Interactive narratives in journalism
A wealth of interactive narratives exists in journalism today. For example, long reads, interactive documentaries, storytelling and cross-media narratives. Advanced techniques are often used to engage users in the narrative. Exactly how do these interactive narratives work? This is the question that this research is seeking to answer.
Objective
The objective of this research is to see how narrativity is created in multimedia, journalistic productions. The research conducted will focus primarily on the connection between interactivity and the narrative. How does interactivity become evident in the narrative? Which consequences does this have for the way in which the narrative is told? How do journalists ‘design’ interactivity of this nature? Exactly how does the user respond?
Renée has set out a number of preliminary insights gained from her research in a number of blogs:
www.journalismlab.nl/ik-snowfall-wij-snowfallen-wij-hebben-gesnowfalld/ (Dutch)
www.journalismlab.nl/multimedia-storytelling-durven-redacties-wel/ (Dutch)
/www.journalismlab.nl/het-maakproces-van-interactieve-verhalen/ (Dutch)
Duration
01 January 2017 - 01 January 2021
Approach
This research project consists of three parts:
- Studying the media productions
- Identifying the choices and assumptions that underlie the creation proces
- Identifying how the audience interacts with the productions
By showing how narrativity manifests itself in journalistic narratives, it becomes possible to advise editorials teams on multimedia storytelling and provide them with appropriate working methods. The knowledge gained will also help to continue to develop the teaching provided.
