Bringing People into the Story: How Virtual Reality Journalism Affects the Feeling of Presence

Virtual reality (VR) journalism can offer immersive experiences, enhancing the audience’s empathy and issue involvement. In the literature, however, the term VR refers to different types of technology, which may obscure the clear effects of VR journalism. Guided by the framework for immersive virtual environment (FIVE), this paper investigated the effects of VR journalism focusing on two different features of VR: device-focused (i.e., head-mounted display (HMD)) and content format-focused (i.e., 360° video) by conducting a 3 (device-focused: HMD, computer, smartphone) X 2 (content-focused: 360° video, fixed view video) between-subjects experiment (N = 171). Results showed that participants in the 360° video condition, compared to those in the fixed video condition, experienced a higher level of social presence, which, in turn, increased their empathic concern toward the characters and led them to be more involved in the videos’ topic. The HMD condition, on the other hand, did not show significant differences in helping participants engage in the characters and the topic, compared to computer and smartphone conditions. Theoretical and practical implications of the different features of VR are discussed.