Advancing the Story: The Next Chapter in Media Impact

Program: 6:00 to 8:00 pm
Reception: 8:00 to 9:00 pm

OVERVIEW:
Just one week before the U.S. presidential election, please join us as we explore how technology and storytelling are raising awareness about critical cultural, political, and social issues. Journalism, technology, and entertainment leaders will convene to address what drives media impact and how we can connect the dots between media exposure and social or political action.
 
PANEL: Platforms for Change
Emerging technologies are not only disrupting business models in the media industries, they are also enabling new kinds of engagement with profound social and political issues. In a polarized election year, this panel will reflect on how live video has inspired social action while demonstrating the problems with mass distribution of content. In addition, while virtual reality promises to increase empathy and engagement, what methods have been developed to measure impact?

Raney Aronson-Rath, Executive Producer, Frontline
Wesley Lowery, National Reporter, The Washington Post
Justin Osofsky, Vice President, Media Partnerships and Online Operations, Facebook
Jennifer Preston, Vice President, Journalism, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Moderator: Willow Bay, Director, USC Annenberg School of Journalism

PRESENTATION: Johanna Blakley, Managing Director, The Norman Lear Center
Dr. Blakley, who is also the co-principal investigator of the Lear Center’s Media Impact Project, will provide results from Lear Center research studies on the impact of storytelling from fictional film and TV to documentary and news.
 
KEYNOTE: Onscreen Messages: The Impact of Storytelling
This keynote conversation will ask if comedy has the power to raise awareness, increase empathy, and bring about change.

Kenya Barris, Creator, black-ish
Gloria Calderon Kellett, Co-Showrunner/Executive Producer, One Day at a Time
Norman Lear, Writer, Producer, Director
Moderator: Martin Kaplan, Director, Norman Lear Center and Professor, USC Annenberg

Events and participants are subject to change.