Melodramatic animation in crime news and news information learning

Abstract

This study used the dual-coding hypothesis to examine how melodramatic animation in crime news reports affects news learning among older children in Hong Kong. In total, 74 older children (mean age = 15.3) were exposed to news videos that either did or did not include melodramatic animation. The results showed that melodramatic animation helped the participants learn the news. The social implications of the results are discussed.

Keywords

Adolescence animated news experiment learning news effect

Introduction

This study explores the influence of melodramatic animation, a newly emerging news format, on how children learn the news. For many years, academics have investigated the influence of news presentation formats on audience perceptions. Past studies have examined how the characteristics of news anchors (Weibel et al., 2008), picture quality (Lee, 1978), webpage design (Flanagin and Metzger, 2007), or the style of visual images (Kiousis, 2006) influence viewers’ perceptions. However, the effect of animation in news reports on knowledge acquisition has rarely been explored (Cheng and Lo, 2012, 2015; Merkt et al., 2011), perhaps because animation has only recently become a common practice in news media across the world (Fox et al., 2004; Knight, 2007). Also, animation in news reporting is typically only used to provide supplementary information, such as images showing damage to a plane¹ or illustrations of the effects of a natural disaster.²

Under these circumstances, it is understandable that many observers have considered animation as being of secondary importance, and journalism-related studies have only recently begun to examine the relationship between alternative news presentation formats and audience evaluation of the news. Few studies have examined the use of animation in news reports. Instead, they have investigated how different formats, such as video reports and print, affect audience retention and understanding of the news (Van der Molen and van der Voort, 2000). However, many media critics and scholars have argued that animation plays an increasingly significant role in news presentations (Cheng and Lo, 2012; Cohen, 2009; Lo and Cheng, 2013). In recent years, animation has become an important tool for narrating news stories. For example, Fox News used animation to illustrate how black holes can rip stars apart.³ CNN used it to re-create an airplane crash at San Francisco’s airport,⁴ and the BBC used an animated map to explain the Battle of the Somme.⁵ Animated news segments are reaching millions of viewers through collaborations between animated news producers such as Next Media – a media conglomerate based in Taiwan and Hong Kong – and international news networks such as Reuters (2012). Content created under these collaborations are available in multiple languages and are marketed globally (Next Animation Studio, 2016; Next Media Animation, 2015; Reuters, 2012). Using animating news segments has become a mainstream global practice.

These products reenact news stories using animated characters, background music, and sound effects. The characters often have dramatic facial expressions and may engage in dialogue. This new animated presentation format is called ‘melodramatic animation’ (Lo and Cheng, 2015). These videos portray the details of news stories as though the reporters were eyewitnesses to the events. The visual presentation of animated footage is often accompanied by narration, and these presentations often provide details that could not possibly be conveyed in traditional television productions. In traditional television news formats, the crime news reporters could present video footage of a crime scene or the harm done to the victims (Graber, 1990). Animated news, however, uses advanced animation technology to visually portray the crime from beginning to end, based on the evidence collected and interviews conducted. This technique is useful, as many news events are reported after they have taken place, and journalists are therefore unable to capture these events live.

In this study, our focus is the effect of animated news on children. Animated news reports that are distributed online may have a disproportionate effect on young people, who are more likely to share these videos on the social network sites (Lo and Cheng, 2013) that have become major sources of news for children and teenagers (Barthel et al., 2015). The wide circulation of these videos on social network sites increases their chances of being viewed by young people. Children may find visual or animated presentations of news events more interesting and attention-getting. Such image-based reports may also help children to learn news information more effectively, as children generally have smaller vocabularies than adults (Gunter et al., 2000). Hence, it is important to determine the effects that such presentation techniques have on children’s knowledge acquisition.

Animation has long been regarded as an aid to learning (Richard E. Mayer and Moreno, 2002). Previous studies have shown that young people learn better with the help of properly used animation (e.g. Thompson and Riding, 1990). Some studies have suggested that learning outcomes can be maximized if animation is used to help young users’ cognitive processing. Animation can also help students to learn mathematics, motor skills, or skills for dealing with unfamiliar situations (e.g. Moreno and Mayer, 1999; Rieber, 1991). Given these established findings, it can be predicted that melodramatic animated news may influence news learning.

