Brenna’s Take on the News: Paul Ryan and Virtual Reality

Here’s what is trending for Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The Times Partners With Google on Virtual Reality Project

The journalism industry for a long time has faced the battle figuring out how to engage readers. Now, the New York Times has made news consumers a part of the story entirely — through virtual reality.

Virtual reality is essentially a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real way by a person using special electronic equipment. In this case, the New York Times is partnering with Google to send everyone cardboard viewers to attach to their smart phones to watch these pieces. “The Displaced,” featuring children uprooted by war, will debut Saturday, Nov. 7 of this year.

I know this is probably the wrong opinion as a journalist to have, but I am not on board with the virtual reality train — yet.

I recognize that this opinion probably makes me like the one person in the 1990s who said “The internet is just a trend,” or the guy who said, “Facebook? Nah, that’ll never catch on.” My hesitations lie in the fact that this seems to be blurring the lines of reporting and making a piece of art, something fictional. I can’t help but worry that reporting in a virtual reality will inadvertently desensitize us to the fact these stories are far from virtual. My fear is journalism as an industry will set a precedent in this work-intensive medium, and make news consumers just as jaded as we are now about tragedies — such as the Syrian Refugee crisis.

That being said, I would love to be proven wrong, and hope this piece is as moving as the New York Times magazines promises.

Paul Ryan Says He Would Serve as Speaker if Republicans Unite

Representative Paul Ryan, famous for being Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate in 2012, said today, Oct. 20, that he would take John Boehner’s place as Speaker of the House. On one condition: House republicans must play nice.

In a rather insightful way, Rep. Ryan has shifted the conversation from begging for support to daring people NOT to support him in a weird, nonchalant “I don’t care, I don’t even want this job that much” kind of way. Not only that, but he demanded changes to this position and called his party out as “the problem,” according to an article in the New York Times.

Ryan gave Republicans a Friday deadline to decide whether or not they were with him or against him. I’m curious to see how this plays out — if he gets the job, I’ll storm in and start demanding things in my job interviews.