Towards a narrative based user-centered design of an immersive news environment

Towards a narrative based user-centered design

of an immersive news environment

Eefje Op den Buysch

Student number 10642552

Final version:

01.07.2016

Dr. F. Nack (supervisor)

Prof. drs. B. Brouwers (second reader)

Thesis Master Information Studies – Human Centered Multimedia

University of Amsterdam – Faculty of Science

Towards a narrative based user-centered design

of an immersive news environment

Eefje Op den Buysch

University of Amsterdam MSc Information Studies Human Centered Multimedia

Student number 10642552

eefje@opdenbuysch.nl

ABSTRACT

Scenarios contain analytical coherent stories that engage through imagination. When stories are presented as a series of connected, coherent events, this is considered a narrative. This paper describes a study that aims to find if future scenarios provide feasible means for a narrative based design of an immersive news environment. Through a user-centered design approach it was found that scenarios provide the means for crafting narratives based on understanding future context and environments. Scenarios did not provide sufficient means to deeply understand the user. Conversations with industry experts and analysis of scenario stories yielded the needed immersion inducing user perspectives. The study aims to progress towards a newsroom simulation in which journalists can experience their future work. In that regard expert’s feedback on the design is promising.

Categories and Subject Descriptors

General Terms

Keywords

User-Centered Design, Future Scenarios, Transmedia Storytelling, Robot Journalism.

1 INTRODUCTION

Dutch news publishers face economic downturns and increased competition in the pluralistic media landscape. Automated news editing, or ‘Robot Journalism’, is considered an opportunity for news companies in achieving necessary cost savings and maintaining competitive position [1]. In 2015, Fontys University of Applied Sciences started a four-year study on development of an automated system for news editing for Dutch news companies [2]. In addition to the development of prototypes of tools and algorithms, the study focuses on anchoring the new system in the Dutch newsrooms, through a user-centered design approach [1]. User-centered design methods [3][4] offer system developers means to obtain valuable input from users during a development process. To help users picture themselves working with a new system, techniques like storytelling [5] or use-cases [3] can be applied. When designing systems that make use of not yet developed technologies, involving the user in the design process can become complicated. This is what the researchers in the before mentioned study on robot journalism experienced. To get input from users, futuristic features and functionalities need to be made tangible: users need help in envisioning how robot journalism could be an aid to them.

Creating a simulated ‘news environment of the future’ could cater to the needs of the researchers. The news environment would be a setting where experimenting with, and development of algorithms, prototypes and interfaces go hand in hand. It would offer stakeholders the opportunity to

experiment with new technologies: it could reflect a future work environment that takes into account the context of that work environment, e.g. the future ‘world’. In a news environment as proposed here, journalists and editors would be invited to experience the future of their work, by offering a life-like and context-rich array of technological advancements in journalism.

To build such a news environment an understanding is needed of what the future might bring. Scenarios provide means for exploring the future. In futures studies, scenarios are archetypical products that reflect deep and creative thought about plausible futures [6]. Scenarios for the future of journalism can be found in ‘What’s News - The Journalistic Landscape in 2025’ (Journalism2025) [7], a study initiated by the Dutch Journalism Fund. In the study, four plausible scenarios for the future of journalism in the Netherlands were constructed through the collected input of 150 participants: journalists, publishers, philosophers, chief editors, scientists, technology experts and managers. The study was commissioned by the state secretary of Education, Culture and Science of the Dutch parliament [8] as one in a series of studies into present-day developments in journalism. The scenarios provide insight by exploring multiple futures. This helped the sector discuss opportunities, threats, options and risks in a well-founded way, while considering the external environment [7]. Although the report is specifically aimed at the Dutch situation, there has also been press coverage from parties outside of the Netherlands [9][10][11].

Scenarios contain analytical coherent stories that engage through imagination [6]. When stories are presented (or ‘told’) as a series of connected, coherent events, this is considered a narrative. Narrative design provides techniques to structure and present stories in such a way that they fuel active involvement of the user, which leads to immersion into the story.

This study looks into using scenarios as a base for crafting narratives that help journalists and editors picture themselves working in a future newsroom, which in its turn will give its system developers insights in the users’ need regarding the new robot-journalistic editing system.

2 RELATED WORK

The reviewed related literature provides background and context for the study described in this paper.

2.1 Developments in journalism

The work of journalists has been, and still is, characterized by the basic journalistic process of gathering, selecting, ordering, analyzing and processing information. The Journalism sector however is facing impactful changes. The rise of the Internet has had a disruptive influence on the profession and the business models in the sector [12]. No longer were journalists exclusively the ones that published news and expressed critique on the powers that be. The barriers for publishing lowered. Readers became writers. The monopoly on

information and the production and distribution thereof, crumbled [12].

However, even before the Internet was available to the masses, it became visible that people changed from being ‘merely’ media consumers to active contributors and producers. Media scholar Henry Jenkins describes these change as forms of participatory culture [13]. This culture includes co-creation, social awareness and –connectivity, and a believe that contributions (to a community) matter [14], pp. 5-6. Next to participatory culture, also media convergence has had an influence on media use, Jenkins states. The number of media channels grew rapidly and the omnipresence of computing increased [13]. That influence can be seen in how social media and the use of smart devices have changed the journalism arena. With clicks, likes, shares and comments news consumers have become active participants [7], p. 13. 2.2 Dutch research on Robot Journalism

Researchers van der Kaa and Wubben initiated the development of a platform for robot journalism in the Netherlands [1]. They argue that, even though techniques for automatic generation of texts based on input data are fairly common, the application of these techniques to journalism is relatively new. Van der Kaa and Wubben define robot journalism as “the use of algorithms that automate the production of journalistic text” [1], p. 1. Robot journalism can be divided in tasks of text-to-text generation [15] and tasks of data-to-text generation [16]. Van der Kaa and Wubben state that the automation of journalistic text will not make journalists redundant: robot journalism can support journalists in their story-writing process [1], p. 1.

Van der Kaa brought together a consortium of stakeholders to conduct a research that will lead to the first automatic newsroom in the low countries [1]. Together with Dutch news companies, sector organization NDP Nieuwsmedia, the Dutch Association of Research Journalists (VvOJ) and Tilburg University, a multidisciplinary team is formed. The research started in September 2015 and will continue until August 2019. It is mainly funded by the Dutch coordinating body for practice-oriented research ‘SIA’, which is part of The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The research combines methods from several domains: it builds upon existing work in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), Contextual Design, Media Studies and Journalism Studies. Insights from the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) are used to build the technology behind the automated editing system. Knowledge from the field of Contextual Design is applied to uncover how this system can be best embedded in a newsroom. Finally, methods from the field of Media Studies and Journalism Studies are used to define the needs of the news consumer [1]. The research project provides insights on embedding automation systems within Dutch newsrooms. Outcomes will feed the decision by publishers on whether or not to invest in robot journalism. Also, it offers universities insights on possible adaptations in their curriculum.

