WATCH: Supporting digital public spaces that put people over profit
What should digital public spaces look like? For the third and final installment of our series exploring the problems and solutions of Big Tech, we heard from four organizations—Amara, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation and VolunteerMatch—that have built digital public spaces that serve all communities. These organizations, whose business models center on people over profit, strive to […]
WATCH: How can philanthropy invest in a more equitable tech sector?
How can philanthropy invest in a more equitable technology sector as a means to combat some of the threats that Big Tech poses to democracy?
Here’s our year-end impact review—and our questions for 2021
This year was slated to be our year of impact. We started off with a bang in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where we released Decoding Media Impact: Insights, Advice and Recommendations, our impact report summing up seven years of research in the media impact space.
WATCH: Addressing the impact of Big Tech
It’s impossible to live in the digital world without engaging with Big Tech. These behemoth information technology companies—Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.—influence all facets of life, impacting us in ways we are only just starting to understand. While these platforms are making good on the promise of keeping us connected, the effects have been catastrophic. Turns […]
Member spotlight: Libra Foundation
The Libra Foundation’s Democracy Frontlines Fund is a national aligned giving strategy whose goal is to leverage millions of dollars to fund black-led organizers fighting for free and fair elections.
MIF is launching a working group focusing on impact
To further explore issues related to media impact and assessment, MIF is forming a working group of funders who want to strengthen the field of practice. Here’s a bit of background on how we arrived at that decision: MIF has been regularly tracking the field of media impact assessment for the last eight years. Every […]
How evaluation perpetuates inequity (and how to stop it)
As protests for racial justice continue in cities across the U.S., more and more institutions are publicly reckoning with their own roles in perpetuating systemic racism. In the journalism space, a debate about the concept of objectivity is raging: whose view is considered “objective”? Do “both sides” of an issue always demand equal weight? Some […]
2020 Media Impact Forum speakers commemorate Juneteenth with stories of triumph, pain
Media Impact Funders was closed on Friday in celebration of Juneteenth. But our friends in the media were quite busy, exploring sometimes painful history and tragic current events, but also revealing uplifting personal stories of triumph over adversity. In the first installment of our Media Impact Forum, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman interviewed Dr. Ayana […]
WATCH: The COVID-19 origin story is a case study for understanding the need for evidence-based communications
Last week, Media Impact Funders hosted a webinar about the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and implications for media and philanthropy.
Lessons from our nation’s founding particularly relevant amid COVID-19
Sometimes, at Media Impact Funders, we find that we are slightly ahead of our time. Looking back on our programs for the Media Impact Forum in 2018, we are struck by how much of what we heard then resonates clearly in this peculiar moment we find ourselves in.
WATCH: Science journalism & going beyond the data
Scientific inquiry is being challenged as never before, and science denialism is increasingly prevalent, as efforts to propagate misinformation and disinformation grow more prominent. To reclaim and support the essential role of science in our society, funders are continuing to respond with a variety of grants that support the communication of science. In this webinar, […]
Has climate news coverage finally turned a corner?
Editor’s note: Co-founded by The Nation and the Columbia Journalism Review, Covering Climate Now is a collaboration of more than 390 news outlets around the world boasting a combined audience of well over 1 billion people, all dedicated to strengthening news coverage of the climate story. Written by Mark Hertsgaard, the executive director of Covering […]