ABSTRACT
This chapter examines interactive documentary’s evolution since 2012, particularly visible in the emergence of virtual reality (VR)/360 journalism. 360-degree video viewed through the “magic window” on mobile devices or with head-mounted displays in the more fully immersive VR format have propelled documentary journalism to new technological and narrative heights, achievements attained in part through alternative brand economies, industrial logics and marketing strategies. The phase in the evolution of digital journalism has expanded beyond the linear presentation of facts for passive consumption. Longer-branching narrative formats within expansive virtual environments situate subjects in their social, political, and economic contexts, which are embodied and dramatized through their geographical surroundings. Journalism and documentary combine in cinematic VR for powerfully affective narrative emphasizing felt detail and intimacy with subjects through a heightened sense of embodied presence in a specific place.