The theoretical aim of this study is to better understand the relationships between news presentation formats and learning. Empirically, the study investigates the influence of melodramatic news reporting on viewers’ learning. This study adopts the dual-coding hypothesis as its theoretical framework, suggesting that the use of coordinated verbal–visual components in a presentation enhances the effectiveness of learning (Clark and Paivio, 1991; Paivio, 1986). The dual-coding hypothesis (Paivio, 2007; Sadoski and Paivio, 2013) and the extended cognitive theory of multimedia learning (Mayer, 2014) have inspired a great number of studies. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to adopt the hypothesis in a journalism context to investigate the effects of melodramatic animation on news information learning by children. From a practical perspective, the study contributes to the debate among practitioners over the use of this new presentation format (Cheng and Lo, 2015). This study is an extension of previous studies of the use of melodramatic animation, viewer judgment of news, and the perceived credibility of news reporting (Cheng and Lo, 2012, 2015; Lo and Cheng, 2015). This study enriches the literature in these areas and informs discussion among journalism scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and educators on the practical and ethical issues involved in the global trend toward these innovative and emerging techniques in news reporting.

Literature review

Past studies showed that the use of melodramatic animation in news has positive effects on news perception. Cheng and Lo defined the three elements of animated news as sound effects, visual effects, and detailed news story plots. Of these elements, sound effects were found to be the most clearly related to perceived news credibility. These researchers reported that college students found that news videos with melodramatic animation were just as credible as videos without animation. In a follow-up study, Lo and Cheng (2013) found that among college students, the different motives associated with viewing animated news were related to news perceptions. Animated news reports had a higher credibility and higher trustworthiness, and induced higher intention to relay the content to peers on social media if the reports were used for information-seeking purpose (Lo and Cheng, 2013). These scholars argued that young people may not distinguish between the animated elements and the genuine content in a news video, and they may take the elements constructed by news producers as highly believable (Cheng and Lo, 2012; Lo and Cheng, 2013). The use of such technique also enhances news credibility through evoking a sense of presence. In Lo and Cheng’s (2015) study, they found that the use of animation in reports of violent events aroused a more intense experience of presence in the viewers, and the viewers subsequently perceived the news as more credible (Lo and Cheng, 2015). Apart from enhancing perceived credibility, this study inquires if melodramatic animation also aid learning.

News formats and learning

Media scholars, psychologists, and educators have investigated which news formats are most effective in terms of learning. In the 1980s and 1990s, a vast number of studies considered how different modalities of television messages influenced the viewers’ retention and comprehension of news information. Television enabled viewers to see what was happening, and these studies examined the effectiveness of televised visual presentations compared to the effectiveness of verbal descriptions given in print or radio broadcast media. These studies generally showed that an appropriate use of visuals could enhance news information learning. Using content analysis and experimental methods, Graber (1990) found that viewers recalled visual themes in news reports better than they recalled verbal descriptions. Visually presented information was particularly easy to learn when the reports featured unusual sights or pictures of people. These visuals provided the viewers with information about the characteristics of the individuals featured in the news, and such portrayals prompted the viewers to form opinions about these people. The respondents in Graber’s study mentioned that the visuals aided their learning, as the images helped them to gain clarity on the news stories and on the situations (such as the scope of a disaster or the living conditions inside a prison cell).

Other studies have provided additional support for the assertion that visuals aid news learning. Berry and Brosius (1991) found that audiences acquired more news information when they viewed news reports in a film format (news with genuine video footage) than when the news was delivered in a ‘talking-head’ format (news narrated by a newscaster). These researchers argued that the film format catches the viewers’ attention and presents information more vividly, which aids news learning. Gunter et al. (2000) found that children were better able to recall news reports that were presented with a mix of verbal and visual components. They concluded that visual news information was easier to remember than information presented in audio or print media, regardless of the respondents’ language proficiency or expectation of a recall test.

Motion graphics in news reports have also been shown to improve the acquisition of news information. A series of experimental studies conducted by Fox et al. (2004) suggested that the use of motion graphics influenced the users’ capacity for information storage and retrieval. The viewers of news reports using such animation techniques were able to recall news information better than their counterparts who viewed more traditional forms of media. This result was consistent for both older and younger participants in the study. The reenactment of events, another presentation strategy in broadcast media, also enhanced information acquisition (Leutner et al., 2009). A series of experiments using archeological and historical documentaries showed that information presented with pictorial reenactments of cultural events together with verbal narration improved recall. Facts that were closely linked to the narrative plotline were particularly well recalled (Glaser et al., 2012).

