The MEDIA IMPACT PROJECT is the research and evaluation arm of The Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. We are a hub for collecting, developing and sharing approaches for measuring the impact of media in order to better understand the role that media plays in changing knowledge, attitudes and behavior among individuals and communities.
We study stories -- in film, TV, documentaries, games, art and news -- and their impact on audiences. And we help media makers, cultural change organizations and foundations understand audiences and how to engage them. |
Climate Podcast Engagement Study
We're conducting a study of the newly launched podcast series, Electric Futures, produced by the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, which explores lesser-known stories about energy transition, told from the perspectives of the people most impacted by the changes.
Read more. |
Lear Center at SXSW 2024
Senior Researcher Soraya Giaccardi joined a panel with IllumiNative on the new wave of Native storytelling on TV and its impact on audiences. She also gave a sneak peek into our new research study, to be released later this spring.
Listen to the discussion. |
INCITE for Narrative Change Evaluators
How do you measure narrative impact? We partnered with the Pop Culture Collaborative to research and design a system for field members and funders working in narrative change to evaluate progress.
Read more. |
Asian Representation in Streaming
Our study with Gold House dives into depictions of Asian characters in scripted streaming. There is progress in casting Asian actors beyond tokenized characters, but these roles emphasize proximity to whiteness over authentic cultural specificity.
Read the report. |
End-of-Life Issues Lacking on TV
We collaborated with End Well to study end-of-life depictions on television. Through a character and keyword analysis, we found that scripted TV skews heavily toward violent death, with over 80% of television deaths caused by violence.
Read the study. |
Best Practices in Narrative Change
We are working on a multi-year study funded by the California Health Care Foundation to demystify impactful narrative change efforts and help funders understand the commitments needed to move the needle on a variety of pro-social topics like maternal health.
Learn more. |
The Norman Lear Center's Media Impact Project researches how entertainment and news influence our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and actions. We work with researchers, the film and TV industry, nonprofits, and news organizations, and share our research with the public. We are part of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
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