Through newspaper, radio, television, and internet coverage of current events, the public receives not only information, but also narratives.  Every piece tells a story, and the information that is emphasized or omitted has a powerful effect in shaping perceptions.  Successful advocates understand that these narratives form the framework of public opinion, and they position their messages to either combat or reinforce them.

We perform in-depth media research, identifying prominent narratives and determining which demographic groups are most likely to be receiving them.  This information is distributed to social justice organizations and leaders, creating a context within which advocacy efforts can be most effective. 

Type Title
Research Media Analysis: California Public Discourse on Immigration (2009)

CA%20Media%20Scan.jpgFor much of this decade, immigration has been an important topic on the public agenda. Nowhere is that more true than in California. The state is home to 9.9 million immigrants, its governor is an immigrant, and it is a border state on the front lines of the debate over immigration reform.
Research Media Analysis: Immigration in African American, Latino and Online Media (2007)

This report builds on a 2006 scan of public opinion and media coverage of immigration.  Also contained in this report are three additional analyses of immigration in the public discourse. 
Research Media Analysis: Immigration On-The-Air (2008)

onTheAir.pngThe Opportunity Agenda commissioned a media analysis of broadcast news and talk radio, a gap in our previous scans which focused only on print media.
Research Media Analysis: Immigration Coverage in Chinese-Language Newspapers (2008)

chineseLanguageNewspapers.pngThis report focuses on Chinese print media in the United States.
Research Media and Public Opinion Analysis: African Americans on Immigration (2007)

This report examines African American public opinion about immigration, and immigration coverage in African American media.
Research Media Analysis: Immigration in Spanish Speaking and Hispanic Media (2007)

This report analyzes Spanish speaking and Hispanic media coverage of immigration issues.
Podcast Strategies for Advancing a Pro-Immigrant Message on the Web

The following webinar was presented by The Opportunity Agenda on April 16, 2009.
Page Messaging Guidance: African-American Men and Boys

Improving Media Coverage and Public Perceptions of
African-American Men and Boys

Download messaging memo (PDF)

Learn more about The Opportunity Agenda's work on Opportunity for Black Men and Boys

Page Media Analysis and Strategies on Immigration

The State of Media Coverage of Immigration in 2012-2013
Page Public Opinion Monthly (February 2013)

Public Opinion and Media Coverage of Immigrant Women
Page Public Opinion Monthly (November 2012)

Redrawing the image of the LGBT community in the American mind.

By Eleni Delimpaltadaki Janis
Page Literature Review: Media Representations and Impact on the Lives of Black Men and Boys

This social science literature review focuses on the question of how media, and communications more broadly, affect outcomes for black men and boys in American society. The summary is intended to offer communicators — who come to the review with a wide range of backgrounds and depth of knowledge on the topic — a digestible overview of an extremely rich and varied body of research. It reviews a significant set of materials, representing many of the key approaches and themes that characterize the scholarship as a whole.
Page Media Market Research: Media Consumption Trends Among Black Men

This study analyzed African-American men’s media consumption habits. It investigates a wide range of national and regional media platforms to provide insights into how African-American men consume media. It identified which media sources are likely to have the greatest impact on the thinking and attitudes of this segment of the American population and offers a series of recommendations about where interventions may be most fruitful.
Page Public Opinion Research Related to Black Male Achievement

This analysis provides an overview of some central themes emerging from public opinion research regarding understandings of black male achievement, awareness of racial disparities, and the causes of and responsibility for addressing them. It is intended to offer communicators a synthesis of key ideas that exist in public understanding that can either derail the conversation or move it forward.
Page Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion and the Media
Page Supporting Occupy Wall Street


Learn more: Gan Golan and Occupy Halloween On the News

Thirteen Things America Can Do to Stop Foreclosures and Fulfill the American Dream

Access to an affordable home under fair and sustainable terms is crucial to our economic security and central to the American Dream. But misconduct by banks and lenders, inadequate rules and enforcement, and record unemployment rates are robbing millions of Americans of their homes and security while ravaging whole communities and holding back our national recovery.
Page Public Discourse on Immigration in 2010

Read the full report via Scribd.

Immigration in the Public Discourse in 2010 is the fourth public discourse analysis we have completed on the subject of immigrants and immigration reform and illustrates how the discourse has continued to evolve.
Page Public Opinion Monthly Mission Statement

Public Opinion Monthly: Tracking Attitudes Toward Opportunity was conceptualized by Eleni Delimpaltadaki Janis responding to the need for digestible insights into public opinion on social issues in an open-source platform. Public Opinion Monthly is a hub of public opinion research across issues for the U.S. human rights and social justice field, the press, and the public.
Page Public Opinion Monthly

New Immigration Media Coverage Analysis and Strategies

April 30, 2013

by Eleni Delimpaltadaki Janis
Page Tools & Resources

We produce a range of communications, legal, advocacy and research tools. 
Blog Post Redrawing the image of the LGBT community in the American mind.

 

Photo courtesy of Zap2It

 On November 6, 2012 the American people reached new historic milestones. Not only did we re-elect the first African-American president, we also elected the first openly gay indivudal to the U.S. Senate, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). We also elected four new openly gay individuals to the U.S. House of Representatives, bringing their total to 6, a record for that chamber of Congress. Currently, there are more than 530 openly gay elected officials in the U.S, according to the Victory Fund.  
Blog Post Connections Between Media Depictions of Black Men and Boys and Lower Life Chances

While there has been significant improvement in racial attitudes in the past half-century, the tragic death of Trayvon Martin suggests that stereotypes and bias against African Americans, especially males, still persist. The Opportunity Agenda’s new report, "Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion, Media Depictions, and Media Consumption," lays out evidence that African-American men and boys are grossly overrepresented in depictions of criminality and violence in the media, as compared to documented reality. These false portrayals, reasearch proves, can lead to distorted and negative perceptions as well as discriminatory treatment against African Americans.
Blog Post New Immigration Reports

The Opportunity Agenda has three new immigration reports:
(Click on the titles for access to the entire report.)
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