‘Jogos de Mesa contra Fake News’: Digital Media Literacy in Analogue Contexts

Concerns about contemporary (digital) media literacy have become increasingly prominent in recent years. Where digital solutions are often proposed, the inequality of access to technology and related infrastructure means that media literacy training is difficult to deliver but fake news can still have a dramatic impact. To explore the potential for non-digital solutions, a pilot event was held in Brazil that focused on analogue games as an approach to combatting mis-/disinformation.

Participants had learned how to use games to extend the media literacy of themselves and others, rather than designing specific games to bring to market. Discussions about making games encouraged participants to explore their media literacy expertise and to refine it by reflecting on media literacy as a systematic and mechanical challenge. Distinct from approaches that use games and gameplay as vehicles for learning, this is about thinking with and through games, rather than learning from them.