Blurring and redefining boundaries of journalism in the production and reception of interactive digital storytelling

Abstract

Innovations in digital storytelling techniques have spurred on the development of new journalistic and audience practices. The production processes of interactive and immersive journalistic narratives are highly technological and require specialist knowledge of both journalism and design, and require producers to consider how audience engagement and user activity both fit into their story. The resulting narratives redefine the boundaries of what is considered a journalistic production, often requiring users to act within the story, thereby challenging the existing author-user relationship. In this chapter we discuss how the boundaries of journalism are redefined or blurred during both the production and reception processes of interactive, immersive journalism.