Research
We're using research to tell authentic, nuanced stories that move people to action. Our cutting-edge studies on immigrant advocacy and representation in news, digital, and entertainment media shape all of our work.
Guide
Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories
Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories: A Media Reference Guide educates content creators on best practices for telling specific, layered immigrant stories in the media they produce, helping immigrants be seen in their full humanity.
Report
Change the Narrative, Change the World 2022
Our groundbreaking television research on immigrant representation with the Norman Lear Center is changing storytelling in Hollywood.
Toolkit
The Define American Immigrant Representation Scale
The Define American Immigrant Representation Scale is an assessment tool designed to help content creators and storytellers craft more humanized and nuanced stories featuring immigrant characters.
Report
Change the Narrative, Change the World
Change the Narrative, Change the World 2022 is the latest report in our award-winning longitudinal research on immigration representation on TV, conducted in partnership with USC Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project. The research analyzes data from 79 scripted shows and audience surveys to equip storytellers with data to inform more nuanced authentic representations that are shown to foster empathy and understanding.
Report
Immigration Nation: Exploring Immigrant Portrayals on Television
Our inaugural study with the Norman Lear Center compares scripted television depictions of immigrants and immigration issues with the reality of the immigrant experience.
Toolkit
Immigrants Belong Toolkit
Immigrants Belong: The Toolkit is the culmination of two years of coalition-oriented work supported by Tides, which brought innovative research into real-world narrative change practice for immigration nonprofits. It outlines some of that research and provides step-by-step guides to help content production for storytellers implementing digital narrative change.
Report
Move Them or Lose Them
Move Them or Lose Them is a series designed to help advocates engage Moveable Middle audiences—those open to shifting toward pro-immigrant attitudes. Drawing on research with Harmony Labs, it explores media habits and offers strategies for crafting stories that resonate with these audiences' values across news, TV, film, and social media
Report
‘Immigration Will Destroy Us’ and Other Talking Points
“Immigration Will Destroy Us” and Other Talking Points presents three years of research on anti-immigration narratives on YouTube, aiming to inspire coalition building and a more positive online narrative for immigrants.
Toolkit
Popping the Immigration Filter Bubble
Popping the Immigration Bubble Toolkit draws insights from our study of the anti- immigration network on YouTube, and offers a framework for storytellers to engage audiences in advocating for the rights of refugees, migrants, and displaced peoples.
Storyteller Support
Our original research better informs narrative change practices, seeding systemic shifts in the field to center advocates for greater power, agency, and wellbeing.
Guide
Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide
Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide outlines practical steps artist support and grantmaking organizations can take to make opportunities accessible, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.
Report
American Dreaming
American Dreaming: The Roadmap to Resilience for Undocumented Storytellers synthesizes two years of research with 40 immigrant rights storytellers, offering a guide for centering the well-being of storytellers in strategic communications efforts.
Report
Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina's Case for the Nation
Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina’s Case for the Nation examines the challenges journalists face when covering immigrant communities and presents collaborative models for local newsrooms nationwide.
Toolkit
Talking to Journalists: What You Need to Know
Talking to Journalists: What You Need to Know, developed in partnership with PublicSource, educates individuals about their rights and what to expect when approached by reporters. It is now available in six languages.
Guide
Immigration Reporting 101
Immigration Reporting 101 Reference Sheet is a quick and handy guide with key definitions and tips that serves as a reliable source for fact-checking to ensure accurate, fair, and nuanced reporting on immigrants.
Report
The Language of Immigration Reporting: Normalizing vs. Watchdogging in a Nativist Age
Major U.S. newspapers used dehumanizing labels to refer to immigrants at a steadily increasing rate from 2014 – 2018.
Report
The First 100 Days of the Biden Administration: A 'Surge' in Negative Language Around the Border
We analyzed 12 news organizations’ immigration coverage during President Biden’s first 100 days, tracking their use of neutral terms and negative terms like "surge, wave, or flood" which dehumanize individuals seeking asylum.
Toolkit
A Toolkit for Immigration Reporting
Quoting Immigrants: A Media Toolkit for Anonymous Sources informs journalists on ethical guidelines and how to best quote sources anonymously across all media: print, digital, television, audio, and documentary journalism.