From “Cool Observer” to “Emotional Participant”: The Practice of Immersive Journalism

ABSTRACT

Over the past years, innovative technologies (such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR)) have become more common within news organizations. These technologies allow users to immerse themselves in a virtual world. With these types of productions, the journalist tries to engage and involve the user by introducing emotional styles, often to create empathy. This does not only demand new technological skills, but also challenges the way journalist allow emotions in journalistic productions, and what role they take in relation to the story and the user. Through fifteen in-depth interviews with immersive producers and experts in renowned news organizations across the globe, this paper examines both the motivations of journalists who produce immersive stories, and how they seek to balance traditional journalistic norms and emotionality in them. The results show that journalists believe that emotions and facts can be compatible with journalistic production. Yet, they struggle with their role in relation to the user. Immersive journalism obliges journalists to carefully reconsider their relationship with their public. In sum, this study illuminates an ongoing professional debate on the role of emotionality, user agency, and journalistic control and autonomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Immersive journalism
• virtual reality
• 360 degrees video
• interviews
• interaction
• participation
• agency

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the consortium partners NOS, NTR, VARA, KRO-NCRV, Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision, for their valuable contributions, as well as the advisory board.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by SIA Dutch Academic Research Fund.