Can Immersive Journalism Enhance Empathy?

Laws, Ana Luisa Sánchez

doi:10.1080/21670811.2017.1389286

Cited by 96 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The Tow Report Virtual Reality Journalism pointed out that 'a core question is whether VR can provide similar feelings of empathy and compassion to real-life experiences' (Aronson-Rath et al, 2015). Experimental IJ research has found VR technology to have a positive impact compared to traditional journalism on not just feelings of empathy (Laws, 2017) but also source credibility and story-sharing intention (Sundar et al, 2017); likewise, research shows empathy to be linked to immersion and embodiment (Shin and Biocca, 2018). Empathy, then, seems to play a similarly essential, though possibly controversial, role in understanding how VR technology might be used for the news.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual hype meets reality: Users’ perception of immersive journalism

Nielsen

Sheets

2019

Journalism

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This study responds to recent calls to investigate how media users perceive virtual reality technology in journalism. Within a uses and gratifications framework, focus group participants were asked to experience recent immersive journalistic productions and discuss their reactions. Six distinct gratifications were identified, which cluster into gratifications related to experience, affect, and action. Despite clear reservations about the technology, users see great potential for journalistic use. If employed responsibly, users think virtual reality can add considerable value to mainstream journalistic productions, potentially boosting engagement and trust. Researchers and practitioners can benefit from this initial study of users’ impressions of and reactions to immersive journalism.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual hype meets reality: Users’ perception of immersive journalism

Nielsen

Sheets

2019

Journalism

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“…Forms of 'immersive journalism' (Sanchez Laws, 2017), such as the examples discussed here, are then thought of as giving a different dimension to media reporting and to the engagement of audiences on a deeper level. Together with the wider journalistic coverage of the socio-political context in which our two case studies are embedded, the outcome, so it is hoped, would be real changes in behaviour or attitude.…”

Section: Limbomentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Forced empathy’: Manipulation, trauma and affect in virtual reality film

Schlembach

Clewer

2021

International Journal of Cultural Studies

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Exploring two recent examples of virtual reality (VR) short films designed to produce visceral experiences (on solitary confinement and on seeking asylum), we call into question claims that assign normative value and even transformative power to the VR medium – imagined as so-called ‘empathy machines’. Drawing on a growing body of literature that seeks to contest such claims, we point to and problematise both the manipulative intent of such projects and the liberal-humanitarian logic, which underpins them. Based on such a logic, advocacy through immersive technologies supposes that if only individuals can be made to ‘feel’ something they will be changed by it and so will their behaviour. Whatever progressive motivations of the content producers, the emphasis on empathetic identification threatens to by-pass critical engagement and raises wider questions about the potentially de-politicising effects of seeking technological solutions to effect social change.

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“…The purpose is twofold: articulating the possible extremes of a form continuum, and understanding how an artistic medium-based categorisation can contribute to pin-pointing news output within this continuum. News forms have been described as "descriptive", factual; and "interpretative", aiming "to find the truth behind the verifiable facts" (Salgado and Strömbäck 2012). Descriptive journalism can be generally identified by "the plain style" (Kenner 2006), which is matter-of-factly and straightforward (Cmiel 1990).…”

Section: Confluence Of Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artistic Journalism: Confluence in Forms, Values and Practices

Postema

Deuze

2020

Journalism Studies

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In the context of changing values, practices and working arrangements, the worlds of journalism and art converge. Evaluating these professions in conflux and beyond their (supposed) opposing ideologies and discourses, remains both controversial and complex. Through a critical hermeneutic analysis, this paper highlights key areas of tension regarding the confluence of journalism and arts. It is argued that journalism is and always has been inextricably interwoven with the arts, a shared existence not limited to Western democracies. The article proposes a continuum as a theoretical model for mapping and exploring the coexistence of artistic and journalistic approaches of news and news work. This "arts and journalism" continuum offers a potentially fruitful dimension of studying news work as a form of artistic practice in a variety of contexts. In conclusion, a consideration of "Artistic Journalism" is proposed as a way for the profession to articulate its creative foundation with its goal to pursue the truth, including the intrinsic and affective motivations of its practitioners.

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Can Immersive Journalism Enhance Empathy?

Cited by 96 publications

References 20 publications

Virtual hype meets reality: Users’ perception of immersive journalism

Virtual hype meets reality: Users’ perception of immersive journalism

‘Forced empathy’: Manipulation, trauma and affect in virtual reality film

Artistic Journalism: Confluence in Forms, Values and Practices

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