Interactive documentaries as a format in audiovisual media: A case study of RTVE and Al Jazeera

The main objective of this article is to examine new interactive non-fiction narratives in audiovisual media. In the current context marked by convergence, a hybridization of forms and languages is taking place within the news environment. Online media show a singular characterization, and the limits between press, radio and television are increasingly blurred. In the digital strategy of televisions as online media, innovation and the search for added value have led to the confluence of journalism and transmedia narratives, as well as to the development of new formats, among them interactive documentaries. The study was conducted in two stages. The first consists of an exploratory-descriptive stage, where interactive documentaries produced by online media in 2016 are related and classified, thus obtaining a panoramic vision of this genre in the last year. Secondly, a comparative case study is presented between Párkinson, que tiemble el camino (RTVE, 2016) and Hacked (Al Jazeera, 2016), both of which are audiovisual media projects. The analysis of these two projects focuses on the docugame, which provides novelties for the user, the content and media through ludification, simulation and greater user engagement.