Audience Engagement

A report and background documents on how to extend the working lives of social documentaries. What happens to U.S. social documentaries after they are first seen at a film festival or on television? Far too little--in spite of evidence of rising interest in the genre. Read the results of research and an expert convening on the topic and find out not only about the problems, but suggested solutions. Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

What difference can a documentary make? This fact-filled report, with many case studies of successful strategic use of social documentaries, answers that question. The report, written by Center director Pat Aufderheide, analyzes conditions of production and use in four contexts: television channels, alternative media, community media, and nonprofit sponsored production. It also discusses current teaching practices about social documentary, and analyzes key policy issues affecting production of social docs.

Go to: In the Battle for Reality (PDF)

Read how various organizations are making an "impact," which can mean many things. It is important to think about many channels and diverse audiences, and particularly the networks and infrastructure that exists today, upon which we can continue to build.

This paper considers case studies of three documentaries in terms of what new insights a conversion perspective brings to an understanding of their immediate and long-term impact. To do so, a range of research methods and data-gathering tools are employed: scholarly publications, memoirs, outreach materials, websites, video records of public events, and personal interviews.

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media_metanoia.pdf

The Center for Social Media scanned the internet to look at some of the media strategies being used during the war in Iraq. The war spurred many types of communication; they are categorized and links to examples are provided.

Go to: http://centerforsocialmedia.org/warbeyondbox/index.htm