This week’s prompt is coming up with a pitch for a journalism story that might utilize the tools we’ve talked about in previous posts (virtual reality and 360 video being chief among them). I’m an avid figure skating fan, and this season of figure skating competitions is in full swing, with the Trophee de France taking place this weekend.
I’d love to do a VR story that placed you right in the middle of one of these competitions, where you could explore an arena…walking to the ice to see the top competitors performing, going ‘backstage’ to where athletes are warming up and prepping, and more.
Like in Harvest of Change, you could discover markers or checkpoint that when selected would tell you stats about the athletes, their history, their current season standings. You could gamify it by trying to learn about all of the different types of jumps or spins, for example.
360 video could be employed to feel you were gliding across ice, like in this Rachael Flatt (figure skater) example shared by a classmate:
Even though this is sports journalism and a bit different from traditional breaking news, I think it would be a great use of emerging media platforms to put the reader/viewer right in the center of the action for a fast-paced sport, as well taking them to arenas and competitions that are otherwise very expensive and oftentimes difficult to attend in person.
JNDUTC 