Although visual presentation has generally been considered an effective aid to learning, many media scholars have pointed out that news producers need to look into the most appropriate uses of visuals to ensure effective learning, rather than simply promoting the use of the visuals per se. Visuals may actually impair learning if they correspond poorly to the verbal component of a news report (e.g. Berry and Brosius, 1991; Drew and Grimes, 1985; Graber, 1990; Gunter et al., 2000). Inconsistent visual–verbal presentation is likely to interfere with comprehension, as the viewer may be distracted if required to process conflicting information at once. The cognitive load required to comprehend such information may result in a lower capability to retain it (Findahl and Hoijer, 1981; Lachman et al., 1979).

These studies have provided qualified support for the dual-coding hypothesis. This hypothesis is a major tenet of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (Mayer, 2014); it explains the cognitive processing of the visual and verbal components involved in the acquisition of information from multimedia platforms. The hypothesis suggests that learning is improved when information is presented in both images and verbal codes (Clark and Paivio, 1991; Graber, 1990; Grimes, 1990; Paivio, 1969, 1971, 1986). The dual visual and verbal representation of information improves learning, as the different representations offer additional retrieval cues during recall. When the visual information is consistent with the verbal representation, both the image and the text convey the same propositional meaning. Such visual–verbal overlap can enable viewers to distribute their attention between the two sensory channels and subsequently to more easily recall the information. Other scholars have arrived at a similar conclusion and have suggested that accompanying auditory messages with consistent images such as reenactments of events can relieve audiences of the resource-demanding process of generating mental representation, thus reducing cognitive load and enhancing narrative processing and learning (Glaser et al., 2012; Leutner et al., 2009). Other studies have offered empirical validation of this hypothesis (e.g. Van der Molen and Klijn, 2004; Van der Molen and van der Voort, 1997, 1998). For example, Van der Molen and van der Voort (1997, 1998) showed that televised news reports using overlapping visual and verbal media were better recalled than news reported in print or in television media with inconsistent images. An extended study by Van der Molen and Klijn (2004) showed that good semantic overlap between pictorial and verbal information had significant positive effects on news information recall in both television and print news reporting. That study also found that television elicits stronger recall than print media when the amount of related audiovisual information is larger, suggesting that the consistency and volume of images and text significantly aid news learning (Van der Molen and Klijn, 2004).

Animation and learning

In the past few decades, the study of animation that targets children has gained prominence in the field of education. Animation is popular among children due to its power to draw their attention (e.g. Levin and Anderson, 1976) and increase their ability to remember (Palmer and Aimme, 1980). The use of animation has been shown to facilitate children’s learning (e.g. Lowe, 2003), and it has been widely recognized that appropriate use of animation can promote young learners’ understanding (e.g. Thompson and Riding, 1990). Other researchers have shown that a more pronounced effect on learning can be achieved when animation is used in a way that is consistent with how people cognitively process information (Mayer and Moreno, 2002). The use of animation has also been found to aid incidental (Rieber, 1991), mathematical (Moreno and Mayer, 1999), and procedural learning (ChanLin, 2000). In the field of health communication, animation has been commonly used by various business and welfare organizations to promote desirable behavior among children (e.g. Jaume et al., 2015).

Although studies concerning the effects of animation on learning have proliferated over the last several decades, these studies have not considered the effects on journalism, as animation techniques are rather new in the news media. We believe that using animation to present the news may benefit learning among children in several ways. Some concepts might be comprehended more easily through animation, as children often have a more limited vocabulary than adults. The understanding of a verbal story can also be enhanced, as animation can show the details of the characters’ interactions. Using animation techniques can also help to capture young people’s attention and increase their interest, as animated news is often used for entertainment purposes (Lo and Cheng, 2013). Information transmitted through animation can be perceived as more realistic than verbal messages, as melodramatic animation influences the sense of presence (Cheng and Lo, 2015; Lo and Cheng, 2015). Animation and other visual forms of presentation such as pictures can offer a great deal of information very efficiently (e.g. Eitel et al., 2013; Lin and Atkinson, 2011) and can reduce ambiguity of meaning.

We hypothesize that children have a better recall of information that is conveyed in news reports when the reports are presented with melodramatic animations. As noted earlier, the dual-coding hypothesis suggests that visual–verbal representations are more powerful learning aids than single-media representations. Specifically, an overlapping visual image offers viewers extra memory codes to assist recall. Presentations that have semantically overlapping information in pictorial and verbal components can therefore enhance news learning (Van der Molen and Klijn, 2004). Melodramatic animation is often accompanied by reporter narration in news reports. In this study, we predict that this combination enhances news information learning by children. Moreover, animated content can provide details about the course of a news event, which helps to fill in any image gaps in the news story. The use of animation to reenact news events is an emerging news reporting strategy. Previous studies of educational documentaries have shown that reenactment strategies are effective in aiding information recall (Glaser et al., 2012). The present study investigates the effects of melodramatic animation, a more advanced technology for news reenactment, and proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis. Children are better able to recall information from news reports presented with melodramatic animation than from reports without such animation.

