Participant Media and the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project (MIP) are building an algorithm to gauge the social impact of entertainment media on the audience.

The Participant Index (TPI) will assess the impact of projects supported by Participant and other companies across a range of entertainment including features, TV, online videos and branded entertainment as well as corporate social responsibility.

The first wave of research will begin imminently and uses tools for big data analysis encompassing public opinion data, social media metrics and audience viewership data.

Todd Cunningham, director of the Media Impact Project, will lead the initiative. Caty Borum Chattoo, impact producer, strategist and executive-in-residence at American University’s School Of Communication, joins as Participant Media’s lead strategist for TPI.

The Media Impact Project was launched in 2013 and is funded jointly by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the John S and James L. Knight Foundation.

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