MIF releases report examining the current state of the field of media impact assessment
After seven years of tracking the field of media impact assessment, we’re pleased to announce the release of our latest report, Decoding Media Impact: Insights, Advice & Recommendations, which provides an examination of the current state of the field.
Highlights from our meeting on climate and the environment
Last week in Boulder, CO, we held a meeting to explore philanthropy’s role in amplifying attention to our global environmental crisis. It was 25 degrees and snowing, but thankfully we didn’t have to walk far from our hotel to eTown, our gracious host for the daylong gathering. The day before, the high temperature reached a […]
“The Game Changers”: Planting the seeds of veganism, one meat-eating dude at a time
Question: Let’s say you’re at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, watching the premiere of a documentary about the power and promise of veganism. “A shocking new documentary that will change the way you look at meat,” reads one of the reviews. Immediately after exiting the film, do you:
Unleashing the power of impact media in education: A Q&A with SIMA Studios
SIMA Studios is a global curator of social impact media with multiple arms: SIMA Awards, which honor high-quality social impact media across the globe; SIMA X, a community film screening and distribution initiative; and SIMA Classroom, an educational program designed to “provide first-class visual storytelling resources to education forums worldwide.” Recently, we chatted with SIMA’s […]
Success beyond scale: Evaluating outcomes that funders really care about
“Scale”—too often this is the bane of a grantee’s or evaluator’s existence when it comes to assessing the social impact of media projects. Why are funders so stuck on this concept, and what other impact models might matter more? As we’ve been reviewing materials we’ve gathered on media impact over the past several years, these […]
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 […]
Impact spotlight: Sea of Shadows
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 […]
MIF identifies new learning priorities after yearlong strategic planning process
As part of a new strategic direction informed by a yearlong review of our organization, we’ve been tasked with outlining learning priorities for the year and beyond. We have identified the following priorities: Making the case for media funding Assessing the impact of media funding Understanding the importance of evidence-based science communications activities Presenting/identifying funding […]
6 impact tools for every type of funder and media maker
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 […]
The 2019 Media Impact Forum
Last month, we convened our annual Media Impact Forum at the American Philosophical Society—the home of America’s oldest learned society—in Philadelphia, where we paid special attention to the role of radio and audio in creating and sustaining crucial connections with communities. See the full program here.
An intense examination of rape culture, Roll Red Roll focuses impact campaign on empowering men & boys to end sexual violence
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 […]
10 tips for practicing lean impact in a time of rapid change
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 […]