Methodology

In total, 74 older children, with a mean age of 15.3, were recruited from a secondary school in Hong Kong via convenience sampling. Before the launch of the study, the instrument of measurement as well as the stimuli were sent to relevant institutional authority for approval. No irritating and inappropriate content to children was found. The study also ensured a voluntary participation and consent was obtained from the teachers for the children’s participation in the study. All of the participants were secondary 3 students (equivalent to grade 9 in the United States). There were 52 male and 22 female participants. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In condition 1, 42 participants were exposed to a news video that used melodramatic animation. In condition 2, 32 participants were exposed to a news video that did not use melodramatic animation. After exposure to these stimuli, the participants were asked to respond to a set of questions. The participants were exposed to the stimuli and the questionnaire on a randomly assigned computer; the questions were administered through Qualtrics, an online survey tool. The experiment required about 15 minutes. The participants were then thanked and debriefed.

Stimuli

The study used a news video from Apple Action News featuring a melodramatic animation (stimulus in condition 1⁶) (see Figure 1 for a sample frame). This video concerned a domestic helper who was charged with the crimes of bullying and robbing her employer. The video lasted for 1 minute and 22 seconds, of which 40 seconds were animation. The animation featured the domestic helper forcefully pushing her employer onto a bed and snatching the employer’s gold necklace. The animation also depicted the employer’s teeth being knocked out, with some blood being spilled during the fight. A subsequent part of the animation narrated how the domestic helper disposed of her weapon, and showed details of the police visiting the flat where the event happened. The whole video began and ended with genuine video footage, including shots of the location where the events occurred. It also showed real footage of the suspect being taken to the police station. The logo of Apple Action News was displayed throughout the video.

Figure 1.

Sample frame of the stimulus with a melodramatic animation.

The manipulated version of the video (stimulus in condition 2⁷) (see Figure 2 for a sample frame) was an edited video of the same event, in which the animated part was replaced by shots taken at the housing estate where the event occurred. The second video also included footage taken outside the police station where the case was reported. The inclusion of these shots was edited to resemble the original video produced by Apple Action News, but without animated content. The length of the two videos was the same. A professional news anchor was invited to re-narrate the news using the original script, which ensured that the information that the narrator communicated was identical in both videos. A trial screening of the videos was conducted with four journalism undergraduate students, and the manipulated version was revised based on their comments. The two stimuli videos were then judged to have the same informational quality and to resemble news videos produced by the media organization.

Figure 2.

Sample frame of the stimulus without a melodramatic animation.

Measurement instrument

This study investigated the effects of animated news videos on children’s learning of news information. Therefore, after the participants were exposed to one of the two stimuli, they were asked to respond to four multiple-choice and four short-answer questions about the details of the news story (e.g. What was snatched by the domestic helper? What weapon did she throw from the window?). News information learning was calculated by adding the number of correct answers to the multiple-choice and short-answer questions. The measurement tool was developed in response to Berry and Brosius (1991), who asserted that question-prompted recall is a more appropriate index of news learning than free recall. Both stimuli had identical anchor narrations. As the study used the dual-coding hypothesis as its framework, the questions were about information that had been provided in overlapping visual–verbal media in the animated news condition, but communicated through verbal description only in the non-animated news condition.

To code the answers to the short-answer questions, two researchers first discussed the coding criteria. Researcher 1 coded all of the answers (correct vs incorrect). Researcher 2, who was blind to the conditions, then randomly selected 25 percent of the cases (N = 19) and recoded the answers. Because each participant was asked to respond to four short-answer questions, 76 answers were recoded. The inter-coder reliability was satisfactory (Cohen’s kappa = .80).

Past studies have shown that prior exposure to specific media content affects the viewer’s perception of that content (Zaragoza and Mitchell, 1996). This study adopted a video that had previously been released to the public by Apple Action News. In other words, it was possible that the participants had seen the video prior to the experiment. After their exposure to the video in the experiment, the participants were asked whether they had previously watched the same video. If they had, they were then asked the number of times they had seen it prior to the study. In the last part of the questionnaire, demographic data such as age, gender, and grade of study were solicited.

