Ethical Lag in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Branded Content
Technological advances are moving too rapidly for ethical standards to keep up. How do we pave the way in the meantime?
Technology is evolving at an extraordinary rate –and it is transforming the face of journalism and how we communicate with each other along with it.
New technologies enable us to see events and foreign communities in real time, and on the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication’s first Super-J trip to New York, students could see these advances up close and personal in operating news rooms and media outlets.
With any new technology, ethical implications tend to lag somewhat behind. A central theme throughout the trip was the tension in the industry regarding Virtual Reality [VR], Augmented Reality [AR], and Branded Content, specifically regarding ethics.
Expensive and fascinating –where do these platforms fit in to the realm of journalism, and what are the ethical standards surrounding them?
Virtual and Augmented Reality
In March 2015 Chris Milk, a virtual reality specialist, gave a TED Talk stating, “VR is the empathy machine.” Using this model of thinking, City University of New York [CUNY], dives into the new medium and tries to traverse the ethical minefield.
According to CUNY, there are three basic elements in the ethical dilemma with VR and AR specifically: Immersiveness, subjectivity, interactivity, and logistics of production and post-production.
Although dropping a viewer in the middle of a warzone can be powerful, is it ethical to just leave them there to suffer the emotional trauma? Is it more detrimental in regards to desensitization? Is there an age limit? CUNY professor Travis Fox suggests recognizing that the field is new when going to experience VR or AR, and urges producers to recognize the importance of content warnings.
As journalists in VR, what are the ethical implications in placement of the camera? Do you edit the journalist and tripod out of the scene? Is the content real if the subjects act differently around a strange contraption placed in the middle of their refugee camp?
There is no standard set of rules and each outlet is at liberty to decide their own means of managing the ethical baggage that comes with a new field. It’s a critical position to be in as outlets attempt to navigate the field.
Empathetic Media founder Dan Archer claims that empathy is at the core of the next generation of storytelling, and for him VR and AR is the language.
“We want to use the power of immersive storytelling to foster connections with audiences,” says Archer, “but how do we hold those journalistic standards, but bring it to a new platform?”
According to Archer, the projected market grown for VR and AR is $150 billion globally by 2020. With over 5 million cardboard VR glasses and the introduction of an AR app [ARc] and partnerships with The Washington Post, Fusion, CUNY, and Samsung, the medium is rapidly growing.
Although still in beta testing, Archer released an AR piece titled the Ferguson Firsthand Project that outlined the Michael Brown shooting using public records and eyewitness testimonials.
“The immersive experience forces viewers to question and challenge their own biases and what they have been told,” says Archer, “The experience is like ‘here are the pieces, you put them together and have a conversation.’”
The contentious topic raises eyebrows and questions regarding AR point of view storytelling, computer generated content, and the visceral experience of witnessing death. The immersion shoves viewers in the shoes of subjects and leaves them there to experience an event.
“Archer’s virtual reality experience reveals itself to be a powerful experiment in graphic journalism and interactive storytelling,” says Alicia Lu in a Bustle article on Archer’s graphic comic version of events [you have to download the Unity game engine first], “As I navigated from one eyewitness to another, what struck me most was the stark contrast between Josie’s [an eyewitness] account and every other account.”
VR and AR may encourage empathy, but what is it ethical when the subjects of the story [say in a refugee camp] can’t afford to view it? The VR and AR community continues to struggle with the lines between emotional convergence and moral salience with content creation.
Branded Content
Branded content and native advertising are not new concepts. Put simply, they are paid content that aligns with a publication standards and tone. The grey area between journalism and advertising gets a lot of companies in trouble when they are unclear with their goals. However, some companies are doing it right.
Acknowledging that the line is thin, Blue Chalk Media deliberately separates their journalistic and branded content divisions, no small feat for a small –yet immensely successful –media company in its infancy. However, with their toe dipped in both realms of short and long form documentary as well as branded content, Blue Chalk relies on its reputation of transparency.
Clearly labeling their promoted content as branded and setting their own personal guidelines on story structure, subjects, and editing, Blue Chalk is able to balance this line as they produce high quality content without compromising their journalist ideals and standards.
“Brands and publications can work to be mutually beneficial,” says Chief Executive Officer Greg Moyer, “The traditional ladder is shaky for visual storytellers, but the market needs and wants video.”
90% of Blue Chalk’s work seeks them out in partnership, largely for branded content purposes. The general protocol is to utilize a middleman so there is no direct contact between Blue Chalk and their contractors and completely separate production teams; this adds an additional barrier to thicken that thin line.
Some companies that Blue Chalk have recently worked with in branded content are: Subaru, Holiday Inn, Emirates, and Intel.
In their portfolio, there is a clear outlining of the project identifying who commissioned the piece, who the partnership was with, and a blurb about the subjects as well as a link to the content on the client’s site.
This transparency differentiates Blue Chalk from other companies who operate in the grey area of branded content, such as a recent controversial article released by BuzzFeed [14 Laundry Fails].
“Authenticity is the key to forming trust,” says Moyer, “You just need to figure out what part of the story everyone connects to and go with it.”
However, some journalist’s feel that any form of branded content is unethical and that sponsored content leads to sponsored thought.
“It’s important to give people what they want,” says journalist Ann Curry, “but don’t tell them what to think.”
When done wrong [even though there is no set guideline], branded content can cross the line from journalism into advertisement and ruin the credibility of the publication. Companies have seen a drop in online traffic after the introduction of native advertising and branded content, while others have seen an increase.
“Branded content is when you wrap a pill in cheese and try to feed it to your dog,” explains University of Oregon journalism student Abby Johnson.
As the field of visual journalism continues to evolve, ethical guidelines struggle to keep up. Companies like Empathetic and Blue Chalk Media pave the way in ethical standards in VR, AR, and branded content for themselves and others.
Regardless of controversy, this is where journalism is headed and it’s headed there fast.
“Video is the new black,” claims Greg Moyer, “You can’t sugarcoat stories. You have to tell them the way it is, do the right thing, and develop a relationship with your audience.”
That sounds like journalism to me.
