ABSTRACT
One of the starting motivations for developing the very concept and practice of immersive journalism was concern about the audiences’ general apathy toward news reporting. As Nonny de la Pena et al. stated in their seminal paper, “An important role of immersive journalism could be to reinstitute the audience’s emotional involvement in current events”. This chapter draws from journalism studies, health sciences, and ethics. It outlines the contemporary emotional turn in journalism studies. The chapter summarizes the results of studies of the effects of virtual reality treatments and other health-related issues. It focuses on ethical questions in relation to immersive journalism, especially pondering the need for possible updates and fine-tuning for traditional journalism ethics. The chapter relates to the growing body of research literature that is forming the newest turn in journalism studies: emotion. Finally, it drafts some instructions and ethical guidelines for immersive journalism.