The author of this paper is project leader of the research project on robot journalism.

2.3 User-centered design

User-centered design (UCD) approaches put end-users in the center of a design process. Through UCD approaches, developers can ensure a design will fit its users’ needs. UCD approaches range from analysis of work environments [17], focusing on user goals and context [18] to assessment of the ease of use of an interface [19]. UCD solves design problems through consecutive stages. The key principles to ensure a design is user-centered, are described in ‘ISO 9241-210 - Ergonomics of human-system interaction’ [18]. According to the ISO principles, a design is user-centered when: (i) it is

based on understanding of users, tasks and environments, (ii) users are involved during design an development, (iii) it is driven and refined by user-centered evaluations, (iv) the design process is iterative, (v) the design addresses the complete user experience, (vi) the developers take a multidisciplinary approach.

To understand users in their work environment a deep understanding of their work is required. System developers or designers are usually no experts in understanding work processes [17]. When not supported to think about the client, according to UCD experts Holtzblatt and Beyer, development teams tend to focus on the technology and the system delivered, rather than on the users’ needs [17]. To tackle a possible gap between a user’s work-habits and a designers’ point of view on the user needs, Holtzblatt and Beyer describe modeling techniques that improve the level of understanding of work. The same issue is addressed by interaction designer Derya Özçelik-Buskermolen who examines storytelling techniques called ‘Co-constructing stories’ to help designers establishing a dialogue with users [20], while talking about their past- and current work experience. Envisioning techniques within the co-constructing stories method also support users in thinking about how to use new design-concepts [20].

When designing systems that make use of not yet developed technologies, involving the user in the design process can become complicated. To get input from users, futuristic features and functionalities need to be made tangible: users need help to envision how a new system could be an aid to them. A future system does not only need to reflect technological progress, it also needs to fit future needs of the user. The system needs to be placed in a future context: its work environment, and even the world surrounding that environment.

2.4 Scenarios as an approach to foresight

A leading proponent and innovator of the strategic planning method, Royal Dutch Shell, found in ‘scenario thinking’ a way to anticipate increased uncertainty, interdependence, complexity and the emergence of new technologies [21]. Scenario planning is a multiple scenario approach, and has evolved since 1970. Organizations use scenario planning because the method offers a way to explore plausible futures. Scenarios, in the context of scenario planning, are defined as “focused descriptions of fundamentally different futures presented in coherent script-like or narrative fashion” [21], p. 195. Scenario planning is a method of looking outside and ahead in a structured way [7], p. 7. The method is based on pinpointing trends that mark a certain and uncertain developments that lay ahead. From those trends, critical uncertainties are distilled: drivers of change with potentially high impact that are at the same time very difficult to call.

2.4.1 Future scenarios for journalism in the Netherlands

When developing scenarios for the future of journalism, researchers Kasem, Waes & Wannet [7] worked according the method as developed by Shell [21]. Two impactful, but at the same time uncertain, trends shape the future in which the four scenarios of Journalism2025 are projected. On the one hand the question of where the Dutch will place their trust (Public Trust) and on the other hand the question of to what extent technology will be embraced by the Dutch (Acceptance of Technology). Regarding trust, the Journalism2025 report states that existing institutions will experience pressure from critical, assertive, bottom-up initiatives. It can either be self-organization (Do-It-Yourself) or central direction (Do-It-For-Me) that determines trust in the future. When looking at digitization it is assumed that technology will probably

progress further, the question is however in what pace: radically (Radical) or incrementally (Reluctant) [7] p. 25-26. The extremes of the uncertainties ‘Public Trust’ and ‘Acceptance of Technology’ provide the poles of two axes that together form a matrix. This results in four ‘scenario worlds’ for the year 2025. In the method it is common to name the four scenarios with a metaphorical title (see also Table 1). All scenario worlds deal with the same issues, but in all four worlds these issues will unfold differently.

Table 1 - “These worlds reflect the tension between professional and citizen journalism, the uncertain future of Dutch media concerns and titles, the role of internet and algorithms on the production and spreading of news, and the way in which quality

journalism will be paid for in 2025” [7], p.4 Radical & Do-It-Yourself: Wisdom of the Crowd

A world in which the economy and society are dominated by start-ups and virtual cooperative relationship. A strong do-it-yourself-outlook has become the key to success. Co-creation, sharing and crowd funding are breaking through on a large-scale. The government is pushed back into a facilitating roll. The influence of big conglomerates like Apple, Fox and Facebook has reduced considerably. New initiatives appear and disappear at a fast pace. What counts for news is no longer determined by media brands but by the crowd.

Radical & Do-It-For-Me: A Handful of Apples

A world in which a handful of mega concerns increasingly set the economic, social and political agenda. Hardware, software, physical products, content: everything is branded and offered via integrated chains. Just like the news, which is smartly personalized and always reaches the public at just the right moment. Journalists market the news as niche products and services. Most traditional media businesses have not survived this development.

Reluctant & Do-It-Yourself: The Shire

A world in which small scale, autonomy and caution are regarded as being important. The all-providing government has largely

disappeared. The general view is that technology should be treated with caution. The media landscape has come to look like a collection of islands comprising small titles, often with a regional or local focus. Many journalistic newspapers and magazines from the 2010s have failed. Instead of them news is exchanged on thematic community sites, which both citizen journalists and professionals contribute to. Radical & Do-It-For-Me: Darwin’s Game

A world in which government institutions and media businesses are evolving. They display more transparency and extensibility; dialogue with their target groups is no longer just something they are compelled to do, and it is now bearing real fruit. A number of traditional news providers are managing to make their brands relevant again and in that way to slow down the explosive reduction in viewers and subscribers. The public expects journalism to constantly prove itself, sets high standards, and is not loyal to specific brands.

2.4.2 International futures studies on media

Strategic foresight research methods like the scenario planning method used in Journalism2025, were used in two studies that explore the future of media. A European study [22] focuses on ICT in the creative content industries, and was commissioned by the European Commission. Its researchers Abadie, Friedewald & Weber use the term future-oriented technology analysis (FTA) for their forward-looking method. They state that, with the fast and pervasive evolution of ICT, it is difficult to predict the development of new technologies. Abadie et al. found in their FTA method a way to envision the future based on a series of stages where each stage was adjusted based on the findings from the previous stage [22], p. 29. They conclude that the method worked “rather well” for them [22], p. 29. FTA offered them a way to adapt to changing requirements and insights during the process. Abadie et al. do however state that in foresight it is essential to accept that the future is unpredictable and unclear. Pretending otherwise would be “methodologically questionable and unethical” [22], p. 29.

