Harmony Labs

05/27/2020

Our discussion on beneficial media starts in just under an hour. We hope you'll join us! https://www.crowdcast.io/e/beneficial-media-future-052720

Join us on Wednesday, 5/27 at 2 pm ET for a discussion on beneficial media post-pandemic.

Michael Slaby from Harmony Labs will be talking with Talia Stroud (Center for Media Engagement at The University of Texas), Justin Purnell (NBCUniversal Media), and Aimee Woodall (The Black Sheep Agency) about how to reform and transform media systems post-pandemic. Panel discussion will be followed by Q&A.

Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/beneficial-media-future-052720

05/26/2020

Reminder: Join us tomorrow at 2 pm ET for a livestream discussion about what media will be like and should be like in a post-COVID world with Talia Stroud (Center for Media Engagement at The University of Texas), Justin Purnell (NBCUniversal Media), Aimee Woodall (The Black Sheep Agency), and Michael Slaby (Harmony Labs). Register here to attend: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/beneficial-media-future-052720

05/20/2020

Join us on Wednesday, 5/27 at 2 pm ET for a discussion on beneficial media post-pandemic.

Michael Slaby from Harmony Labs will be talking with Talia Stroud (Center for Media Engagement at The University of Texas), Justin Purnell (NBCUniversal Media), and Aimee Woodall (The Black Sheep Agency) about how to reform and transform media systems post-pandemic. Panel discussion will be followed by Q&A.

Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/beneficial-media-future-052720

04/08/2020

2020 Expanded Open Call

Building a movement, boosting civic engagement, or telling a new story in response to #COVID19? Apply to New Media Ventures' expanded Open Call! They’re eager to hear from entrepreneurs and activists from vulnerable communities affected by the crisis.

https://bit.ly/NMVexpanded2020

Wrestling with the challenges facing our democracy in this time of crisis? We want to hear from you!

04/07/2020

What Media Matters for Latinx Americans?

We partnered with Equis Research and PredictWise to find out what media matters to Latinx Americans. The result: a map of media consumption across TV, online, and the news. Read our key-takeaways and download the full report here: https://medium.com/harmony-labs/what-media-matters-for-latinx-americans-6b9752c32b5d

Mapping media consumption across TV, the internet, and the news

03/25/2020

What to Do About Disinformation — Content for Citizen Resilience!

What to do about disinformation, in politics and public health? We explore some possibilities in our latest post:
https://medium.com/harmony-labs/what-to-do-about-disinformation-content-for-citizen-resilience-5ae44e34dc56

By Asch Harwood and Brian Waniewski

03/18/2020

What to Do About Disinformation — Content for Citizen Resilience!

How can communities and creatives fight back in an age of mis/dis/mal-information? We explore some possibilities in our latest blog: https://medium.com/harmony-labs/what-to-do-about-disinformation-content-for-citizen-resilience-5ae44e34dc56

By Asch Harwood and Brian Waniewski

03/06/2020

Careers — Harmony Labs

Seeking a Data Scientist and a Software Engineer. Go to: https://harmonylabs.org/careers

See our open positions and join our team on it’s mission to understand how media influence works at scale and to experiment with using media to support an open, resilient democratic society.

02/24/2020

2020 Open Call

The @newmediaventures open call is only open for another week. If you’re building movements, media, and technology to shift power and move democracy forward, don’t miss this opportunity. Nonprofits, for-profits, and collaborations are all welcome, and grants and investments range from $50K–$250K. Plus, you get introductions, exposure, and support from an amazing network of people. http://bit.ly/NMV2020

Wrestling with the challenges facing our democracy? We want to hear from you!

10/18/2019

Learning from cable news’ Trump-Russia coverage

Featured today in Columbia Journalism Review, our latest narrative analysis project looking at cable news coverage of the collusion scandal, the potential opportunity cost, and its impact on public opinion. Read more: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/cable-news-trump-russia-ukraine.php

With Donald Trump now facing an impeachment inquiry, cable news is, understandably, all-in on the Ukraine story. Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the whistleblower complaint that stemmed from it, has meant that a national press corps already obsessed with T...

03/19/2019

Opportunity alert! We’re looking for two field researchers/data collectors in Atlanta and NYC to support our lead researcher in an exciting project studying the social impact of VR.

This is a freelance position starting in April and runs for approximately two months, evenings and weekends, 20 - 30 hours per week. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/2HrX8dm

Ready to apply? Email [email protected] with your resume.

01/30/2019

New Media Ventures

Does your idea for social progress need funding to scale? Now is the moment to go for it! Apply to the New Media Ventures 2019 Open Call: http://bit.ly/NMV2019 (The deadline is Feb 11, so don’t wait!)

@newmediaventures is looking for startups building movements, media and technology to shift power and move democracy forward! Nonprofits and for-profits can apply.

Grants and investments range from $50k-$250k. Plus, you get introductions, exposure and support from an amazing network of people!

New Media Ventures is the first seed fund and national network of angel investors supporting media and tech startups that disrupt politics and catalyze progressive change.

01/17/2019

A New Approach for Understanding the Media Ecosystem

Check out our latest blog post for a look back at our inaugural media tech accelerator and the six amazing startups working at the intersection of media and civic action: https://bit.ly/2QWKhQT

At Harmony Labs, our mission is to understand the social effects of media and to use this understanding to experiment with new solutions…

01/16/2019

New Media Ventures

👏👏Calling all innovators👏👏 We are pleased to announce the 2019 New Media Ventures Open Call! Apply now: http://bit.ly/NMV2019. From January 14th to February 11th, NMV is calling for pitches from activists and entrepreneurs thinking big and working hard to shift power. Can you help us find the next big thing by sharing this widely or tagging a friend who’s been telling you about that great idea they are building?

