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. |
Evaluating NBCU Creative Lab
Our research team is conducting an evaluation of NBCUniversal’s Creative Impact Lab, an innovative social impact program helping creatives from under-resourced communities break into the industry.
Read more. |
Evidence for Audience Impact
Funders interested in narrative change often ask variations of the question: How do we really know what strategies are working? Our latest report summarizes 20 years of evidence for the audience impact of entertainment with support from the California Health Care Foundation.
Read the report. |
Trigger Warning: Guide for Creatives
Trigger Warning: Gun Guidelines for the Media is a new resource guide created by Hollywood, Health & Society to better understand the presence of gun use in the entertainment industry. The guide also includes data from our Shooting Straight study, among many others.
Read the guide. PRESS: Hollywood Reporter | Variety | Deadline Hollywood | Reuters | USC |
Forbes' List of Climate Leaders
Our Media Impact Project Research Director Erica Rosenthal, and Hollywood, Health & Society Director Kate Folb are both on Forbes’ list of 68 Climate Leaders Changing the FIlm and TV Industry!
Check out the work we do in climate/sustainability here. |
Data for Good!
We are partnering with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health to study how fat representation in film and TV -- particularly in medical dramas -- have impacted society’s perspectives and discussion of fat people. The study is funded by the Nielsen Foundation's Data for Good program.
Read more. PRESS: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
Extrapolations Impact on Viewers
Extrapolations is Apple TV+'s new groundbreaking anthology series about the life-altering choices that must be made in a changing climate. In partnership with Rare and Good Energy, we will measure the impact of this important series in the first quantitative study of a major scripted climate storyline in nearly two decades.
Stay tuned! |
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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