Elon students will have the opportunity to compete for prizes by identifying what’s real and what’s not.
The Oaks Neighborhood will host a virtual version of the Fake News Game Show at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20 via Zoom and using Kahoot. The game show invites participants to differentiate between real and fake news. In the first round, contestants are shown a story and asked to determine if it is real or fake. In the second round, two stories are placed side-by-side, and contestants have to choose which one was made up.
The first-place winner will receive a $50 Visa gift card. Second place will win a $25 Oak House gift card. And third place will walk away with a $10 Med Deli gift card. Students interested in participating will need to RSVP.
“We want the game show to demonstrate that legitimately fake news can be tricky to spot,” said Colin Donohue, faculty director of the Oaks and School of Communications director of student engagement and alumni affairs. “But if we take a few moments to look at the information, ask questions about it and then do some research, we’ll be better news and information consumers. And that’s incredibly important at this exact moment in time, as we head toward a presidential election.”
The game will be sponsored by the Oaks Neighborhood, the School of Communications and Elon’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The Fake News Game Show was originated by Michael Koretzky, the director of a regional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Donohue, Oaks Community Director Trianne Smith and apartment manager Chandler Vaughn ’21 are organizing Elon’s version of the game show.