“We are so used to things being scripted, and we’re kind of hip and savvy about these things, except we’re not,” says Lear Center Director Marty Kaplan on the 2022 Oscars ceremony. “This one pierced the veil. It was like a rent in the fabric of reality.”

Define American’s new best practices’ guide for telling immigrant stories in film and TV includes findings from our recent collaborative impact study, “Change the Narrative, Change the World.” Our research found that nuanced immigrant characters and storylines can shift attitudes and inspire people to real-life action. The guide is a tool for telling accurate and humanizing immigrant stories.

When Joe Saltzman teaches journalism ethics, his examples come from TV and film. “I find that this approach dramatically helps students visualize, sometimes on a visceral level, the ethical problem under discussion,” he writes in Media Ethics Magazine. Saltzman directs our Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture project.

Happy 99th Birthday to the phenomenal Norman Lear! It has been a gift to us to ride along on your amazing life journey. To celebrate this milestone birthday, we highlight your exceptional life and career with this 99-second showcase.

What does western media get wrong about Africa? Full Frontal with Samantha Bee cited our Africa in the Media study in a recent segment titled RwandaVision about the dearth of accurate and positive depictions of the African continent in western TV and film. When African countries and people are depicted, it most likely focuses on trauma, crime and poverty. Our research team found that only 14% of depictions were positive.

In a special report from Unbound Philanthropy, an international roster of researchers, innovators, funders and influencers – including Lear Center managing director Johanna Blakley and Hollywood, Health & Society director Kate Folb – weigh in on the potential of narratives in film, TV and video games to catalyze a pro-social culture shift in the UK.