As the great philosopher Lionel Hutz once said, there is the truth, and then there is “the truth.” Editing photos and videos, cutting paragraphs from articles, denying interviews, rigging press conferences, choosing “friendly” media outlets for the debates, and flooding the web with propaganda all share a single goal: shaping public opinion. The Westport Independent is a game that lets you do all that and more, as the editor of a newspaper at the mercy of an authoritarian government.
The Oldest Trick in the Book
History tells us that William Randolph Hearst, long regarded as the “father of yellow journalism,” told his illustrator Frederic Remington in the days before the Spanish-American War: “You supply the illustrations, and I'll supply the war.” History, however, has a twisted sense of humor, because many experts now point out that the telegram carrying that message may never have existed.
Manipulating information is an “art” that long predates the modern printing press. Truths turned into lies, lies into truths, uncomfortable truths into “half” truths, and so on. George Orwell taught a real lesson with 1984 and its famous Ministry of Truth. Joseph Goebbels, the murderous propaganda monster of Nazi Germany, spoke about the power of lying and about sustaining those lies. What do we have today? Exactly the same tricks, supercharged by modern communication, corporate titans, social networks and, of course, corrupt politics. With all that said… someone could make a video game out of this, right?
An Editor With Absolute Power
Welcome to The Westport Independent, a project from the studio Double Zero One Zero, formed by two Swedish developers back in 2013. The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator that tells the story of a newspaper on the verge of being dismantled by a new media-control law that the authoritarian government of the moment is about to introduce. You take on the role of editor, which basically grants you absolute power over what appears on every page of the paper. Some articles are there to praise the government's achievements; others carry an unmistakably oppositional tone. Add to that the task of assigning work among four reporters, each with their own ideas and personal interests. Play your cards however you like, but remember: every paragraph you remove, every story you reject and every edition you publish will have consequences for public opinion — and for how the government sees you.
The look of The Westport Independent is very similar to the one we enjoyed in Papers Please, and I have to say it fits perfectly.
The official page offers, free of charge, an alpha version covering the first six weeks of the game, and beyond the occasional rough edge, the experience so far has been fabulous. Honestly, what this game presents is so legitimate, and it hits so close to home, that we need to see it finished. There is no pre-order and no crowdfunding campaign yet. We'll be waiting.