Results

The study first tested the effect of prior exposure as a control variable; 32.4 percent of the participants reported that they had not watched the video prior to the experiment. The result of chi-square test showed that there was no significant difference between the group with prior exposure and the group without prior exposure among the two experimental groups (χ² = .004, p = .951). The result of the linear regression analysis showed that prior exposure to the video had no significant effect on news information learning (beta = −.18, p = .126). On average, the participants correctly answered 6.6 of the 8 questions on the index of news information learning. An independent-sample t test was conducted to compare the means of the number of correct answers in the two experimental groups. A significant difference was observed (t = 2.2, df = 72, p = .034, two-tailed). The participants in the animated news condition gave more correct answers (M = 6.9, standard deviation (SD) = 1.3) than those in the non-animated news condition (M = 6.1, SD = 1.7). Thus, the hypothesis was confirmed.

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the ways in which melodramatic animation affects how children learn from news reports. The tests found that after viewing news reports featuring melodramatic animation that corresponded to the verbal narration, children recalled details of the news stories better than after viewing genuine video footage that did not directly correspond to the verbal information. These results are in line with the body of research on animation and learning (e.g. Lowe, 2003; Mayer and Moreno, 2002).

Animation can provide a story with more visual details, as it allows journalists to project imaginative moving images. These animated visuals can fill in missing images and narrate a news story in a way that is not possible with traditional television media. Animated images that consistently complement the verbal description enhance learning via the dual-media messaging, as the viewers can distribute their attention between the visual and verbal channels. The animated imagery also offers an extra set of codes for memory retrieval, which aids better recall of information (Graber, 1990; Grimes, 1990; Paivio, 1969, 1971). Furthermore, the vividness of an animation may enhance attention and interest among young viewers, which in turn helps the information to be more effectively encoded in their memories.

Although preliminary support has been given to the dual-coding hypothesis, the findings of this study need to be interpreted with caution. In this study, we argue that the use of animation effectively enhances learning when it corresponds with verbal messages. We cannot assume that the use of such technology per se elicits the same effect. Also, future researchers may also need to look into other media situations in which non-animated images correspond well with verbal presentations. For example, journalists are sometimes at a crime scene reporting the event live. The live reporting may facilitate an overlap between images and verbal information although no animation is used. It will be informative to investigate whether viewers who witness a crime through live reporting, that is, news reports in which the live images match with the verbal news narration that enable dual-coding, will register the details in their memories similarly to or differently from the situation when animation is used instead. In some other situations, reporters may include genuine footage or static pictures that correspond to the verbal description. A positive effect on news learning that is similar to the effects of animated footage may be elicited. As previous studies have informed that reenactment of an event enhances information learning (Glaser et al., 2012), future studies should compare the use of animation, static pictures, and genuine video footage that overlap with verbal messages, and investigate whether the use of animation is comparatively more effective at promoting learning. Researchers need to further investigate the use of visuals in these alternative types of media situations.

Furthermore, this study is unable to discern the cognitive processes that the young viewers go through when viewing animated news videos, as the study involves only a simple comparison of two experimental groups. Future studies will need to investigate the mediating roles of attention and interest and of the experience of presence in the interaction between animation and memory (e.g. Gunter et al., 2000; Kim and Biocca, 1997). The better recall generated by animated news reports may also be due to various cognitive processes that deserve further research attention. It is possible that inconsistent visual–verbal representations impair learning, as viewers may become distracted when processing two sensory channels that convey different meanings. It is also possible that young viewers pay attention only to visual images and ignore verbal messages, which makes them better able to recall information conveyed by animated imagery. A third viable explanation is that viewers attend to both visual and verbal messages, but the overlapping visuals offer additional cues for memory retrieval (Gunter et al., 2000). Researchers in the field of animated news reporting should examine these related cognitive processes by developing more sophisticated experimental designs.

The use of melodramatic animation has sparked vigorous debate among media scholars, practitioners, and welfare advocates on the ethical issues that such media entail. This type of news format is commonly said to compromise the objectivity of news reporting, as it may blur the line between providing facts and creating fictions, as producers project their own imaginations into these video productions, seeking to fill in the missing pieces of a news story. Such techniques can also lead viewers to more strongly believe in the news reports as framed by the reporters. Animated reporting can evoke a strong sense of presence, which can lead viewers to make unfair judgments about the suspects featured in the news (Cheng and Lo, 2015; Lo and Cheng, 2015). The results of this study, however, suggest one specific benefit of using melodramatic animation in news reports: this approach to reporting improves children’s learning about news events. Some educators may also find it encouraging to see that teachers can help young learners to acquire news information through the use of animation to narrate stories about significant news events. These advantages of using animation in news, however, are only beneficial to young learners when the details of the animated stories are carefully verified and are able to reflect the news events accurately. Indeed, the truthfulness of news reports using such technique have often been challenged by news critics and scholars (Cheng and Lo, 2015).

