Table Of ContentIMMERSIVE LONGFORM
STORYTELLING
A deep dive into the worldof online andmultimedia longform storytelling, this
book charts the renaissance in deep reading, viewing, and listening associated
with the literary mind, and the resulting implications of its rise in popularity.
David O. Dowling argues that although developments in media technology
haveenabled the ascendanceofnonfictional storytellingto new heightsthrough
new forms, it has done so at the peril of these intensely persuasive designs
becoming deployed for commercial and political purposes. He shows how
traditional boundaries separating genres and dividing editorial from advertising
content have fallen with the rise of media hybridity, drawing attention to how
the principle of an independent press can be reformulated for the digital
ecosystem.
Immersive Longform Storytelling is a compelling examination of storytelling,
covering multimedia features, on-demand documentary television, branded
digital documentaries, interactive online documentaries, and podcasting. This
book’sfocusonbothformandeffectmakesit afascinatingreadforscholars and
academics interested in storytelling and the rise of new media.
David O. Dowling, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism & Mass
Communication at the University of Iowa, is the author of seven books and
numerous articles on publishing industries and the culture of media production.
His work in digital media and journalism studieshasappearedinsuchjournalsas
Convergence,Genre,DigitalJournalism,DigitalHumanitiesQuarterly,andJournalism&
Communication Monographs.
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IMMERSIVE
LONGFORM
STORYTELLING
Media, Technology, Audience
David O. Dowling
Firstpublished2019
byRoutledge
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©2019Taylor&Francis
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Dowling,DavidOakey,1967-author.
Title:Immersivelongformstorytelling:media,technology,audience/
DavidO.Dowling.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2019.|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2018052514(print)|LCCN2019003380(ebook)|
ISBN9780429488290(ebk)|ISBN9781138595392(hbk:alk.paper)|
ISBN9781138595422(pbk:alk.paper)|ISBN9780429488290(ebk.)
Subjects:LCSH:Storytellinginmassmedia.|Digitalstorytelling.|
Documentarymassmedia.|Storytelling–Interactivemultimedia.|Online
journalism.
Classification:LCCP96.S78(ebook)|LCCP96.S78D692019(print)|
DDC808/.036–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018052514
ISBN:978-1-138-59539-2(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-138-59542-2(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-429-48829-0(ebk)
TypesetinBembo
bySwales&Willis,Exeter,Devon,UK
CONTENTS
ListofFigures vi
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 MultimediaNarratives:The“SnowFall”Revolution
andBeyond 28
2 SocialMediaandtheOnlineReadingRevival 48
3 On-DemandTVandtheBingeWatchingRevolution 72
4 ContentMarketing’sImmersiveTransmediaStorytelling 98
5 AudioImmersion:TheCaseofthePodcast 116
6 TheInteractiveOnlineDocumentary:OriginsandEmerging
ProductionPractices 144
7 The360/VRDocumentary:TechIndustryandSport
MediaCaseStudies 164
Conclusion:TheImmersedJournalist 181
Index 201
FIGURES
0.1 SamsungpartnerswiththeNewYorkTimes,Digiday,2017 6
0.2 “TheDaily360,”NYTvr,NewYorkTimes,2016 6
1.1 “OneBlock,”NewYorkMagazine,2015 37
1.2 “TheMastermind,”TheAtavistMagazine,2016 43
2.1 Goodreads,2018 49
3.1 Narcos,Season3,Netflix,2017 75
3.2 Waco,Paramount,2018 75
4.1 EvolutionoftheLightsaberDuel,ESPN,2015 105
4.2 Inside:Chipotle,Netflix,2014 109
5.1 S-Town,fromSerialandThisAmericanLifeproducers,2017 117
5.2 EarHustle,Radiotopia,2017 119
6.1 HungerinL.A.,2012 152
6.2 TheEnemy,2014 153
7.1 “BeyondtheMap,”Google,2016 165
7.2 “CapturingEverest,”SportsIllustrated,2017 166
8.1 RacingExtinction,2015 191
8.2 “TheIslamicState,”Vice,2014 195
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has many debts to the generous individuals who encouraged its
development. Professor and author Travis Vogan, my colleague at the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, originally
inspired me to expand on the research base of our three publications on digital
journalism for a book on immersive media. Our work on digital media began in
2012 when the New York Times published the milestone multimedia feature
“Snow Fall: Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” and revolutionized digital journalism,
paving the way for other immersive digital media forms. Bob Franklin deserves
mention for recognizing the value of our early work and publishing it in Digital
Journalism, the journal he founded that is now at the forefront of the field. I am
grateful for the work of Nikki Usher, who inspired this book’s core premise that
the interactive nature of digital journalism deepens audience engagement. Megan
Le Masurier, a major figure behind the academic study of Slow Journalism,
deserves recognition for encouraging my work on the alternative economies of
newsorganizationsinvestingindeepstorytellingand carefullyassemblednarrative
journalism.IthankmyIowacolleagueProfessorMelissaTully,whospecializesin
digital media, for matching my research agenda to the study of Slow Journalism,
which led to my work with Professor Le Masurier.
