Opportunities and Prospects for the Development of Immersive Journalism in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The interconnection between the information environment and media technologies has formed one of the most rapidly developing branches of contemporary journalism science. Over the past decade, the expansion of digital infrastructure and a fundamental shift in audience behavior have directly influenced the ways information is conveyed: traditional text- or audio-based material has gradually given way to interactive, multi-layered formats. Immersive journalism lies at the core of this shift. The essence of this direction is to move the reader or viewer beyond the role of a mere recipient of information and to “place” them inside the event itself. When acoustic space, visual depth and interactive elements are combined into a single system, the audience perceives the story not as something mediated, but as an authentic experience. Researchers Nonny de la Peña and Pete Ward described this phenomenon as “narrative empathy technology”: a person does not merely read or listen, but is present within the event with their consciousness. This distinctive feature sets immersive journalism apart from other media formats altogether. Interest in this direction is also growing in the Kazakh media space. A comparison of the 2024 monitoring data of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the archives of three platforms shows that the number of multimedia projects produced by domestic internet portals and television channels increased by approximately 40% between 2019 and 2024 (from 5 projects in 2019 to 7 in 2024). However, the number of media outlets that use immersive formats systematically, as part of a dedicated editorial strategy, remains limited – a reality clearly confirmed by the market. This is due partly to the unreadiness of the technological infrastructure and partly to a shortage of qualified personnel. The importance of studying immersive journalism is not limited to assessing technological capabilities. It also opens up new ethical and psychological dimensions of information communication. From J. Dewey’s reflections on the close connection between the media and a democratic society to W. Lippmann’s concept of the “pseudo-environment,” ideas about the mechanisms through which journalism influences its audience continue to acquire new meaning over time. The immersive format raises this influence to a qualitatively new level. Accordingly, the aim of the study was to systematize the theoretical foundations of immersive journalism, to analyze the specifics of its dissemination in the domestic media through concrete examples, and to assess the constraints on and prospects for its development. A comparative review of the editorial practices of leading media organizations served as the principal means of achieving this aim.