Hypertext and Journalism: Paths for future research

Abstract

Hypertext, the underlying structure of the World Wide Web, is under-researched in journalism practice, particularly as a narrative device. While computer scientists and literary scholars have explored the impact of hypertext on narratives, on comprehension and on the role of readers, little of this knowledge has filtered into journalism scholarship. Given recent efforts by publishers to monetise hyperlinks, it is worth examining how a better understanding of hypertext might generate new ideas about journalism practice. This review draws on literature from computer science and journalism to consider how hypertext might be used as a narrative tool, and specifically examines notions of audience, comprehension, narrative design, and visualisation of space, with a view to progressing the research agenda around such themes.