Here’s your summer impact reading list

Over the past five years of researching media impact, it’s become clear to me that even those of us who spend our time researching the complexities of impact assessment sometimes rely on unwritten assumptions: that change is linear, and can be easily measured; that social media is an effective organizing tool; that conventional meetings and gatherings invariably lead to greater impact; and that the impact of isolated projects can be viewed outside of the larger systems of which they are a part.  Read More

Last week, in collaboration with Philanthropy New York and the Environmental Grantmakers Association, we held a special screening and discussion of the award-winning film Sea of Shadows, a new film by National Geographic that serves as a blueprint for how a conservation effort can come together in spite of widespread institutional corruption and dangerous cartels. In the Gulf of California, totoaba fish are being illegally overfished by Mexican cartels and Chinese traffickers because of a belief among some in China that their bladders possess healing powers. But the deadly methods of harvesting totoaba, also a critically endangered fish, are threatening to wipe out the vaquita—the world's smallest whale. In fact, it's estimated that fewer than 15 vaquitas remain. Sea of Shadows follows undercover investigators, environmentalists, journalists and the Mexican Navy in their efforts to rescue the vaquita from total extinction. Read More

Here at Media Impact Funders, we’ve been researching best practices in measuring media impact since 2013. In addition to curating impact-related tools, producing original analyses on impact trends, and publishing a monthly impact newsletter, we also convene funders to discuss impact, and conduct research on how funders are thinking about and assessing impact in the field. In early 2019, a full-scale website redesign allowed us to showcase these resources in a more streamlined, organized way. Read More

This week, media funders from across the country will gather at our annual Media Impact Forum to explore connections between radio and community, and how audio producers can spur civic conversations among audiences. We’re excited to showcase how one of media’s oldest forms of communications is reaching new audiences in creative ways—and garnering more funder support than ever before. Read More

The combination of increased news coverage of sexual violence and the #MeToo movement has made it easier for survivors of all kinds of abuse to come forward and tell their stories. Their bravery has shed light on a taboo issue that’s incredibly difficult to understand. The effects of sexual abuse manifest in so many ways—in the form of PTSD, depression, anxiety, the inability to have meaningful relationships later in life, and much more. But even as society is starting to comprehend what the aftermath of sexual abuse looks like, the culture that allows for such violence to occur in the first place steadfastly persists. Rape culture excuses, normalizes and tolerates sexual violence—and it is all around us. And never before has a film so expertly captured these complicated and nuanced dynamics as Nancy Schwartzman’s Roll Red Roll, which pieces together the assault of a teenage girl at a party in small-town Ohio. You won’t see or hear the victim in this film; what makes Roll Red Roll special and important is that it is focused on—and exposes—the collusion of teen bystanders, teachers, parents and coaches to protect the assailants. It digs into the deep-seated “boys will be boys” culture that’s… Read More

While the media and tech landscapes are changing rapidly—requiring nimble and adaptive business practices and new models—the larger social sector funding landscape can be stuck in model for a previous age, planning out discrete interventions and then collecting metrics to examine how many people were touched by them. And media funders—despite often being at the cutting edge of impact evaluation—still struggle with these tensions. Read More

As you may have noticed, a few weeks ago we completely overhauled our website in an effort to better serve the rapidly changing fields of media and philanthropy. (Here's an overview of what you can now find.) And with our shiny new website comes shiny new impact assessment resources, which we're eager to showcase. Read More

By Lindsay Green-Barber | Founder & CEO, Impact Architects In 2013, the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, and local media organizations struggled to stay afloat. In this turmoil, residents did not have access to high-quality journalism to meet their information needs, and the strain on journalism organizations made it difficult for them to make financial investment necessary for long-term investigative and accountability reporting. In response to the situation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation funded the creation of the Detroit Journalism Cooperative (DJC)—a collaborative reporting project that includes Detroit Public Television (DPTV), Detroit Public Radio (WDET), Michigan Radio, New Michigan Media, the Center for Michigan’s Bridge Magazine, and Chalkbeat Detroit—to report on “the city’s future after bankruptcy with stories that have never been told before—on-air, online and in the community.” From 2013 to 2017, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM)—which, at the time, did not fund journalism—observed the DJC’s reporting in Detroit and recognized the value of innovative journalism in the community. So, in an effort to contribute to the work, in 2017 CFSEM established the Detroit Journalism Engagement Fund, in partnership with the Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The first round… Read More

By Lindsay Green-Barber, PhD, Founder & CEO, Impact Architects In the past five years, solutions journalism has become a closely watched model in the field of journalism. The Solutions Journalism Network has generated a robust network of journalists with formal training in solutions-oriented reporting, partnered with newsrooms whose leadership is committed to implementing solutions journalism as a core practice, and rigorously tested the underlying hypotheses for the impact of this practice. As solutions journalism matures, philanthropic partners are exploring exciting new ways to bring solutions-oriented reporting into high-impact strategies to empower communities and individuals, shift public discourse, and address complex social challenges. As funders look to solutions journalism as a potential path to increase the impact of their programmatic work, many questions remain. What is solutions journalism? What exactly is its impact? And, how can foundations best support this type of journalism? What is solutions journalism? The Solutions Journalism Network was founded in 2013, based on a belief that deeply reported stories that provide potential solutions to complex social problems will have a positive social impact by engaging audiences, increasing individuals’ sense of self efficacy, and leading to real-world change. SJN does not do reporting, but focuses on… Read More