Redistricting Game, Rochester, NY 2001
Partners:
Nycitizens.org
and public television stations WXXI, WPBS, WCNY, WNET, WLIW, WMHT, WCFE, WSKG, WNEDWNED
Nine public television stations collaborated on NYcitizens.org, a Web site dedicated to helping New Yorkers understand and become engaged in the process of redrawing congressional districts through an online game and other interactive features. The partners launched the Web site in the fall of 2001 as the state legislature began the redistricting process, including simple explanations of the politics and processes involved in the task. They found a way to give users a first-hand look at the complexities, however, in February 2002, when they added the Redistricting Game.
The role-playing game allowed users to be one of six different kinds of stakeholders in the redistricting process. For example, a player might take on the role of a white Republican state legislator interested in advancing Republican candidates at the state and national level. Or the player could choose to be an African-American Democratic Party official interested in both electing Democrats and getting more African-Americans elected to Congress. The Center for Governmental Research helped the partners develop realistic roles for the game.
After picking a role, players were led to a grid where they could draw districts based on their demographics and politics with actual census information guiding their decisions. The game worked by certain rules, just as the actual process does. For example, players were unable to create districts that were obviously gerrymandered. Players were told how the districts they created would likely fare in the real world.
The partners created an online curriculum for 12th grade social studies classes to give the game greater participation. They also posted essays from key federal and state lawmakers on redistricting and invited users to post their own essays in response. The site also hosted message boards and links to other resources. The partners said they got positive feedback but could not determine how many users had visited. They planned to keep the site active with other applications, such as an Election Finder that would help users find their local polling places, after the redistricting process was complete.
Contact:
Gary Walker
VP of Television
WXXI-TV
280 State St – PO Box 30021
Rochester, NY 14603-3021
Phone: (585) 258-0241
Email: gwalker@wxxi.org
Elissa Marra
Director of National Productions
WXXI-TV
280 State St
Rochester, NY 14614
Phone: (716) 258-0349
Email: emarra@wxxi.org