The game is part of the Media Masters - enhancing digital literacy project, funded by CERV

The Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" hosted a series of workshops dedicated to the educational game Media Masters, held in September and October 2025.  The game was created as part of a large scientific and practical project under the CERV (Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values) program and is the product of cooperation between partners from nine countries.
More than 110 students and schoolchildren of different ages had the opportunity to try out the board game and the mobile app it works with during the demonstration sessions at FJMC. These culminated in a major workshop on identifying fake news on 16 October.
"Media literacy is not just a tool; it is an essential skill in today's world that young people must learn to use. Media Masters shows us how, through play, we can teach them to be more attentive, more active, and more engaged with the information that surrounds them," said Dean Prof. Dr. Veselina Valkanova, who is leading the project on behalf of FJMC.
The Media Masters game immerses participants in realistic media scenarios where they must identify fake news, misleading publications, and hidden advertising. The game combines a table-top playing field and a mobile app that, via QR codes, leads to questions related to real examples from the digital environment.

The workshop at the FJMC marks the start of the second series of events, which will introduce the game to the Bulgarian public. The initial version of the mobile app and board game was shown in April 2025. Since then, the game has received further updates, with many new questions and improvements to the mobile app. 
Following the game session, participants held an open discussion to discuss the role of media in democratic societies and shared their observations on the ways in which misinformation influences public attitudes.
Media Masters is part of a European initiative to promote media literacy and civic engagement among young people. The project brings together 14 partners from nine countries.
The Bulgarian team from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication of Sofia University played a key role in testing and promoting the game in Bulgaria. The test sessions conducted show that the game approach increases interest in the topic of disinformation and facilitates understanding of the complex mechanisms through which fake news is spread.
The Media Masters project aims to build a more informed and critically thinking European community through play, dialogue, and collaborative learning. The events at FJMC are part of a series of 42 demonstration events that will take place in nine European countries and will involve over 3,000 participants - students, teachers, journalists, and experts..

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