Narrative in VR journalism: research into practice

In 2015 The Tow Center for Journalism produced a live-motion virtual reality (VR) journalism story on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, ‘Secret Location’. They stated that this new form appeared to change how journalists must construct their stories. They also challenged the industry to explore the journalistic application of VR beyond ‘highly produced documentaries’ (Owen et al. 2015. “Virtual Reality Journalism.” Tow Centre. CJR. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/virtual_reality_journalism.php). We decided to make a short news VR film that explored the construction of this form of media and asked which narrative characteristic engaged the viewer to continue watching in a medium where the viewer was already immersed in the storyworld. Our findings suggest that even when the VR technology immerses the viewer into an illusion of presence, the traditional characteristics of narrative, character, plot, and subject remain of fundamental importance in the construction of a news story, and, it was the tension of what happens next, that is the plot, that was the strongest narrative driver in this short journalistic VR film. We also reflect on some issues raised in the production of the piece, such as the time taken, the limitations of creative editing and whether the expectations that VR raises might impact on the experience of viewing a VR news items