Discussion

The exam assignment asks you to discuss issues of virtual reality based on the three source materials. Texts 1 and 2 in the assignment discuss virtual reality in connection with immersive journalism while Text 3 discusses issues related to the VR industry in general. The issues are related to ethics and morality, health and safety, the psychological and emotional impact of VR, manipulation, cost, and data privacy and security. When discussing these issues, either in an essay or a manuscript for speech, you should explain them and give examples, but also mention possible solutions and benefits.

Dealing with challenges

To deal with the challenge of manipulation, Text 2 proposes “A Code of Ethical Conduct” (l. 43) for journalists, and it suggests only using VR for “a really limited purpose” (l. 54). The same text argues that those creating VR content for journalistic purposes should let viewers “know if the action on the VR piece is scripted or not and whether the dialogue was captured from a real setting or scripted.” (ll. 74-75). Another way to avoid manipulation through advertising is for the journalism to “become financially independent” (l. 92) so media organizations do not need company sponsorship. However, it is difficult to propose a viable business model that would work. Text 1 also proposes that reliable journalists advise people on what VR content is genuine and not misinforming (08:05-08:20). However, this might also become trickier when the tech becomes more popular and more adv...