Farid Mohammadi; Seyed Vahid Aqili; Mohammad Javad Rezaeian
Abstract
Today’s world has experienced a major revolution in the way that stories are told. Content producers embrace new technologies such as AR, MR and VR to narrate their stories. Hunger in LA is considered as the first piece of immersive journalism produced by Nonny de la Pena where narration was supplemented ...
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Today’s world has experienced a major revolution in the way that stories are told. Content producers embrace new technologies such as AR, MR and VR to narrate their stories. Hunger in LA is considered as the first piece of immersive journalism produced by Nonny de la Pena where narration was supplemented with new technology in order to provide users with a first-person experience. Immersive journalism as a new concept provides an interactive, first-person experience with news stories, which can boost empathy. However, immersive journalism faces ethical challenges that need to be tackled. By conducting interviews with 20 experts, which were analyzed by constant comparative technique, this paper examines the ethical dilemmas raised by immersive journalism regarding the journalist’s perspective and the side effects that it might have on users. The findings reveal that immersive journalism producers should consider the existence of a paradox which has made journalistic pieces only accessible to a minority of people though they are supposed to be publicly available, pay very close attention to radical shifts in the way stories are told and impose regulations to guarantee transparency, truthfulness, responsible storytelling and data gathering, and children protection. In terms of the side effects on users, it also suggests that immersive journalism not only involves the risks associated with a significant subjective opinion portrayed on issues, loss of realism and direction, manipulation of the scene and deep fake but also needs complete awareness of how content impacts the viewer.
Farid Mohammadi; Vahid Aqili; Mohammad Javad Rezaeian
Abstract
The concept of immersive journalism was coined by Nonny de la Pena et al in 2010, which means “the production of news in a form in which people can gain first-person experiences of the events or situation described in news stories.” Immersive journalism is an experiential approach that allows ...
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The concept of immersive journalism was coined by Nonny de la Pena et al in 2010, which means “the production of news in a form in which people can gain first-person experiences of the events or situation described in news stories.” Immersive journalism is an experiential approach that allows users to experience, and subsequently, become immersed in stories. At the time being many European and American news organizations such as CNN, Euronews, BBC, The New York Times, Russiatoday, Guardian and Fox tell their stories via VR technologies. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize immersive journalism and examine vital questions that rise up in this emerging field, based on interviews with immersive journalists and experts. The results showed that the aims of immersive journalism are: experience events, increase emotional aspects, high-quality display, embodiment and first-person experience. The major benefits that immersive journalism brings are: exclusive access, closing distance, spatial storytelling, presence and viewer agency. The appropriate genres for immersive journalism are: VR- live videos, VR News and VR documentaries. Eventually, the requirements that journalists ought to meet in immersive journalism include: complying with ethical codes, learning new skills, guaranteeing the minimum quality of service and persuading users to experience immersive journalism.
