A vision for the future
Bringing virtual reality to network news packages
Compassion and empathy are the words Chris Milk chooses when he talks about virtual reality. These two words are the words most commonly used in general with the conversation of virtual reality. As journalists we ask ourselves how to give a voice to the voiceless, how to tell stories that people care about and how to create solutions journalism. Could immersive journalism be part of that answer? Does virtual reality have the ability to give an even greater voice to the voiceless?
I haven’t created a virtual reality. I haven’t done studies about what viewers want to see from their news stations. What I have done is a lot of reading, and I do like to think that I know how to tell a story. As I continue reading and learning about virtual reality, I see endless uses for this new technology. But most importantly I see the uses in the field of journalism. How can a network news station use virtual reality?
Well — let’s start in Hungary and Croatia. Let’s immerse ourselves in the combustion of the endless refugees throwing their bodies onto trains. We don’t need music, but the nat sounds of the screaming voices, just trying to get through one day at a time. The virtual reality will allow views to be there, taking it all in, until NBC’s Richard Engel or Bill Neely steps into the shot to start off the news package. They will be talking right to you, they will be there with you to walk you through a place they have come to learn so much about. Then more video can be used to start to set up the story. When cutting to an interview, everything can go black, except for the interviewee. This will allow people to pay full attention to the words coming out of that person’s mouth. It will also allow them to process the other sights they just saw.
If the story has a lot of numbers, a black screen with flashing numbers can be shown in three different places in the area, similar to three of the same infographics. That way, if the person turns to their left or right, they will still see the inforgraphic. Just as these reporters walk us through news packages about the millions of refuges, they could walk us through the virtual reality, coming back into the screens for a closing tag. The writing may have to be even tighter than it already is for these types of packages and the people and sights will tell most of the story. I think this would enhance the emotions people get while watching the news. People will feel like they are there, and they will take these issues more seriously.
Obviously these stories would take much more time and money to put together, but with rapid speed technology has, in the coming years this process will be much smoother and quicker I am sure. The story would still need a field producer and reporter, but they will be matched up with a virtual reality team. Between the producer and reporter explaining how they want everything to look, the virtual reality team can help put the pieces together.
This is only one example of the story I am creating in my head. I see a real future in reporting the largest and most intensive news stories through virtual reality. I look forward to seeing what is next.