The Canadian study ‘2020 Media Futures’ by Ashby & Van Alstyne [23] aims to find results to leverage and direct future

discoveries in OCAD University’s laboratories. Strategic foresight is an important part of the university’s curriculum. Partners of the research project include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, and Corus Entertainment. The axes of the scenarios as developed by OCAD University reflect slow paced diffusion of innovation versus rapid disruptive innovation and socially driven value generation versus corporate value generation. These scenarios show similarities to those of Journalism2025. Both infer that (technological) innovation plays a major role in the future. Next to that, both sets of scenarios reflect that bottom-up, self-reliant social structures might be of substantial influence [23], p. 9. 2.5 Strategic foresight and transmedia

storytelling

Scenarios and strategic foresight methods have been subject for critique. Objections to scenario reports include being too static [24], non-participatory [25], lacking good storytelling [26], and simply ending up in “the archives of history” [27] p. 5. French foresight pioneer Michel Godet (La Prospective) states that in scenario reports there is often no follow-up action described [28], p. 47. Jarva agrees with Godet in saying that there is a gap between scenarios and action [27] p. 6. To close the gap between scenario and action, Jarva and Raford propose the use of narratives [25], [27]. Godet states that scenarios should be turned into project-based approaches to make sure that imagination, emotion and rationality can be included [27]. Both von Stackelberg [26] and Li [29] find in transmedia storytelling ways to include not only stories but also the media channels through which these stories are told, as an important factor in making scenarios lively and participatory. Li identifies transmedia storytelling as a link between innovative scenario methods and the collective intelligence potential of the participatory knowledge communities [29], p. 21. With this, Li connects his research to Henry Jenkins’ insights on convergence culture [13]. To von Stackelberg, transmedia storytelling is an effective way to build complex storyworlds, engage audiences and create captivating content. This is why it would be fitting to use transmedia storytelling in strategic foresight projects [26], p. 73, he argues.

2.6 The use of narratives for immersion

In narratology, a common way to get people to engage with a story is to have them identify themselves with a character. The Hero (taken from Joseph Campbell’s ‘monomyth’ from 1949 and adapted by Christopher Vogler in 1998) [30] is a commonly used archetype to draw a reader or viewer into a story. The narrative of the Hero is structured in such a way that audiences can relate to his adventure, by means of previous personal experiences and well-known story structures like fairytales. Both the use of archetypes and the story structure (the story ‘arch’) make a story into a narrative, evoking strong emotions. Audiences are so drawn into a story that they accept unreal characters, surprising twists and imaginative story worlds. It is ‘suspension of disbelief’ that allows a person to suspend judgment regarding implausibility of a story: “it can bribe us into a voluntary submission of our better knowledge” ([31] Coleridge, 1817, Chapter XXIII). A person is willing to overcome implausibility because he wants to believe the presented situation is real (for the time being). What is needed to get to this stage of suspension of disbelief is a strong, well-designed narrative. This narrative fuels active involvement of the user. When a user is engaged, the user will respond to the fictional situation in a way that he would if it was a real life situation. Immersion into the story is a result of such narrative design. In entertainment, immersion is widely used to engage people in media productions such as feature films or TV-series. Examples can be found in campaigns to

launch box-office successes like The Hunger Games [32] and The Dark Knight’s campaign Why so Serious? [33]. Transmedia storytelling techniques [34] [35] are used to design a user experience where multiple delivery channels, great stories and participation are “taking audiences on an emotional journey that goes from moment to moment”, which, in the eyes of practitioner Robert Pratten, defines transmedia storytelling [34], p. 2. Interaction designer Janet Murray is specialized in digital narratives. She takes Coleridge’s passively formulated ‘suspension of disbelieve’ a step further when she states that people actively create belief when they enter a fictional world [36], p.110. Murray describes that people have a desire to experience immersion. People will focus on the world that unfolds before them, and they will reinforce that with their fantasy, instead of questioning the trueness of the experience [36], p. 110. Murray’s ideas connect to those of Roland Barthes who defined two opposite types of literary text: writerly and readerly texts. Readerly texts are texts in which the meaning is fixed. They take little more effort from the reader then to absorb information. In writerly texts on the contrary, the reader takes on an active role in giving meaning to the text. The reader interprets the text [37].

Industry expert Scott Lukas designs ‘themed spaces’ for theme parks and museums. He states that inducing immersion is one of the most important factors when designing a space to offer experiences in. Users who are really engaged in a space “experience powerful emotions, senses of discovery and even personal transformation” [38] p. 137. Within the field of gaming, similar effects of immersion are described. Game-designer and researcher Jane McGonical refers to immersive experiences as ‘epic’. Games offer ‘epic environments’: vast, interactive spaces that provoke feelings of curiosity and wonder [39]. Developers of learning situations (instructors, educators) often use a life-like environment in which immersion plays a large role. It gives users the “subjective impression that they are participating in a comprehensive, realistic experience” [40], p.66. Examples can be found in flight-simulators for pilots [41], virtual operating rooms for surgeons [42] or the training kit CUARATT, developed with pervasive entertainment software ‘Conducttr’ [43].

2.7 Research question

To what extent do future scenarios provide feasible means for a narrative based user-centered design of an immersive news environment?

3 METHOD

This study looked at future scenarios from a designer’s point of view. The scenarios from the Journalism2025 report were analyzed in order to assess whether they provide feasible means for the user-centered design of an immersive news environment.

The study was based on the ISO principles of a user-centered design process [18]. It progressed through four consecutive cycles, which allowed for iterations to take place. An aim was to pinpoint elements for crafting scenario narratives that aid immersion in the designed immersive news environment. Users were involved throughout, so that their input and feedback could shape the design. Combining skills and perspectives from several knowledge areas has ensured that the complete user experience in the design got addressed. Involved users in this study were people from the journalistic field: journalists, editors, educators and managers of news organizations.

The cyclic approach allowed for moving from a broad perspective in the first cycle, to a detailed view in the last cycle. Firstly a broad understanding of the year 2025 was established. From there, cycle 2 provided a more precise look

on possible future environments. The third cycle made it possible to zoom in even further: the workprocesses of a journalist were examined.

3.1 Cycle 1

This first cycle is aimed at gaining a broad understanding of the environment. Following the ISO principles for user-centered design [18] this involves getting an idea about users and their tasks and environments.

Starting point for the first cycle was to study the Journalism2025 report [7] in order to get a rough idea on the design question at hand. Additional desk research provided context, and clarified which developments the journalistic field is facing. In an early stage of the first cycle, experts from the field were consulted. The experts helped in orienting on developments that influence news companies in the upcoming years.

