Inspiring Action through Journalism

This series of research was conducted in collaboration with media partners at Huffington Post and The Guardian, as well as NewKnowledge Organization and Speakable. The studies explore how issue-based media can inspire action.

With a focus on Virtual Reality, Impact Journalism, and storytelling strategies that elicit emotion, our Media Impact Project team is working to provide an empirical assessment of how medium, message and storytelling elements affect changes in awareness, attitudes and behavior. ​ 

This series was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
An experimental study of 360-degree video experienced through different lenses.
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PRESSING FOR CHANGE
The role of action buttons in online news engagement.
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TIPSHEETS: MESSAGING FOR MEDIA IMPACT
Designed to help media makers optimize stories for impact with the help of social science.
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STEM NEWS: IN THE LIVES OF EARLY CAREER ADULTS
A four-year collaboration with PBS Newshour to understand how U.S. early career adults engage with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) news content.

The Outlaw Ocean

In 2019, New York Times journalist Ian Urbina published The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier about crime and extralegal activity in international waters. Topics covered include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, modern slavery and violent crime committed at sea, as well of the work of organizations, governments and companies in international waters.

Our research team was brought in to evaluate the impact of the book on audience knowledge and attitudes toward the issues raised in the publication. Through an analysis of posts, dialogues and conversations on social media, our report acknowledged a positive reception toward the topics included in the book and increased awareness of crime at sea.

This research was funded by OceanKind.
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.