Stay up-to-date on the latest news, trends and perspectives in media and philanthropy.

According to latest numbers, 1 in 4 Americans don’t want the COVID-19 vaccine. Whether due to hesitancy, fear, mistrust or politicization, it’s clear that we’re not out of the woods yet. In this webinar—the third discussion MIF has hosted about addressing vaccine hesitancy—we heard from philanthropic leaders on the various ways they are supporting media efforts to increase vaccine confidence and access. (The first session of our Media Impact Forum focused on guidelines for developing a communications framework to address hesitancy, and the second session looked at messaging strategies from the Colorado Health Foundation, the Ad Council and others. Watch those discussions here.) Read More

A new report commissioned by the Wyncote Foundation, "Culture, Heritage, and Place: How Media Amplifies Community Narratives," profiles eight place-based organizations that use media for cultural expression and connection, with local funding support. Read More

In recent weeks, it seems like America has arrived at a crucial crossroads in its long and painful history of gun violence. In the wake of several high-profile mass shootings in Atlanta, in Boulder, Colo., and most recently, in Indianapolis, Ind., there is a growing sense of outrage and demand for solutions. And in Washington, for the first time in several years, political leadership in Congress and the White House is aligned in seeking to create new laws to rein in the worst aspects of American gun violence. So there is a glimmer of hope that Washington might make some progress on an issue that has been gridlocked for many years. Read More

Last month, just two days after the inauguration of our 46th president and first female vice president, the nation marked another milestone — the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding access to safe abortion as a woman’s constitutional right. Read More

This is where you'll find recaps of each our five 2021 Media Impact Forum sessions. This year's Media Impact Forum is focusing on evidence-based communications through one online discussion a month from February to June. The recorded sessions appear in chronological order below. Read More

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 be inclusive, to inform, to connect, and to protect privacy. "These organizations show us that it doesn't have to be this way," said Alaphia Zoyab, advocacy director of Reset, who moderated the discussion. Read More

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.  Read More

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 out, holding our attention is part of the business model. Unfortunately, that model is based on algorithms that: 1. Are accused of being biased and disproportionately affect people of color 2. Allow for the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation and 3. Undercut real, actual journalism. And all of this is wreaking havoc on democracies around the world, including ours. Read More

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. Read More

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 month, we compile the latest impact-specific headlines and write original case studies and analyses to share in our Tracking Media Impact newsletter. We also feature the latest and most popular impact assessment frameworks and tools in a searchable database on our website. This work eventually led to the publishing of Decoding Media Impact, our comprehensive report analyzing the current state of media impact assessment. The report was also informed in part by a convening with leading practitioners in which we asked them to identify best practices, assess the state of practice more broadly, and explore new ways of doing media impact assessment. Since then, we’ve explored the latest developments in impact production, including the effects that COVID-19 has had on the critical role of the impact producer. Our goal with this working group is to explore how funders can… Read More

As parents and teachers around the country adjust to a new year of largely remote schooling, many are looking for resources to teach effectively about a variety of topics. In the absence of hands-on science classes, parents and teachers can turn to the educational impact campaign associated with “Inventing Tomorrow,” a Peabody Award-winning film that has captured our hearts and minds since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2018. Directed by Laura Nix, “Inventing Tomorrow” follows high school scientists from India, Hawaii, Mexico and Indonesia—all driven to solve real environmental problems in their own communities—on their journeys to the International Science and Engineering Festival. The classroom materials use the stories of the students in the film to inform lessons for middle and high school students. The film’s educational resources include a remote-learning toolkit and a series of virtual teacher town halls, held in partnership with PBS and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios (the editorially independent production company of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also served as co-producer on the film). HHMI Tangled Bank Studios was deeply involved as a partner in the project, and—among many other things—the partnership is enabling the… Read More

Media Impact Funders: The John Templeton Foundation has provided support for radio shows and podcasts such as On Being, The Science of Happiness, and Everything Happens as a means to explore life’s biggest questions. What are some takeaways from that support? David Nassar: One takeaway is that there is a real thirst for conversations that are positive, forward-looking, and cut across boundaries of perspective and discipline. It’s remarkable how much interest you find when you talk about how new ideas and discoveries can help people live lives of greater prosperity and joy—whether those insights come from psychology, biology, philosophy, physics or theology. Read More