Roy Mevissen works at Fontys School of Journalism. He is lecturer ‘Crossmedia Journalism’ and manager of the curriculum for second year students. Mevissen previously worked as editor-in-chief of the news platform ‘Peper’ at Royal Wegener [44], which innovatively experimented with online news channels in 2005.

Hille van der Kaa was consulted to get an idea about the challenges news companies face. Van der Kaa is editor-in-chief of Dutch newspaper BN DeStem. She previously worked for VNU Media, Royal Wegener, Tilburg University and her company ‘De Uitgeeffabriek’, where she developed several transmedia projects and -scripts. Her work is characterized by a combination of journalism, storytelling, business acumen and research. Van der Kaa initiated a research project on Robot Journalism at Fontys University of Applied Sciences [1].

Roy Op het Veld is deputy editor-in-chief of ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’, a Dutch financial newsletter. Next to his knowledge of finance and journalism, Op het Veld has both managerial and practical experience in editorial systems and technologies influencing newspapers.

Tom Nauta is director of ‘NDP Nieuwsmedia’, a trade organization representing Dutch news media companies in the private sector, through public affairs, media research and education. Nauta was involved in the development of the Journalism2025 report as a member of the steering group. After the conversations with the experts, the Journalism2025 report was analyzed in detail. Summed up trends from the report were divided into trends that, according to the participants, will definitely play out in the future and those that the participants were not so sure about carrying through. Scenarios are based on today’s certain and uncertain trends that have a large impact on the future of the sector [7], p.7. The Journalism2025 report includes an inventory of trends, which the participants of the Journalism2025 study jointly defined. When the participants were unanimously sure a trend would continue to develop, it was marked as certain. When the participants were in disagreement whether, or in what form, the development would play out, the trend was marked as uncertain. Next to that trends can be leading or dependent. Leading trends are the technological and social developments that have a large influence on journalism. Dependent trends are developments within journalism.

Trends that were earmarked as certain are the trends that will shape the future no matter the scenario: all four scenario-worlds will be influenced by the certain trends. When relevant, results from cycle 1 were taken along to cycle 2, in order to be studied further.

3.2 Cycle 2

The second cycle was aimed at gaining an explicit understanding of the environment, following the ISO principles of user-centered design [18]. The scenarios from the Journalism2025 report were analysed and users (experts) were involved to gain more understanding.

The four different scenarios represent four different environments. The two scenario axes represent the two critical uncertainties [7], p.8.: leading trends with a high level of uncertainty, and at the same time a major impact on the future. In the Journalism2025 scenarios, the axes are ‘Public Trust’ and ‘Acceptance of Technology’. The extreme of an axis represents an extremity in Public Trust (Do-It-Yourself vs. Do-It-For-Me) and in Acceptance of

Technology (Radical vs. Reluctant).

In this second cycle the uncertain trends were extracted from the Journalism2025 report. The trends were listed and were then taken to experts from the journalism field to be discussed. The conversations were informal and loosely directed. The conversations were aimed at distilling those elements that the experts thought of as an ‘important development’, a ‘concern’ or a trend the experts see as ‘likely to progress’ towards the future. Listening for signals of change that the experts spot in their surroundings, provided insight on the expert’s view on possible futures.

Firstly, a conversation took place with Dimitri Tokmetzis, employee of Dutch journalism platform ‘De Correspondent’. Tokmetzis is a data journalist. With a focus on technology it is his mission to make technologies that influence life, accessible for a wide audience [45]. In his articles he covers stories on the security industry, hacking, online privacy and -criminality. In 2012 Tokmetzis published the book ‘The Digital Shadow’ [46], which describes how losing privacy and the rise of digital profiles can effect lives. Secondly there was a conversation with prof. drs. Bart Brouwers, Professor of Journalism studies and Media at Groningen University. Brouwers founded and owns E52.nl, an independent platform for journalism in the city of Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Brouwers previously worked at Telegraaf Media Group were he was head of business-development. In 2013 Brouwers published the book ‘Beyond The Deadline: Journalism after the crisis’ [12] in which he analyses the

Internet’s disruptive and creative forces that influence journalism.

The experts provided insights on what they think the future might bring. These insights will feed the crafting of the storyworlds, which takes place in cycle 4. A storyworld needs to reflect typical elements that make a user experience the world s/he is stepping into. A combination of the uncertain trends distilled in cycle 2 and the insights from the conversations with experts in cycle 1 and 2 were taken to cycle 4.

3.3 Cycle 3

The third cycle was aimed at gaining an explicit understanding of the journalist and his tasks, following the ISO principles for user-centered design [18].

Getting to know the work of a journalist is key to be able to simulate a journalist’s work in a future news environment. For users to be immersed in the simulated situation, they need strong narratives and plausible tasks to suspend their disbelief. Focus point for this cycle was to find out how journalists work, what tools they use and what they might need in the future to do their work.

The essence of journalistic work is summarized in the ‘National vocational and educational profile’ [47], jointly written by the four providers of journalism bachelor programs in the Netherlands:

1. Journalists are engaged in current events: they are looking for news and new developments;

2. Journalists gather, analyze and select information, they consult sources and they consult with informants to obtain as much relevant data as possible;

3. Journalists process information to form a journalistic product: a story that is informative, appealing and understandable to the public.

Two journalists of Dutch newspapers were observed and interviewed. The aim was to understand typical journalistic tasks such as gathering information, preparing for an interview and writing a story. The scenario stories of Journalism2025 [7] were analyzed to find elements that represent journalistic tasks.

Expert Rene Kloeg was asked to demonstrate work processes at the editing floor. Kloeg works as ‘Chef Internet’ and deputy editor-in-chief at Dutch newspaper ‘BN De Stem’. He started working at this newspaper in 1976 and has a rich experience in work-processes at the editing floor. Next to that Kloeg has worked, and still does work, as a journalist. Being able to spot a story and organizing work processes are two traits that define his career. The excursion to the editing-floor of a newspaper provides practical insights on journalistic work processes. Findings were used to create the script and the synopsis in cycle 4.

3.4 Cycle 4

The fourth cycle was aimed at designing the immersive news environment. It involved multidisciplinary skills, and addresses a complete user experience, following the ISO principles for user-centered design [18]. Users were involved to direct iterations in the design.

The goal of the designed news environment is to have the journalist experience journalistic work of the future. This way, observing researchers can learn about the needs a journalist might have in working with future tools and technologies in the field of robot journalism. The design combines a narrative (containing context, backstory, characterization) and the way that the narrative is presented to a user (through scripts and mediachannels). For the news environment to be immersive, there need to be elements

included that will suspend the disbelief of the user. To do so, the news environment needs to reflect a plausible, life-like situation. Since the news environment reflects the future, it needs to introduce future (technological) advancements to the users. Essential situations, tools and tasks to do so, were identified through the cycles that preceded this final cycle. Experts Hille van der Kaa (see also §3.1) and Robert Pratten reviewed the design. They assessed whether the design reflected the future context, the scenarios and the journalistic processes, in a plausible way. Robert Pratten is CEO and founder of Transmedia Storyteller Ltd. He is an experienced producer of transmedia storytelling projects and author of the book ‘Getting Started in Transmedia Storytelling: A Practical Guide for Beginners’ [34].

