A Strategic Framework to Guide Investments in Narrative Change

This duet of resources includes both an extensively researched report based on ten years of data from the Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society program which distilled 25 best practices that when followed, make narrative changes efforts more likely to be successful. These best practices inform an interactive tool: the Strategic Investment Framework for Narrative Change Through Media and Beyond.

The framework is a five level taxonomy that starts with the media and sociopolitical context surrounding an investment, the structure of the investment, the measuring and learning plans, the organizational capacity of the grantees and finally the media content being developed. While the framework can be started at any of the five stages, it is meant to be a forward-looking planning tool and is not an evaluation set.

Use This Guide to:

1. Do a functional exercise to help you structure your narrative change investments at many points in the life cycle of a grant
2. Gather case making evidence for narrative change work from over 20-years of work
3. Serve as a starting point for additional case studies on maternal health, native visibility, climate communications and more

Suggested Content:

1. Narrative Infrastructure for Narrative Immersion
2. Narrative Observatory
3. Climate Media Database

Featured Members:
California Health Care Foundation

Source: USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center