Child welfare advocates may hold a different point of view when interpreting the results of this study. As journalists may project their imaginations into the production of animated news, the details of their news stories may not accurately reflect the facts. The information acquired from animated news by young viewers may therefore be subject to inaccuracies. It is problematic if information communicated in animated news is inaccurate, as children might misinterpret untruthful information as truthful, even when the former is contrasted with the latter (Butler et al., 2009; Umanath et al., 2012). They might acquire inaccurate details about a news event. It is especially noteworthy that melodramatic animation may influence judgments on the veracity and credibility of the reports by arousing a more intense experience of presence (Cheng and Lo, 2015; Lo and Cheng, 2015). The visual presentation of information with varying semantic characteristics also affects the retention of verbal content (Merkt and Schwan, 2017). It is therefore likely that information obtained from animated news reports could affect the degree to which children remember a news event and how they interpret it, which could subsequently influence their judgment of the characters involved in the news story. Those who promote media literacy may advocate a more stringent media education program to teach young students how to interpret the information learned from animated news. Studies suggest that feedback on the truthfulness of media content encourages young viewers to be more critical and thus to not accept false information (Umanath et al., 2012). Hence, parents are encouraged to view animated news videos with their children, discuss the content, and to help children critically review the information and the representations provided by these videos. Parents are often found to be effective socializing agents for mitigating the effects of media on children (e.g. Chan and McNeal, 2003).

Merits aside, it is important to address a few limitations of this study. First, the experimental method used in the study involved a convenience sample of older children. The generalizability of the results to other demographic groups is therefore limited. It is especially noteworthy that older children perceive, interpret, and reflect on incoming messages differently than younger children (John, 1999). Accordingly, younger children may respond to animated news videos differently than this study’s participants. This study also considered only the presence or absence of melodramatic animation. A more sophisticated study that manipulates various variables needs to be done, as learning is influenced by multiple factors such as the experience of presence (e.g. Biocca et al., 2001) and individual characteristics (e.g. Eveland, 2002). This study was also conducted in a laboratory setting. Readers need to be cautious about the ecological validity of such studies. In a real news viewing setting, the media users may view the news using smart phones, and they may co-view with other individuals. The results of the study may therefore not be valid in such different media-viewing situations. Moreover, the data were collected immediately after exposure to the stimuli. The study was therefore not able to test the effects of delay on recall. It is also worth noting that the subject of interest in this study is crime news. It is because past melodramatic animation is often used to narrate news involving sex and violence – elements that are typical in crime news (Kaplan, 2010). The result of this study may only apply to crime news as violence and sex content was found influencing memory and recall (e.g. Lull and Bushman, 2015). The use of animation in other news type in which these elements are less common, such as political and financial news, may yield a different result. Future researchers may replicate the present study to other news genres and discern the effect of using such technique on memory.

Conclusion

To our best knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of melodramatic animation in news reports on children’s learning of news information. The results show that children recall more information after viewing news reports with melodramatic animation than after viewing reports without such animation. In recent development, storytelling methods and presentation formats have dramatically changed to fit the changing characteristics and needs of young people, who are commonly digital natives from their early years. Animation is one such technology that offers rich visual details to young news viewers through three-dimensional (3D) modeling of news story characters and digital reconstruction of the environment of a news event. This technology is found to have positive impacts on these viewers’ news information learning. Media scholars, journalists, and education psychologists should continue to conduct research to investigate the effects of melodramatic animation and other emerging technologies in news reporting. The results of these studies will be informative to various stakeholders and will enable further dialogue on the benefits and appropriate use of new technologies.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author biographies

Benjamin Ka Lun Cheng, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Division of Communication at the College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University. His research interests include news and new technology, journalism in social media, and children, adolescents, and media. He has publications in journals such as Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism Studies, and International Communication Research Journal. He received top research paper awards in international conferences.

Wai Han Lo, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research interests include journalism, cultural studies, critical studies in mass communication, and new media. She has published in a number of peer-reviewed journals such as Aging & Society, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Journalism Studies. She received best paper awards at top conferences.

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