4 RESULTS

This section contains the results from the four consecutive cycles in the user-centered design process.

4.1 A broad understanding of the context (cycle 1)

Analysis of the Journalism2025 [7] study learnt that its starting point were the questions the sector was asking itself, regarding the future of journalism towards the year 2025. An inventory of these questions was drawn up in the report through the collected input of professionals from the field, scientists and educators [7], pp. 59-61. The inventory includes the topics: influence of technological and societal developments; the business- and revenue models related to those developments; the adaptation of newsrooms to the changed environment and the consequences of the developments on the education of journalists [7] pp. 12-13. In the report it is concluded that the primary concern of the participants lies in the threatened and vulnerable position of the public function of journalism [7], p. 55. These questions were topics to discuss with experts.

Educator Roy Mevissen recognizes journalism being under stress. He spoke of not journalism itself being in a crisis, but the journalistic industry. To him, many companies seem paralyzed by the changes that have hit the sector. He underlined the importance of the traditional role of journalism as watchdog in a democratic society. His concern however is that journalism will, instead of fulfilling citizens’ need for objective and complete information, degrade to merely generating click bait (attention-grabbing, sensationalist online content that is merely created for the purpose of generating advertising revenue). Mevissen thinks that students need to be educated to be resilient towards new developments. Cross-media production- and entrepreneurial skills would fit the students’ curriculum. But, Mevissen states, then we would not be preparing them for the daily practice at news companies: for many titles reaching that point is a long way down the line. Looking at the news industry from a news companies’ point of view, van der Kaa acknowledged recent developments in generating news for the sake of clicks and views. Platforms like Buzzfeed.com aim to generate revenue through advertising, which seems to work. Newspaper BN De Stem still generates revenue from subscriptions, but van der Kaa foresees this to decline in the upcoming years. Talking about the role of journalism in society she questioned if journalists need to be the ones that play the role of watchdog. Van der Kaa is confident that journalism remains to have a function in the public eye but remarked that reaching out to audiences might be a matter of creating innovative media productions instead of merely the content. Van der Kaa foresees opportunities for new forms of news productions, ranging from Virtual Reality-experiences to Automated Journalism. Op het Veld emphasized that indeed adaptation of the newsroom to the changing environment is key to survive. Op

het Veld illustrated what adaptation means in his point of view. He elaborated on the use of digital technologies, like using algorithms to create automated financial reports at ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’. In his view editorial teams need to embrace technology to create journalistic products: it is essential in surviving the ongoing competition in de news sector.

The conversation with Nauta added views from the perspective of journalism as an industry. Nauta stated that competition has increased because of two factors. The first factor is the fact that public broadcasters, who are funded by de Dutch government, play an increasing role in delivering online news. Their offer is hardly distinguishable from the offer that used to be exclusively brought by privately held news companies. The second factor is that digitization and developments in media have caused global companies like Google and Facebook to enter the Dutch playing field. This has a competition-distorting effect, Nauta states.

After talking to the experts the Journalism2025 report was analyzed in more detail, to verify if the developments adduced by the experts are included in the report. The participants in the Journalism2025 research collectively pinpointed a number of trends that they think are influential. The overview of these trends [7], p.13. was analyzed as a next step in this cycle (see also appendix A). The certain trends are:

• Sustained technological development by which algorithms will increasingly direct news consumption;

• The growth of bandwidth will create more possibilities for video and storage/streaming will be cheap;

• Smarter use of data will enable linking personal profiles and tailored information;

• Smart devices will change the playing field of journalism; • Governments will be incapable of restraining the market

power of technology giants like Google. • Disruption of earning models;

• Commercialization of the media; • Unbundling.

Comparing the developments mentioned by the experts and the list of certain trends it became clear that there is an agreement on the majority of trends. Sustained technological advancements (e.g. algorithms) were mentioned by van der Kaa and Op het Veld. Upcoming possibilities for video were mentioned by Mevissen, van der Kaa and Op het Veld. Smarter use of data (e.g. personalization) was not mentioned by the experts. Devices and social media were mentioned by van der Kaa, Op het Veld and Nauta. Commercialization of the media was mentioned by Mevissen, Nauta, and van der Kaa. The theme of governments vs. technology giants was mentioned by Mevissen and Nauta. Commercialization of the media was mentioned by Mevissen, van der Kaa and Nauta. Unbundling was not mentioned by these experts.

Through the analyses and the conversations with the experts a clear image arose of what troubles the journalism sector. This first cycle in the process provided insights on the trends that will set the context by the year 2025, influencing either which scenario. The insights will determine parts of the backstories for all scenarios. These stories are created in cycle 4. Additionally, the trends ‘Unbundling’ and ‘Smarter use of data’ were taken to cycle 2 for further validation.

4.2 Understanding of the environments (cycle 2) This second cycle was aimed at gaining an understanding of possible journalistic environments in 2025. Dimitri Tokmetzis, data journalist at The Correspondent, provided his view on possible futures. He states that journalists are likely to have new roles in the future. Journalists will be fact-checkers, ICT specialists, data-gatherers and –analysts. In that changed

role, transparency will be key to be trustworthy as a journalist. Tokmetzis explains how The Correspondent makes an effort to add context to stories by providing background, analysis and investigative reporting. He foresees a need for tools to create layered stories that can be published platform-independently. In Tokmetzis’ view it is likely that tools will be (partly) automated, for instance to compile case-files or to suggest appealing headlines. At The Correspondent journalists use an in-house developed editing system, designed to fit their specific needs. For the future, Tokmetzis’ finds it likely that extensive tracking of reader behavior will take place. Review methods to express perceived credibility and quality of journalists will emerge. Next to that Tokmetzis foresees an extensive international cooperation between professionals: journalists, ICT professionals and data-experts will work together because different fields of expertise are needed to produce journalistic products in the future.

From this conversation the Journalism2025 was further analyzed to extract the remaining uncertain trends. Prof. drs. Bart Brouwers (Journalism Studies and Media, Groningen University) was invited to share his views on the uncertain trends confidence in journalism; citizens acting as journalists; adaptation of news organizations and unbundling.

