Rotary Club of Newport Beach Announces Million-Dollar Grant for Innovative Media Literacy Game, Agents of Influence

Steve Bender, is excited to announce that club members Anahita Dalmia, Jasper McEvoy, and their talented team have secured a million-dollar grant.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA, UNITED STATES, October 2, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Steve Bender, President of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach, is excited to announce that club members Anahita Dalmia, Jasper McEvoy, and their talented team have secured a million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This funding will support the further development of their innovative media literacy game, Agents of Influence. The game, aimed at educating students about the dangers of misinformation and disinformation, was recently validated by a research study conducted with Stanford Social Media Lab, demonstrating its significant efficacy.

As part of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach’s Democracy in a Box initiative, Agents of Influence is designed for 11- to 13-year-olds, teaching them critical thinking skills to help identify media bias, logical fallacies, and confirmation bias. The game’s unique approach is inspired by Rotary’s Four-Way Test, encouraging young people to critically evaluate the information they encounter, fostering discernment in today’s social media-dominated world.

This exciting news coincides with Agents of Influence being featured in the upcoming October issue of Rotary Magazine. The article, titled Beyond Truth vs. Fiction: Teaching Media Literacy, highlights the importance of equipping communities with media literacy tools to navigate today’s complex information landscape. The full article will be available in the October edition of Rotary Magazine and online at Rotary's official website: Rotary Magazine.

Adding to the momentum, Rotary’s presence at EarthX 2025 in Dallas, Texas, will highlight the highly anticipated Sea 2 Sky Myth-Busting Conference, which will focus on misinformation and disinformation surrounding environmental issues. The event will tackle pervasive myths such as “windmills cause cancer” and “electric vehicles are worse for the environment than internal combustion cars.” This important gathering will examine the origins and persistence of these myths while offering strategies to effectively debunk them.

Join us at EarthX 2025 from April 21 to 25 for the Sea 2 Sky Solutions Conference. Thought leaders and experts will host workshops on April 23, followed by presentations on April 24, addressing crucial topics related to misinformation in environmental discourse. Don’t miss your chance to engage in this vital conversation—register today at www.EarthX.org using the code Sea2Sky to secure your seat.

We extend our gratitude to Past District 5320 Governor, Dan Ouweleen, for his vision and leadership in promoting this project. We also thank the Rotarian visionaries and their clubs across the country who have shown support by sponsoring classes and facilitating the research.

For those interested in piloting Agents of Influence or participating in ongoing research studies, volunteers are needed! Your feedback helps us improve the game. You can pilot the game and/or participate in one (or more) ongoing research studies. For more information about Agents of Influence and how you can get involved, visit www.agentsofinfluencegame.com

Steve Bender
Rotary Club of Newport Beach
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