
Republicans say college is bad for America.
A recent survey finds that Republicans’ attitudes about the effect of colleges and universities have changed dramatically over a relatively short period of time.As recently as two years ago, most Republicans and Republican leaners held a positive view of the role of colleges and universities. In September 2015, 54% of Republicans said colleges and universities had a positive impact on the way things were going in the country; 37% rated their impact negatively.By 2016, Republi

Americans trust for "the news media" is shrinking, yet data shows it's being consumed
For years, studies have shown Americans’ trust in the news media is steadily declining. In recent months, the rise of so-called fake news and the rhetoric of President Donald Trump about journalists being “the enemy of the people” have made the question of trust in a free press an even more prominent issue facing the country.At the same time, data show that over the past decade, people have been consuming more news than ever. How are we to explain the apparent paradox?New res

Breitbart's plodding rise to The White House
The White House is narrowing the list of media sources it wants near to it and chose a select few to attend last Friday’s press briefing. The digital newcomers Breitbart, One America News and The Washington Times were all invited. Journalists from ABC, CBS, WSJ, Bloomberg, and Fox News were there, too. Some of the traditional outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN were excluded from the event. Kaleida data shows that Breitbart articles generally outp

Reinventing the way your media is measured.
The media ecosystem has been defined by reach, impressions, and clicks for about 20 years. From our experience much of the value that goes into producing quality journalism gets lost by those types of metrics, and the effect has been disastrous for the industry. Yet it seems completely counter intuitive that media orgs would struggle given the massive opportunity the Internet offers. Over 3.5B people are connected now. Fast mobile networks reach 84% of the global population.

How to discern the nuances of digital news habits when Americans’ attention spans are fractured.
To tackle this complex question, Pew Research Center, in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, took on the unusual task of staying in touch with more than 2,000 U.S. adults who get at least some news online over the course of a week. The study ran from Feb. 24 to March 1, 2016. Respondents were asked twice a day whether they got news online within the past two hours and, if so, were asked about their experience with that news. This technique was used to

The dangers of big data and how they can influence results.
Psychologist Michal Kosinski developed a method to analyze people in minute detail based on their Facebook activity. Did a similar tool help propel Donald Trump to victory? Two reporters from Zurich-based Das Magazin went data-gathering. One of the most enjoyable parts of the fallout from a big political upset is the victory dance of those who claim they brought it about. In the aftermath of Donald Trump's victory, a legend is being built around London-based Cambridge Analyt

'Fake News' - Science pinpoints the reality behind it.
“Fake news” — the kind of stories without even a kernel of truth, often made up by nefarious agents or cynical profiteers, appeared to play a major role in the 2016 presidential campaign. There are no signs that these fictionalized articles, spread mostly on the internet via social media, are going away anytime soon. In fact, they’re a prominent feature of what some have dubbed the “post-truth era” ― a time when the general public (or even a certain leader of the free world)

Using media as a catalyst to further your philanthropy mission.
Since the fall of 2013, Assessing the Impact of Media Initiative (AIM) has provided resources for funders and media producers seeking to build impact strategies and evaluate the outcomes of media projects. Funded by the Rita Allen Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation and the Knight Foundation, our curated collection of resources includes the latest impact tools, research reports, articles in popular publications, and original analyses by MIF staff and leaders in the field. Expl

Evaluating stuff can be a bore. But here's a tool that will help you get it done.
'Evaluation' is one of those buzz kill words. It sounds pedantic, redundant, time consuming, difficult, dangerous. As filmmakers and storytellers, many of us have a deep-rooted suspicion that if applied to our creative work, it just might kill it - or at least miss the point. When you consider the sheer amount of energy, passion and time that has to go into making the film, devising and executing a brilliant distribution strategy, let alone delivering the campaign… It’s easy

Co-Creation Hub Nigeria Tests Mobile Usability of Nigerian News Sites
Check out Co-Creation Hub Nigeria's guerrilla usability study of top Nigerian news sites Vanguard, Punch, The Nation, The Sun, This Day, Nigerian Tribune, The Guardian, and National Mirror. This brief article outlines their methodology which, while somewhat loose, could be useful to other media organizations looking to do their own internal research in an affordable way. It also provides some insights into Nigerian news outlets, where mobile is how the majority of users get t