Incoming CPB innovator eyes video games

Joaquin Alvarado, who joins CPB on June 30 as senior v.p. for diversity and innovation, led a wide-ranging, fast-moving discussion on "Public Service Media 2.0" at Wednesday's PBS Showcase. One issue: Pubcasting, he said, is "woefully absent" from the conversation about the educational possibilities of video games. "We have all these kids at the console spending four, five hours a day playing games. How do we use that as an opportunity to address challenges in education?" Alvarado cited as an example the nonprofit Games for Change, which, according to its website, "seeks to harness the extraordinary power of video games to address the most pressing issues of our day, including poverty, human rights, global conflict and climate change." It calls itself "a voice for the transformative power of video games."