28. Digital Journalism's Gamification: New Approaches to Journalistic Animated Storytelling

Gamification is the use of game-like mechanics in non-game contexts, such as news organisations. By applying these principles, news organisations can encourage more engagement with their content. Gamification of news does not aim to produce a full-fledged game, but rather to incorporate game aspects into digital interfaces that aim to combine news and games in new interactive storytelling forms that use game mechanics as a distinguishing characteristic. The gamified layer influences human–computer interaction, and the playful logic focuses on the meaning and goals of the interface and system from the user's perspective. When applied to journalism, the playful layer aims to create a story that empowers and informs audiences by producing a user experience that engages consumers with news and broadens their knowledge. On the commercial front, it aims to fulfil business logic, both from a journalism and gamification standpoint, with the goal of increasing the number of consumers, amplifying their news intake, creating a habit of news consumption and driving new and stable revenue streams. The chapter addresses the opportunities in gamification of journalism which is grounded in audience engagement and active participation creating a shift towards a more competitive environment. However, looking at the challenges that this new category of infotainment brings.