Supported by technology, multimedia platforms are steadily committed to the development of what we call “immersive journalism”, which consists of placing the reader at the exact center point of the news.
This term, immersive journalism, translates our new way of living, feeling and seeing the news in a different way, and it’s based in the usage of 360 degree videos with virtual reality technology.
The world’s largest newspapers, which amplify their audiences on different network platforms around the internet, are making investments in technological developments to give “real life” to their everyday narratives.
They’re inclined to that, more to stories than to news of the moment, with short documentaries that contextualize an episode and that allows the reader or user experience the feeling that he is in the middle of that specific action.
This is why they’re now training their reporters in the use of cameras or smartphones, which are capable of capturing a diversity of viewing angles when live broadcasting cabinet story or events, which guarantees a formidable experience of said events.
In the recent coverage of the passing through Hurricane Maria around our territory, LISTIN DIARIO’s digital news team used these resources to offer static or animated 360-degree images that users of smartphones or tablets and laptops could see in the image’s whole dimension by moving their mouses or fingers over the screen.
Many of you will ask why do the written media team involve themselves in these kind of technologic features when they can’t apply them in their physical pages and I reply: that in this new ecosystem of communications, everything is worth it when it revolves arouond the effort to take advantage of all the potential platforms, at the same time to also deliver the news or interesting information to a wider audience.
Besides that, these innovations are attracting advertisers and we can’t lose out of our sights that the monetization and the profitability of news distribution is the preponderant factor to compensate for the gradual declines that paid advertising in journals and television channels has gone through.
It is a way to survive the strong challenges that social networks represent, in which millions of people are looking for news or topics that might interest them, which are appetizing niches to raise the number of the audiences and achieve monetary gains.
The bigger bets with these applications of virtual reality for images of 360 degrees in second and third dimension are focused more than anything in the smartphones, because these are the devices that are used the most these days.
To achieve this, as I said last week, short stories are adapted to mobile phones, while the printed news, with creative designs, deeply unfold these productions or narratives.
The World Organization of Newspapers (WAN) has realized that the priority given to smartphones demonstrates a lot of confidence in their potential within the print media’s survival schemes and therefore should be seen as an area of great opportunity.
We are stepping on the land of change and immersive journalism is one of his best reflections.
– Translated from Spanish by Randy Rodriguez.
Director's Thoughts 