The role of journalists will definitely change, Brouwers states. In his opinion journalism has an important role to fulfill in society. People get informed about matters they would otherwise not find out about. He argues however that this does not mean that it should be only journalists that take on the role of watchdog. In recent years it became clear that publishing platforms and

-resources are no longer exclusively available to journalists. This development will have a disruptive effect on society. Brouwers explains that there are journalistic tasks that could be taken over. By citizens, but also by machines. Citizens will increasingly dive into matters from a personal fascination and also a personal interest. In this sense citizen journalism differs from traditional journalism, because it is not objectivity that guides the citizen. The rise of the Internet has made it easy for citizens to be involved and to be influential, through blogs, comments and the opportunity to dive into (public) dossiers. Since Brouwers is professor in Journalism Studies he has a clear view on what his students need to learn, in order to become journalists that will be able to adapt to progressing developments. Distinctiveness, strong journalistic values and an entrepreneurial attitude are the traits that will keep journalists in the game, according to Brouwers. To him it is puzzling that students seem to have traditional journalistic aspirations: they attend the university course to become a journalist at one of the larger Dutch newspapers. But, says Brouwers, those titles will disappear inevitably. Which in itself is not that worrisome: other journalistic platforms will arise. Upworthy.com [48] and Upcoming.nl [49] are examples of this development. Brouwers continues by saying that we mistakenly think that platforms like Upworthy and Upcoming are an endpoint. Platforms like this get their business from generating click bait. Using catchy headlines to generate views is part of their business model because their news items appear in unbundled form, on social media and websites. Brouwers assesses that, for a journalist, it might be uncomfortable to be writing a headline to an article that does not cover its content. Brouwers says he is annoyed by Blendle’s1 click bait [50]. Nevertheless he insists on looking

1 _{Blendle is a journalism start-up from the Netherlands that offers}

single articles from newspapers and magazines on its app, using one paywall.

at the “extremely interesting” possibilities these development produce.

Brouwers refers to the Journalism2025 scenarios in saying that he is a strong believer of technological developments. He foresees an interplay of big technological conglomerates and a strong crowd-based society, a new eco-system. In these “new times” journalists will be less able to distinguish themselves from citizens. Both the government and the big tech companies will play a part in this. Brouwers refers to the journalistic profession when he states “we journalists need to step down from our God-given, unwavering and unalterable position in society”. The journalists’ power play of being the only ones able to “save society” is outdated, Brouwers concludes.

Gained insights from the conversations with Brouwers and Tokmetzis were transferred to the creation of the backstory in the design of the immersive news environment in cycle 4. 4.3 Understanding the work of a journalist In cycle 3 the objective was to gain an explicit understanding of a journalist’s work. Interviews with-, and observations of journalists that work at two Dutch newspapers confirm that the basic journalistic process lies at the heart of a journalist’s daily work. Consulted journalists from Dutch newspapers ‘Eindhovens Dagblad’ and ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’ use the news, press agencies, press releases, emails from organizations and personal communication as a lead to write new articles. Next to that they have their knowledge of a sector or field. The journalists collect information through interviews, (desk-) research, press conferences and visits. Potential stories are presented in meetings at the editing room where colleagues and chief-editors evaluate the newsworthiness. An article goes through several correction rounds before it gets published. Working with editing systems is a significant part of the journalist’s job.

The Journalism2025 scenario stories each contain a section ‘Journalists and stories’, in which roles the work journalists is outlined. The stories were analyzed and indicators to the journalistic workprocesses were marked (see also appendix B). This analysis provided insights on the setting journalists work in, with whom, how they are paid, which role they have, what tasks they fulfill, what tools they use en the kind of journalistic product they make.

At the editing floor of BN De Stem, René Kloeg showed how news articles evolve from idea to publication, through a demonstration of the newspaper’s Content Management Systems (CMS). At BN De Stem, journalists gather for a team meeting in the morning. Journalists have prepared stories to pitch to their colleagues. Next to that, potential news stories are given to journalists as a task to follow-up on. After the meeting, the journalists start compiling their stories using the CMS. The system includes tools to support them: showing the position of the article in the paper, offering publishing tools to post articles online and tools to aid them in assigning keywords and tags. In the afternoon the editorial team gathers to pick stories that will be printed in tomorrow’s newspaper. Complete stories are prepared by journalists using the CMS. Stories get approved by chief editors. While explaining and showing the process, Kloeg also talked about features he thinks the CMS could benefit from. With those remarks Kloeg gave an insight on future developments on the editing floor and future work-processes of journalists. Kloeg would like to see integrated dashboards to monitor key performance indicators (such as reading time, views, shares) and social media dashboards that help gather news. He also sees possibilities for automation of headlines and automated tagging of personal names, geographic locations and keywords. An important feature the CMS is missing, he said, is the opportunity to logon to the system from anywhere. At

the present time, journalists can only logon via WiFi and with secure network access, which is not granted easily to non-employees such as freelancers.

The insights from cycle 3 were used to design the journalist’s tasks in the script for the immersive news environment. 4.4 Designing the immersive news environment The aim of cycle 4 is to design the immersive news environment in which ‘real’ journalists can experience the future of journalism. The Journalism2025 report [7] contains four scenarios: ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’, ‘A Handful of Apples’, ‘The Shire’ and ‘Darwin’s Game’. The scenario ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’ was taken as an exemplary starting point for the design of the user-journey. Following the ‘active story’ approach, the design defines the world, the story, the experiences and the execution [34], p. 64. The design got developed in stages. Starting point was the analysis of the story ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’. The story was coded to pinpoint the insights from cycle 1: the trends and developments that need to characterize the world of ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’ (see appendix C). Then a draft of the synopsis was written, based on the insights of cycle 2. The synopsis combines future developments in journalism and views from experts regarding the way journalism will have evolved by the year 2025. Next step was to design a script in which a journalist’s tasks are combined with elements that let the journalist experience the future. The script got designed in such a way that the four different scenario stories from the Journalism2025 report could be used, without having to change the news-environment simulation tools. To achieve this, the drafted synopsis was structured around characters and tasks that could be similar in all four scenario stories. This led to an overview of story-elements (see appendix E). With the story elements in place the synopsis was reviewed and rewritten (see appendix D). The synopsis was then broken down in scenes and beats to form a script [34], p. 64. The script contains the story-elements and tasks, based on the insights on the work of a journalist from cycle 3. The script needed to allow for choices to be made by the user. Therefor the script contains several ‘If, Then’ elements, based on anticipated triggers, conditions and actions (see appendix F).

