Practical guidelines for immersive journalism production

Immersive journalism (IJ) is an innovative form of journalism which utilizes 360-degree footage and virtual reality environments, allowing viewers to be placed inside a scene. An increased degree of agency and immersion is offered when compared with traditional forms of journalism due to the level of interactivity virtual reality technology can deliver. However, the newness of IJ means it lacks a clear set of guidelines to better inform future practice – a point identified by academics and practitioners alike. This project investigates how better-defined recommendations for IJ production created using 360-degree video can inform the field’s practice more broadly. To accomplish this, a cyclic methodology incorporating both practice-led research and research-led practice was utilized. As technology evolves, the findings of this research can inform future definition of IJ’s scope, while the efficacy and commercial viability of content created using the identified approaches could also be assessed in further studies.