1.Self reflection 

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During my pitch week, it was difficult to decide what angle to take. Does the documentary solely focus on how virtual reality can change eating disorders or mental health as a whole. After realising it is better to focus on how VR can change mental health care, I presented my project Virtually Better. This is an original idea due to the fact that virtual reality has never been used on patients with mental illnesses. I pitched it to Radio 1 because of their high media coverage of mental health.  This project has led me to delve into documentary journalism in a highly sensitive manner, but a significant role of a journalist is to give a voice to the voiceless (Norris, 2004) and that’s why I wanted to end the taboo.

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2.Ethical guidelines and considerations 

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At all times I was critically appraising my journalistic duty of care and how far that should extend. So, the project raised ethical concerns due to the nature of mental health and listeners may find the documentary triggering if they have a disorder. Approaching the interviewee (Katy) in the first place was a challenge in terms of talking about her mental disorder and how to ask sensitive questions. She was really evocative and I got invested in her story I tried to stay professional and impartial (Friedman,1989) whilst using her interview for the purpose of virtual reality, whilst being able to convey the emotion to the audience.  Radio 1 often covers mental health programmes. Clause 1.1 of the OFCOM Code states, ‘Material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.’ Despite not including an under 18 in the documentary Virtually Better is mindful of its young listeners and abides by the code by Katy’s age in the documentary. As the documentary talks about Borderline Personality Disorder and its symptoms and descriptions of how Katy feels, OFCOM Code Harm and Offences Clause 2.2 states that, ‘Factual programmes or items or portrayals of factual matters must not materially mislead the audience.’ Virtually Better abides by this.

 

3.Creative process and production

 

This piece of work aims to replicate the style of Radio 1 Xtra stories by using a case study to speak for itself, and then tie in experts as an ‘evaluation’ as to how VR can help this person and many others. It’s got to be powerful and emotional, yet thought provoking to get young people to talk about mental health and feel they can speak to their friends and families which is so important in today’s society.  Media depictions, in their persistent and pervasive inaccurate stereotypes perpetuate the negative attitudes of the public toward people who experience mental disorders and thus help to maintain the stigma (Whal,2008).  As a journalist, it is important to end the stigma of mental health and get people talking about issues presented in society, the key being giving mental health the coverage it deserves. 

 

4.Interviews

 

Virtually Better interviewed five people for the documentary, four of which were experts and one case study. Dr Kate Anthony is a technology expert for clinical practice and she says that virtual reality is in line with how the world works and health care is moving forward in technology but in terms of helping mental health patients it cannot work alone and has to work alongside a therapist. Michael Madary, creator of the code of ethics for the use of VR adds a different angle and colour to the documentary.  The intention is the resolution and to give the listener a clear direction as to how virtual reality will be used for mental health care in the future. The piece needed a scientific perspective as to how the brain functions through the use of VR. This was a hard decision to make as the quality was over Skype but the American accent shines an element that it can affect globally, not just in the UK. It also needs to be easy to understand, interesting for young listeners but in line within the nature of the project. So I decided to use a small part of professor Mayank Mehta’s interview. BBC producer Ian Ravenscroft created a series which inspired me to develop a new take on how VR can change mental health care. His uplifting stories of how each person could express their disorder in a new way through the use of VR gives an inspiring and positive angle to the project.

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5.The blog and its value

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 The blog is an exploration of the production process and every post reveals more information about virtual reality. I decided not to explain what VR is in the documentary itself, as the radio 1xtra audience would know what it is, but if not they can find out from the blog and social media links. It features images, sneak peaks, extra information, links Twitter and Facebook, as well as help and support for sufferers. It’s a useful platform for people interested about the topic to find out more and for people who have mental health disorders to confide in a safe space.

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6.The Audience & Listener relationship

 

The documentary appeals to BBC Radio 1 as a special to Radio 1 & 1xtra stories. Radio 1 have ran a ‘My Mind and Me’ campaign throughout 2017 highlighting the importance of talking about mental health. Therefore, I believe this documentary can bring a fresh voice, with more awareness to mental health than previously aired. This piece of journalism is a platform for sufferers or undiagnosed people to gain help from the documentary and supporting blog, shedding light against the lack of knowledge around virtual reality, and perhaps spark a new campaign getting people to use virtual reality to express their mental health disorders.

In the future, it would be interesting to make a virtual reality app, which would provide an ideal platform where sufferers could examine symptoms of mental health and seek further professional help.

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7.And Finally...

 

Overall, this project has completely changed my perspective on mental health, and made me realise that people who have mental health conditions deserve positive coverage from the media- something I hope I have achieved from this project. It has certainly made me a more well-rounded journalist. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and I am very proud to have created an original, sensitive and powerful piece of work.

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            Bibliography

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1. Friedman, M., 1989. The impracticality of impartiality. The journal of Philosophy, 86 (11), pp.645-656.

2. IPSO. (2018) Editors code of practice.  Available: at: https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/#Discrimination  (accessed January 9th)

3. Friedman, M., 1989. The impracticality of impartiality. The journal of Philosophy, 86 (11), pp.645-656.

4. Norris, P., 2004. Giving voice to the voiceless: Good governance, human development and mass communications. Oxford Dictionary, 2017. Definition of Liberal [online]. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/defintion/liberal (accessed January 10th 2017)

5. OFCOM. (2017) The OFCOM broadcasting code.  Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/27633/broadcastingcode2013.pdf (Accessed 10th January)

6. Shaeffer, R. (2007). ‘Journalism with a purpose.’ Advocacy Journalism. Earth Island Journal. Vol. 22, Issue 3.

7. Wahl, O. F. (2008).  Mass media’s damaging depictions of mental illness.  Cases and readings in abnormal behavior, 2nd edition. Lanahan Publishers.

8. Ward, Stephen J. A. 2010, Global Journalism Ethics. Ethical Foundations.  McGill Queens University Press

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