narratives?

Key points

The emergence of “newsgames,” or games that utilize journalistic principles, is obviously a relatively new phenomenon that started in the early 2000’s when technology, especially video games, was quickly on the rise. The games tend to focus on a specific social issue or a real life story, and can be as simple as a quiz to as complex as a full-blown video game. Newsgames offer journalists and news organization a way to ensure that audiences will engage in the subject matter, as video games transform the news into an interactive experience that the user is a part of. This inspires emotion and empathy, especially when it comes to social situations that one does not particularly understand/is not well informed on.

Example 1

Take for example Snowden Run 3D, a game created after Edward Snowden leaked a massive amount of NSA data in order to expose their shady data collecting methods. The game is on the Android and Apple store, and is an endless runner similar to Temple Run (which I know everyone in here has played). There are upgrades, vehicles you can drive, power-ups (one of which is the “Iron Putin,” and destroys every obstacle in your path), and a leaderboard, all of which contribute to an addicting game with much more to say about the broader social issues behind the Snowden leaks.

Example 2

Another example of gaming being used in news narratives comes from the website gamesforchange.org, which is an entire website devoted to “catalyzing social impact through digital games.” The site helps to create and distribute socially impactful games that are meant to increase awareness and knowledge about a certain issue, event, etc., and is run by a non-profit organization that also goes by the name Games For Change. In addition to creating and distributing games the organization also builds and shares replicable model for such games, in order to advance the field and inspire public participation. While many news organizations and inspired individuals have created socially impactful games, there is no other website like gamesforchange.org that is purely dedicated to educating Americans on social issues through games. The organization views these games as essential tools in humanitarian and education efforts.

The Potential

The potential for newsgames and other emergent genres is very high, especially when it comes to public engagement of news. The use of such games allows the audience to interact with and relate to the subject matter, rather than just having information unloaded onto them. This engages the viewer and forces him or her to pay attention and participate, which lets the viewer retain the information and understand the topic at hand. Gamesforchange.org is a unique website that could have so much potential. It gives people an experience that news organizations cannot offer, and evokes emotion and empathy in the audience. Topics that are fairly unrelatable become personalized in a way, and the news is transformed into an experience in which the viewer makes the choices instead of having everything chosen for him or her. These types of games actually make an effort to get people to understand the information, situation, issues, etc., rather than just relaying information to an uncaring audience.

Links to resources:

https://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/creating-games-for-journalism

https://www.slantnews.com/story/2015-06-23-games-in-journalism-adding-a-new-dimension-to-storytelling

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/jan/11/news-games-future-interactive-journalism

Questions:

-Do you believe that these newsgames are an effective source of news? Is it something that more news organizations should implement? Why or why not?

-How do you think these games can be better utilized to generate increased engagement with the news? Do you think the games can encourage better engagement at all?