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Fake News In History 3: Simulation Game

Fake news isn’t a new phenomenon, but it has changed a lot over time. These lessons will take a dive into the history of news and fake news up until the rise of the internet.

In this final lesson, students will play a simulation drawing inspiration from the theory and examples discussed in the previous two lessons. Groups will be assigned a role in an imaginary society and a secret objective they will try to accomplish by writing a statement.

Lesson goals

  • Get an impression of the complexity of a public debate
  • See fake news being used as a strategy in public debate
  • Untangle motivations and interests to analyze statements

Activities

Exercise (25 minutes) - Class divided in 6 groups

Groups write their statements based on their assigned role and secret objective. They may decide to use fake news strategies.

Aim: Students come up with a frame that serves their needs as a group and their secret objective.

Presenting (10 minutes) - class

Groups present their statements to the class.

Aim: Students present their work.

Discussion (10 minutes) - class

The class discusses how every group framed its position, if it used fake news, and what its secret objective was. Finally, the group in question reveals their secret objective.

Aim: Students present their work and critically assess their peers’ work.

Discussion questions (optional) - Class

Discuss the discussion questions with the students.

Aim: Students reflect on the topic.

Keywords

Game History Simulation
Theme
History
Lesson duration
45 minutes
Level
Advanced
Main method of instruction
Exercise
Materials
Prep time for teacher

Exercise (25 minutes)

“Over the last few hours, a fire in the left wing of the national art museum destroyed dozens of valuable paintings.” Some paintings had great historical significance. Authorities are investigating the cause, but are unable to provide a statement at this time.

Preparation

  1. The teacher announces the news of the museum fire.
  2. The teacher divides the class into 6 groups and tells every group what their secret objective is (see “assigned roles” below) in the imaginary pre-internet society where the simulation takes place.
  3. The teacher explains the objective of the simulation:

    Every group will seek to 1) validate their role in society and 2) accomplish their secret objective while reacting to the news of the fire. Groups can decide to promote fake news or to stick to the facts.

Simulation

All parties will write a statement in reaction to the news of the museum fire from their group’s perspective. The statement consists of:

  1. A title
  2. A text of max. 150 words
  3. A call to action at the end. E.g. A call to action starts with a verb and urges readers to do something, for example: “Sign this petition!

Assigned roles

  • The queen
    • Secret objective: make the public suspicious of the high priest.
  • The high priest
    • Secret objective: urge people to donate money to their religious institution because of the loss of religious art.
  • The parliament
    • Secret objective: provide an explanation of how this fire happened.
  • The press
    • Secret objective: sell lots of copies of tomorrow’s paper.
  • A representative of the laborers
    • Secret objective: convince the public that the queen and the media pay too much attention to arts while ignoring labor rights.
  • The artists’ association
    • Secret objective: hold the parliament responsible for not taking good care of national heritage.

Presenting (10 minutes)

After writing the statements, one representative of each group will read the statement in front of the class. Students try to answer the following questions for themselves:

  1. How did this group frame the fire to validate their existence?
  2. Did the group use fake news to further their goals?
  3. What was the secret objective of the group?

Discussion (10 minutes)

  1. When all groups have presented their statements, the class discusses every group’s effort by answering the following questions:
    1. How did the group frame its position?
    2. Did the group use fake news?
    3. What is the group’s secret objective?
      1. The group in question reveals their secret objective in response.
    4. Did the group make a good effort at accomplishing their secret objective?

  2. Simulating a heated debate on a fictional square shows how truth can be made, remade, and faked.

    Briefly discuss how students felt going into the game with a bias and agenda. How did it feel to lie to further their goals? How is this different from a CEO defending their company’s interests?

Discussion questions (optional)

  1. Why did some groups use fake news and others didn’t?
  2. Why would parties not tell the truth when putting out a statement?
  3. What are the consequences of being caught in a lie as a public figure or entity?
  4. How can parties with different interests agree on what is true?
  5. True or false? A public debate among many actors leads to more truth than a public debate dominated by one power.
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