Bill Reynolds, editor of Literary Journalism Studies, had the vision to usher his
journal into the digital age by actively soliciting research on digital literary
journalism. Further inspiration for this book came from Jaqueline Marino and
SusanJacobson,pioneersinthestudyofdigitallongformafter“SnowFall.”Their
work established the vital theoretical basis for understanding multimedia features
as literary journalism equipped with unique, and in many cases extraordinary,
rhetorical narrative power. Tuomo Hiippala also provided essential insight
through his published work on the structure of multimodal documents. Much
viii Acknowledgments
of the research for this bookwouldnot havebeenpossiblewithout the insightful
taxonomies of multimedia features and digital texts developed by the research
teamsofFionaGilesandGeorgiaHitchattheUniversityofSyndey;andRichard
Koci Hernandez and Jeremy Rue at the University of California, Berkeley. My
work at the intersection of journalism and the world of augmented reality (AR)
and 360/VR owes a great deal to John Pavlik, especially his pioneering study in
Journalism&CommunicationMonographsonthetopic.
Other colleagues offered invaluable support and friendship throughout the
process of developing this research. Josh Roiland, David Abrahamson, Holly
Schreiber, and Kate McQueen have supported andsustained my work in digital
media and journalism studies. Sharing panels with these dynamic scholars at
AEJMCandIALJSmeetingsdeeplyinfluencedthisbook.Thechapteronaudio
mediaowesadebtofgratitudetoProfessorKyleMiller,whoencouragedmeto
coauthora relatedstudyfor BEA,which ledtoanarticlefor the Journalof Radio
and Audio Media. The journal’s editor, Anne MacLennan, deserves a special
thanks for appreciating the importance of immersive audio storytelling from
both technological and narrative journalistic standpoints in the medium of
podcasting. New media and the stories they are now capable of telling have
generated a wave of scholarship that has been particularly innovative in the
Media Industry Studies interest group of ICA. I especially appreciate Caty
Borum Chattoo’s validating and constructive feedback on an early version of
the content marketing chapter.
I thank Stephen G. Bloom, Subin Paul, John Haman, David Ryfe, Kajsa
Dalrymple, Brian Ekdale, Dan Berkowitz, and Venise Berry for their valuable
wisdom and collegiality. The atmosphere of mutual support for cooperative and
creative inspiration they fostered at Iowa is a rare condition no academic should
takeforgranted.MyeditorEricaWetterlentinsightandenthusiasmforthisproject
from the start, and her assistant, Emma Sherriff, provided essential guidance for
which I am grateful. I am privileged to have had the support and insight of my
family,CarolineTolbert,Jacqueline,Eveline,andEdwardDowling,whosehearts
andmindshavesustainedmyownduringthewritingofthisbook.
INTRODUCTION
Typically associated with fiction and gaming, immersive media has recently
taken nonfiction by storm, sparking an explosion of absorbing digital journal-
ism. This book examines digital longform journalism broadly conceived across
multiple genres, from interactive documentaries such as Google’s “Moon Shot”
and “Beyond the Map” to NPR’s famous podcast Serial. Behind the emergence
ofsuchworksareseveralofthemostsignificantdevelopmentsintheeconomics
and aesthetics of the digital ecosystem. Ad blockers and the fantasy of ad-free
content has elicited the media industry’s corresponding embrace of longer
branded content; news media has moved toward longer programming, often
delivered in series; and the expanding appetite for increasingly complex narra-
tives as seen in streaming documentary television series has shattered the
template of the traditional ninety-minute film, which now extends to thirteen
hours or more. Through an examination of the culture and commerce of
immersive nonfiction media, this research seeks to answer the larger question
of how we now find ourselves in “the golden age of documentary,” as
described by Dwayne Bray (2016), executive producer of League of Denial (the
ESPN documentary responsible for breaking the story of the NFL concussion
crisis). That golden age is not just in cable TV, but spans across a rich array of
media platforms that has transformed the aesthetic of journalistic narrative.
Immersive longform, as treated in this book, is characterized by both
completeness of experience and depth of critical engagement. It runs counter
to predictions of the demise of deep reading in a highly distracting digital
ecosystem (Carr 2011) seemingly overwhelmed by the manic Twitter-driven
news cycle and its attendant superficial online reading practices associated with
scanning, skimming, and short attention spans. The stereotype of millennials
lacking the capacity for sustained concentration online has been dispelled by
