International Journalism Festival: What Is the Impact of Journalism and How To Measure It?

Editor's Note: This event is republished with permission from the International Journalism Festival.
 

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This session will be held in-person at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, and can also be watched live-streamed and on-demand.

Journalistic organizations are convinced their job is relevant for society, and should be supported, But often, they fail to explain and prove how the content they produce impacts the lives of the public. In an era in which journalism has to fight for the attention of the general public, it is even more crucial that the industry takes a deeper look at itself and starts to conceptualize, observe, measure, and communicate its impact.

In this panel, three newsroom leaders from different countries and backgrounds will debate and explore how they are tackling these challenges with innovative approaches, methodologies, and tools to prove to their audiences, funders, and supporters, why and how what their newsrooms are doing matters. Agência Publica, in Brazil, has developed an AI-powered tool, Publica IQ, to analyze and classify online mentions according to its methodology and turn them into easy-to-use reports for its communications team. In Paraguay, El Surtidor combines visual storytelling with an active approach to mobilizing people around information. With this approach journalists adopt the role of civic facilitators. An impact tracker with five indicators of impact—from civic awareness to systemic change—documents the results of this approach. In the U.S., ground-breaking nonprofit CalMatters and The Markup execute a unique impact strategy for major projects weeks before they publish, using four impact levers to guide the journalism itself and how it interacts with communities. The Pulitzer Center, a U.S. organization with international reach, also works with all its grantees to enhance the impact of every project they support.

This panel will cover the following topics:

• Use case: Why is it important to understand and communicate journalistic impact?
• Methodology: How do the panelists conceptualize impact?
• Tools: What tools do they use?
• Impact & revenue: How do their methodologies drive revenue?
• Success cases: Examples of journalistic impact that helped their business in any way.

Moderated by Sameer Padania.

Speakers:

• Jazmín Acuña is co-founder and editorial director of El Surtidor, a digital media outlet in Paraguay specializing in visual journalism.
• Marina Dias is a Brazilian journalist and communications director at Agência Pública, the first non-profit investigative journalism agency in Brazil.
• Flora Pereira is head of engagement at the Pulitzer Center, responsible for the organization's theory of change and impact programs in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
• Sisi Wei is the chief impact officer at CalMatters and The Markup, where she pioneers innovative strategies to empower readers, serve communities, and drive meaningful real-world change through journalism.
• Sameer Padania runs independent consultancy Macroscope, which works with diverse stakeholders—including independent media, philanthropy, civil society, businesses, think tanks, and governments—on strategies, policies, and funding mechanisms to defend, support, and grow public interest journalism ecosystems around the world.