4.4.1 Reviewing script and synopsis

Having experts reviewing the synopsis and script enabled iterations on the design, which is one of the principles of the user-centered design approach [18]. Van der Kaa has experience in both journalism and transmedia storytelling. When starting to read the synopsis (appendix D) van der Kaa remarked that she did not think that in 2025, the normal morning routine of a journalist would be “reading online newspapers, scanning through social media accounts.” (appendix D, p. 2). She thinks there will be other tools by then, replacing laptops and smartphones. Van der Kaa reflects on the plausibility of the synopsis as being an accurate translation of the work of journalists. In answering questions on the plausibility of technological developments for the editing floor, Van der Kaa remarked that to her it is especially convincing that the journalist in the synopsis is not working at an actual editing room. Not being on the editing floor together with others, is in van der Kaa’s view a good way to draw a user into a future situation, because it is far from the present situation. Van der Kaa does however state that this might take extra effort from the user to immersive into the story. In reviewing the story-element overview (appendix E), van der Kaa understood the way the news environment could cater all four scenario stories from the Journalism2025 report [7]. The elements that would induce immersion lie in both the story (the characters, the conflict) and the tasks (the process of writing a journalistic story). Van der Kaa expressed that

combining familiar elements with new, unknown elements is a strong way to get users involved in experiencing their future work.

Robert Pratten responded positively to the concept and goal of the design (“fantastic”). When reading the synopsis and the script it did not get clear to him how the story would be delivered to the user. Pratten interpreted the synopsis as a movie or play that a journalist would watch. He stated that having a character say or do something is not the same as giving the character a goal and let him or her discover that there are new ways to achieve tasks, because it is the future now. This feedback revealed that the design needed visualizations of the user-experience. The user-journey ([34], p. 104) was sketched to clarify that the design is based on a ‘real’ journalist participating in a simulated news environment, using a merely a laptop and a smartphone. The user-journey shows the sequence of events (scenes and beats), which the journalist will experience through interactions, decisions and narrative (see appendix G).

5 DISCUSSION

This study aims to find to what extent future scenarios provide feasible means for the user-centered design of an immersive news environment. The report ‘What’s New(s): Scenarios on the Future of Journalism’ [7] was used as starting point for the study. Results show that scenarios do provide information to enable the crafting of narratives for the immersive news environment. The news environment was designed through a cyclic user-centered design approach which involves getting to understand the user and the user’s environment [18]. The scenario stories provided the means to understand the context of the year 2025, through the outcomes of cycle 1. The scenario stories also provided the means to understand the four futures for the journalism sector, as a result of cycle 2. However, the scenario stories did not provide the means to fully understand the users: the journalists and their workprocessess. Understanding the user is key in crafting narratives that induce immersion. It is the narrative that will draw users in: they will suspend their disbelief in the simulated news environment when the situation they encounter seems plausible to them [36]. The conversations with experts helped to provide insight on plausible tasks, roles and workprocesses of journalists. It is the principle of subjectivity from Jenkins’ ‘seven core principles of transmedia storytelling’ [35] that proved to be the missing link between the scenario stories and the design of the immersive news environment. The Journalism2025 report needed to be analyzed from users’ perspectives. Therefor, the steps the participants of the Journalism2025 report took to progress to the four scenario stories, were traced back. The trends that were listed by the participants of the Journalism2025 report played an important role in this ‘reverse engineering’ process. The trends were validated on plausibility through conversations with experts. This step-by-step approach led to the design of the immersive news environment in cycle 4. Scenario planning provided the creators of the Journalism2025 report a way to look outside and ahead in a structured way [7], p. 7. The report is based on trends that were listed by 150 people from the journalism sector. Listing of trends inevitably means listing presumptions of the participants. The future cannot be objectively defined, so this needs to be taken into account when valuating both the Journalism2025 report and the immersive news environment that was designed in this study [22], p. 29. However, these presumptions make it possible to look at the future in different ways. This is precisely what the immersive news environment is meant to do. By offering journalists simulations of their work in the year 2025, developers can observe if and how

journalists would use journalism tools. This helps developers of today creating journalism tools fitting the needs of tomorrow.

With the user-centered design of the immersive news environment as a base, it can now be built. The news environment could cater to the needs of the researchers in the robot journalism project [1]. The researchers can start learning about future needs in robot journalism. Building the news environment would also offer the opportunity to incorporate feedback provided by the experts in cycle 4. Van der Kaa articulated the need for incorporating technological advancements regarding communication devices. It would be interesting to further investigate the impact of technology on the ‘trinity’ between User, Medium and Message. By doing so, upcoming tools and devices could be incorporated, which in turn enhances the plausibility of the news environment from journalists’ perspectives.

6 CONCLUSION

Using future scenarios for the user-centered design of an immersive news environment proved to be feasible. Scenarios provide means to craft a narrative, based on an understanding of context and environments. However, the Journalism2025 report did not directly provide feasible means to understand the user. Conversations with experts from the journalism field yielded focus points from users’ perspectives. Transforming certain and uncertain trends from the report into life-like situations for journalists was found to be the missing link between the scenario stories and the designed narrative for the immersive news environment.

7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank all consulted experts for sharing their views with me. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the Robot Journalism research project at Fontys FutureMediaLab [2] for their contribution to cycle 3.

8 REFERENCES

[1] Kaa, H. van der, Wubben, S. (2015). Towards an automated newsroom. Building a robot journalism platform in The Netherlands. Retrieved d.d. June 2016 from: www.futuremedialab.nl/

[2] Fontys FutureMediaLab (2015). Fontys research on Robot Journalism. Retrieved d.d. March 2016 from: http://futuremedialab.nl/onderzoek-binnen-het-lectoraat [3] Beyer, H., Holtzblatt, K. (1999). Contextual Design.

Magazine interactions, Volume 6, Number 1 (1999), Pp. 32-42.

[4] Greenbaum, J., Kyng, M. (1992) Design at work: Cooperative design of computer systems. Erlbaum Assoc. Inc., Hillsdale, NJ, USA.

[5] Özçelik Buskermolen, D., Terken, J., Eggen, B. (2012) Informing user experience design about users: insights from practice. CHI’12, May 5–10, 2012, Austin, Texas, USA.

[6] Bishop, P., Hines, A., & Collins, T. (2007). The current state of scenario development: an overview of

techniques. Forsight, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 5-25, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

[7] Kasem, A., Waes, M., Wannet, K. (2015). What’s New(s). Scenarios on the Future of Journalism. Van de Bunt Adviseurs, issued by the Dutch Journalism Fund (Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek).

[8] Dekker, S. (2015). Kamerbrief over toezeggingen gedaan in het wetgevingsoverleg over de mediabegroting van 2014. Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, 1 juni 2015. Retrieved from:

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/ 2015/06/01/kamerbrief-over-toezeggingen-gedaan-in- het-wetgevingsoverleg-over-de-mediabegroting-van-2014 d.d. March 2016.

