University of Sydney

Breaking the News: Taking the Roles of Influencer vs. Journalist in a LLM-Based Game

Breaking the News functions as a competitive, player-versus-player educational intervention designed to enhance media literacy through the simulation of misinformation dynamics.

• The 'Breaking the News' PvP game significantly improved media literacy, with study participants showing statistically significant gains in functional and critical content consumption (p = .039 and p < .001, respectively).
• Role-playing as an 'Influencer' in the game effectively taught participants about the low barriers to creating misinformation, fostering a more cautious and skeptical attitude toward online content creators.
• The game’s PvP mechanic successfully fostered constructive competition and intrinsic motivation, with participants reporting that learning from opponents' strategies helped them better understand the dynamics of misinformation.