Author: Rahul
Abstract
This paper examines interactive documentary and transmedia storytelling as democratic media practices, analyzing their theoretical foundations, documented effects on audience engagement, production challenges, and ethical implications. Drawing on Gaudenzi’s (2013) taxonomy of interactive documentary modes, Nash’s (2021) analysis of participatory voice and political agency, Jenkins’ (2006) convergence culture framework, and Green and Brock’s (2000) narrative transportation theory, the study evaluates the democratic potential of interactive and transmedia approaches through case studies including the NFB’s Highrise project, the Quipu Project, and the Guardian’s interactive journalism. The paper identifies both the genuine participatory possibilities created by interactive formats and the persistent challenges of production sustainability, audience access inequality, and the ethical complexities of distributed narrative authority in non-fiction contexts.
Keywords: interactive documentary, transmedia storytelling, participatory media, digital narrative, audience agency, convergence culture, i-docs, democratic engagement, polyvocal storytelling, narrative transportation