[9] Welsh, M. (2015). “The Shire” or “Darwin’s Game”? Here are 4 visions of what journalism might look like in 2025. Retrieved April 2016 from:

http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/06/the-shire-or-darwins- game-here-are-4-visions-of-what-journalism-might-look-like-in-2025/

[10] European Federation of Journalists. (2015). How do you imagine journalism in 2025? Retrieved April 2016 from: http://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2015/10/08/how-do-you-imagine-journalism-in-2025/

[11] Ireton, C. (2015). Thinking about 2025: scenarios for the future of journalism. Retrieved April 2016 from: http://blog.wan-ifra.org/2015/07/09/thinking-about-2025-scenarios-for-the-future-of-journalism

[12] Brouwers, B. (2013). Na de deadline. Fast Moving Targets.

[13] Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press.

[14] Henry Jenkins. (2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture. MIT Press.

[15] Krahmer, E., & Theune, M. (2010). Empirical Methods in Natural Language Generation. In E. Krahmer & M. Theune (Eds.) (Vol. 5790). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15573-4

[16] Reiter, E., & Dale, R. (1997). Building applied natural language generation systems. Journal of Natural Language Engineering, 3(1), 57–87.

http://doi.org/10.1017/S1351324997001502

[17] Beyer, H., Holtzblatt, K. (2009). Representing Work for the Purpose of Design. Retrieved from:

http://incontextdesign.com/publications/representing-work-for-the-purpose-of-design/ d.d. February 2016. [18] ISO 9241-210 (2008). Ergonomics of human-system

interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems. Retrieved from:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=5 2075 d.d. January 2016.

[19] Nielsen, J. (2012). Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. Retrieved, January 2016, from: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/

[20] Özçelik, D. (2013). Co-constructing stories : exploring early design concepts with users. Eindhoven: Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. p.127 and p.137.

[21] Schoemaker, P. (1993). Multiple scenario development, it’s conceptual and behavioral foundation. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 193-213. Wiley.

[22] Abadie, F., Friedewald, M., Weber, M. (2010). Adaptive foresight in the creative content industries: anticipating value chain transformations and need for policy action. Science and Public Policy, 37(1), pp. 19–30.

[23] Ashby, M., Van Alstyne, G. (2011). 2020 Media Futures – What will our media and entertainment be like by 2020?. Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab), OCAD University, Toronto.

[24] Schultz, W., Crews, C., Lum, R. (2012). Scenarios: A Hero’s Journey across Turbulent Systems. Journal of Futures Studies, September 2012, 17(1): 129-140. [25] Raford, Noa (2012). Crowd-sourced Collective

Intelligence Platforms for Participatory Scenarios and Foresight. Journal of Futures Studies,17(1), pp. 117-128

[26] von Stackelberg, P. (2014). Tales of Our Tomorrows: Transmedia Storytelling and Communicating About the Future. Journal of Futures Studies, 18(3) pp. 57-76 [27] Jarva, V. (2014) Introduction to narrative for futures

studies. J Journal of Futures Studies 18(3) (2014) pp. 5– 26.

[28] Godet, M. (2012). To predict or to build the future? Futurist 46 (3) pp. 46–49.

[29] Li, Z. (2014) New Theoretical and Research Directions for Foresight Scenario Work: Narratives, Sensemaking, and Networks. Dissertation, USC Annenberg School for Communication.

[30] Vogler, Christopher (1998). The writer's journey: mythic structure for writers. McNaughton & Gunn, Inc., Michigan.

[31] Coleridge, S.T. (1817) Biographica literaria, chapter XIV and XXIII. Retrieved d.d. March 2016 from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6081/6081-h/6081-h.htm, d.d. February 2016.

[32] Lionsgate (2012). The Hunger Games is a Wrap. Retrieved d.d. February 2016 from:

https://www.lionsgate.com/corporate/press-releases/1120/

[33] 42 Entertainment (2007). Why so serious? campaign introducing the movie The Dark Knight. Retrieved d.d. February 2016 from:

http://www.42entertainment.com/work/ whysoserious

[34] Pratten, R. (2015). Getting started in Transmedia Storytelling, 2nd _{edition – A practical Guide for} beginners. CreateSpace by Amazon To retrieve from: https://www.createspace.com/5655357

[35] Jenkins, H. (2009). The Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: Seven Principles of Transmedia Storytelling. Retrieved d.d. February 2016 from:

http://henryjenkins.org/2009/12/the_revenge_of_the_orig ami_uni.html

[36] Murray, J. (2012). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. [37] Barthes, R., & Miller, R. (translator). (1973). S/Z.

Blackwell Publishing, Malden MA. Retrieved d.d. June 2016 from

http://www.amazon.co.uk/S-Z-Barthes/dp/0631176071/ref=pd_sim_14_23?ie=UTF8&r efRID=05DK46NVX86YSVWBHFW7

[38] Lukas, S. (2012). The Immersive Worlds Handbook: Designing Theme Parks and Consumer Spaces. Focus Press.

[39] McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin Press, NY.

[40] Dede, C. (2009) Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning. Science 02 Jan 2009: Vol. 323, Issue 5910, pp. 66-69

[41] Marcil, L. (2015). Why we can't live without ARINC 610C. IEEE/AIAA 34th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), Prague, 2015, pp. 6E1-1-6E1-11 [42] Abelson, J., Silverman, E., Banfelder, J., Naides, A.,

Costa, R., Dakin, G. (2015). Virtual operating room for team training in surgery. American journal of surgery, September 2015, Vol.210(3), pp.585-90

[43] Conducttr (2016). CUARATT, Connected Universal Assessment and Real-time Analysis Training Tool. Retrieved from:

http://market.conducttr.com/experiences/hostage-rescue d.d. April 2016.

[44] NRC. (2005). Jongerenkrant Peper voor lezers met weinig tijd. Retrieved February 2016, from:

http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/2005/08/06/jongerenkrant -peper-voor-lezers-met-weinig-tijd-10594679

[45] Tokmetzis, D. (2016). Biografie Dimitri Tokmetzis. Retrieved February 2016, from

https://www.villamedia.nl/artikel/40.000-abonnees-voor-de-correspondent

[46] Tokmetzis, D. (2012). De digitale schaduw: hoe het verlies van privacy en de opkomst van digitale profielen uw leven beïnvloeden. Spectrum, Houten, the

Netherlands.

[47] Landelijk Opleidingsoverleg Journalistiek (2015). Landelijk Beroeps- en Opleidingsprofiel Journalistiek 2015. Retrieved February 2016 from

https://www.svdj.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BOP-Journalistiek-2015.pdf

[48] Upworthy, founded by Eli Pariser and Peter Koechley. Retrieved, June 2016 from:

https://www.upworthy.com/about

[49] Upcoming by TMG digital. Retrieved, June 2016 from: http://www.upcoming.nl/over_ons

[50] Blendle, founded by Marten Blankesteijn and Alexander Klöpping. Retrieved, June 2016 from: