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Journalism in 360 Degrees: The New York Times’ Sam Dolnick on Why the Future is in VR

09/12/2016
Publication
London, UK
162
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The Senior Editor of the New York Times talks to LBB about the newspaper's role in bringing VR to the digital mainstream

At Cannes this year, The New York Times broke new journalistic boundaries with its innovations in VR. Firstly winning the Grand Prix in Mobile for their VR app, and scooping another (this time in ‘Entertainment’) for ‘The Displaced’, a VR report into the refugee crisis. 

Along with these wins, the newspaper's virtual brand marketing unit, T Brand studio, has recently acquired Fake Love, a digital design agency specialising in VR. Clearly, The New York Times is positioning itself at the heart of VR’s journey into the mainstream of digital culture. 

But what exactly is VR bringing to journalism, and the creative industry more widely? LBB’s Adam Bennett spoke to Sam Dolnick, the Senior Editor of The New York Times, to find out more…


LBB> What does VR bring to journalism? 

SD> Virtual reality is a great journalistic tool for taking people places they would not otherwise visit, like war zones, outer space, underwater, or far-off capitals. Our journalists travel all over the world in pursuit of important stories. Now, with VR, our audience gets to feel like they’re travelling there as well. It adds a new dimension to our journalism --  VR lets you experience the story in a whole new way. 

With each story, our newsroom decides how best to tell that story. It could be in text, graphics, photos, 2D video or 360 video. 


LBB> Why has the New York Times decided to take such a proactive role in bringing VR into journalism?

SD> For 165 years, The New York Times has been committed to telling stories in the most ambitious, powerful and innovative ways. We believe the future of journalism will be immersive and visual.


LBB> What's the biggest challenge when it comes to a VR report?

SD> We took a big leap of faith last year when we launched NYT VR and, with Google, distributed Google Cardboard to more than a million Times home delivery subscribers with Google. We didn’t know how our readers would respond to our attempt to bring virtual reality to the masses and we didn’t want it to be seen as a stunt. We were thrilled that people immediately saw the power of VR and connected to our journalism in a whole new way.


LBB> How long do you think it will take until VR is used by every mainstream news organisation?

SD> Just in the past year, we have seen nearly every major journalistic organization experimenting in VR. We think that immersive journalism is here to stay.


LBB> Can you tell us anything about what you're looking to work on in collaboration with Fake Love?

SD> The New York Times Company acquired Fake Love in order to allow the commercial side of our business to enhance their marketing services’ offerings to our advertising partners. Fake Love is not connected to the VR films created by The Times newsroom.


LBB> In terms of reporting news, where do you see VR in five years time?

SD> Five years is an eternity in technology so we should avoid predicting that far out. But this field has moved so fast that it’s fair to say that it will likely look pretty different than it does today. We see live VR as a particularly exciting possibility on the horizon.


LBB> ‘The Displaced’ did very well at Cannes this year- why did you feel that this was the best subject matter for VR journalism?

SD> The Displaced was the first film to launch in NYT VR. We chose this story because we wanted to tell an important story from a different angle. We’ve heard from many viewers that they were able to connect with the children in the film, in a way not possible with a traditional news article.


LBB> Finally, do you feel that VR makes journalism more or less authentic? Will it be too tempting for some publications to create constructed environments that conform to an editorial angle?

SD> The New York Times has strong journalistic standards that are applied across all of our journalism. Part of The Times’s core mission is to bear witness,  on-the-ground to events on-the-ground, as they happen, in order to inform our readers. We see powerful benefits to in allowing the viewers to bear witness with us, whether it be a war zone or a campaign event.

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