Blog

By Sky Chadde | Investigate Midwest For years, Matt Waite at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was the evangelist for drones and their usefulness in journalism. But, he said, he finds himself now at a crossroads with drones in journalism. For one thing, the ability for drones to be flown over crowds is coming. Last year,… Continue reading Is There a Next Thing for Drones?

By Mónica Cordero | Investigate Midwest Robert Hernandez, a professor at the University of Southern California, has seen technologies born and die over the course of his career. That is precisely his job: to explore and develop new ways for the convergence between technology and journalism. Contrary to what many of his colleagues believe, Hernandez… Continue reading The Future of Journalism Is Immersive

By Mónica Cordero | Investigate Midwest This idea of a virtual world where people can do ordinary things such as work, shop, parties, and interact with others — called the metaverse — is not new. But almost three decades after that idea came about, the things that people imagined they could do or experience in… Continue reading Storytelling in the Metaverse: How Do Stories Change When Experienced with Others in Shared Virtual Spaces?

By Madison McVan | Investigate Midwest The way radio listeners consume news is changing, and it’s opening up opportunities for newsrooms to connect with consumers differently.  Newsrooms have long held assumptions about the way people listen to radio, said Arionne Nettles, lecturer and director of audio journalism programming at Northwestern University’s Medill School.  Radio news… Continue reading How On-Demand Listening Is Changing News Radio

By Sky Chadde | Investigate Midwest Before joining Gannett to work on virtual reality, Ray Soto worked in the game industry. This background helped him develop experiences at USA TODAY that augmented the newspaper’s coverage. When he started, he spent a lot of time advocating for virtual reality experiences.   But about five years ago, he… Continue reading The Gamification of Everything: How Games Have Influenced the Next Wave of Interactive Experiences

By Sky Chadde | Investigate Midwest When Chris Ball was in college, he signed up to experience a virtual reality headset. The zombies didn’t make the biggest impression; instead, it was an experience named “The Blue.”  The perspective was from someone at the bottom of the ocean looking up at a whale, said Ball, a… Continue reading Stepping into the Frame: Communicating Experiences with Virtual Reality

By Mónica Cordero | Investigate Midwest Using your phone to look up a restaurant review, figuring out how to get to a new location, or knowing where something is in relation to where you are – these are just three examples illustrating how location and information are more interconnected than ever. They are also examples… Continue reading Spatial Journalism: Putting Location Into Action

By Mónica Cordero | Investigate Midwest The deployment of the 5G network with the adoption of augmented reality and the first ventures into what may be the metaverse or, really, a kind of virtual social interaction represent new possibilities for journalism but also challenges upholding basic principles of journalism as accuracy. One such challenge for… Continue reading Ethics Guardrails for Mobile Media as 5G Rolls Out: What Are the Questions

By Mónica Cordero | Investigate Midwest Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa could do more than play music or describe the weather — they could help users feel less lonely.  Dr. Valerie K. Jones, professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, studies the impact of voice assistants on the lives of… Continue reading The Loneliness Epidemic: The Role of Intelligent Agents in Improving Aging Adults’ Quality of Life