Blog 10 - Ashlyn

 I think the future of digital writing and virtual reality will only continue to advance from its current state, given the technological advancements we see being made everyday. Even huge publications like The New York Times have began to utilize different types of digital media to publish investigative stories instead of sticking with their typical black-and-white newsprint style. This story (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-tonight.html) was recently published and takes look into how Tucker Carlson and FOX news use fear mongering tactics to fuel extreme right-wing beliefs and politics (it includes his face and him talking a lot, so a little warning for that). This media is interactive and engaging while also laying out the investigative evidential aspects of journalism. Media like this is popping up more and more, with readers being made to engage with the content and really pay attention to what is being said. Obviously, this is different than VR which completely immerses viewers in a world outside of their own which further puts them into hyper-realistic situations and scenarios they likely would not experience otherwise. But, I think something is to be said for large newspapers beginning to utilize these multimodal technologies as a means of laying out the facts and reality of the story they are investigating and reporting on.

Even earlier in the semester, when we focused more on the audio aspects of storytelling, I think the rise of podcasts and these mixed-media formats that include audio bits also show the rise in utilizing audio to tell stories. You can find a podcast on almost anything nowadays, from extremely obscure things to people covering the news. Personally, I have not found myself to be completely swayed by this form of news media/storytelling because I tend to zone out and only really take away bits and pieces of what is being told and find myself paying attention more to either an interactive media story or one that is written. But, much like how many print publications have gone digital, time will definitely allow people to more heavily utilize audio storytelling and become used to that as a major form of media.