From Blavity and Sister District Project to Mijente and MobilizeAmerica, the groups who seek and win investment in the Open Call are diverse and transformative. Are you next? Find our FAQ and apply for the Open Call now: http://bit.ly/NMV2019.

12/07/2018

ICYMI, our latest news narrative analysis examines whether the media tends to act as neutral observer, perpetuator, or instigator when covering events of national interest, like mass shootings. More on our blog: http://bit.ly/2Q8dAEq

12/03/2018

Anatomy of a News Media Event – Harmony Labs – Medium

We recently completed a news narrative analysis project centered on mass shootings and how they are covered by the media. What we found is that in almost every case, there were fairly consistent narrative patterns, in day-to-day reporting across different events, and in the treatment of these events by particular media publishers. You can read the results from this project here: https://medium.com/@HarmonyLabs/anatomy-of-a-news-media-event-ba18f262385a

10/25/2018

Thanks to all who attended our first media data science meetup last night! Great to chat with like-minded folks and hear what everyone has been working on. If you’d like to be notified of our next meet up, sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/1Tn0USJcpRUts9MA3

10/19/2018

New Media Ventures

How can campaigns research, create, test, and deploy better, more persuasive messages? In our latest blog post, Managing Director Julie Menter shares some of what she's seen, as well as the questions anyone sending a message should think about.
https://www.newmediaventures.org/tools_for_change/details/sending-a-message-new-approaches-to-political-messaging

08/08/2018

Viral Political Ads May Not Be As Persuasive As You Think

Engagement != Persuasion. Recent results from our Meme Factory project featured in WIRED. Read more below or learn more about this project on our website.

https://www.wired.com/story/viral-political-ads-not-as-persuasive-as-you-think/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare

Does more engagement mean your message is resonating with more people? For politicians campaigning on social media, focusing too much on shares and likes might be a mistake.

07/31/2018

Careers

New job alert! We are currently seeking a Data Engineer to join our amazing team at Harmony Labs. Learn more about this new role and our team on our website.

http://harmonylabs.org/careers

See our open positions and help us help people leverage the power of media to build a better world.

05/17/2018

Vizlab

Announcing another new project from Harmony Labs: Vizlab

Using computer vision, image forensics, and metadata analysis to build meme family lineages and identify originating source communities online, Vizlab seeks to provide journalists, researchers and the public visual search and discovery tools to help track memes as they travel and evolve. The project started in March 2018 and has already collected over 100,000 memes.

Learn more at https://harmonylabs.org/vizlab

Vizlab: Surfacing the visual malware text-based tracking misses

05/09/2018

Ratio

The latest from the lab: One of our newest projects, Ratio, seeks to evolve our information ecosystems by providing a first-of-its-kind cross-platform mapping of news content, as it moves through the "information funnel.” Learn more: https://t.co/IA6gkbI519

Project Ratio: Evolving and improving the news information ecosystems that underpin democracy.

02/08/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

Reminder: deadline to apply for @harmonylabs & @newmediaventure Innovation Fund is tomorrow, 2/9! If you’re a media tech start-up working on issues like the spread & influence of information online & could benefit from funding, apply now: https://t.co/tppmNUJkQk #ShiftTheStory

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

02/01/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

Have an idea for tackling filters bubbles or the spread & influence of misinformation? Does your startup need funding to take it from prototype to product? We’ve teamed up w/ @newmediaventure to fund early-stage companies working in these areas. Apply now: https://t.co/tppmNV0VHS

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

01/29/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

We’re excited to team up with New Media Ventures to help fund new companies looking to solve some of society’s biggest systemic challenges via innovative technology and media approaches. Apply by 2/9 to have your idea considered. More info here: http://bit.ly/2Gs4QR5

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

01/17/2018

10 reasons why Americans don’t trust the media – Trust, Media and Democracy – Medium

A new Knight-Gallup survey of more than 19,000 U.S. adults shows that Americans believe that the media have an important role to play in our democracy — yet they don’t see that role being fulfilled.
Here are 10 findings that stood out in the report:

https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/10-reasons-why-americans-dont-trust-the-media-d0630c125b9e

Public trust in the media is at an all-time low. Results from a major new Knight-Gallup report can help us understand why.

12/15/2017

t.co

Yesterday, scientists at the MIT Media Lab announced that they’ve taught a machine how to manipulate our emotions–a technology that they believe can help filmmakers create more engrossing movies and TV https://t.co/likW8mlC5K

12/12/2017

t.co

Don't blame the election on fake news, write @duncanjwatts & @DavMicRot in @CJR: "..the volume of reporting around fake news, and the role of tech companies.. diverts attention from the culpability of the mainstream media itself." https://t.co/p9VuQbSoar

11/30/2017

VR Action Lab - Trailer

VR Action Lab is live! If the trailer piques your interest, check our materials at https://harmonylabs.org/vr-action-lab

VR Action Lab is a program of Harmony Labs in collaboration with Google VR's Daydream Impact program, Screenwriters Colony, Sensorium Works and Institute of ...

11/28/2017

Reboot: Informing the Electorate

Join Harmony Labs and Reboot Democracy tonight at The Brown Institute for Media Innovation for an event focused on informing the electorate. Some of the people you'll hear from include Peter Koechley (Upworthy, MoveOn.org, The Onion), James Slezak (The New York Times, Purpose), Alexis Wichowski (Columbia University in the City of New York, NYC Veterans), David Rothschild (Harmony Labs Project Ratio), Lauren Holmes (Buoy Up), D.C. Vito (The LAMP), and John Kelly (Graphika).

Reboot Democracy brings together innovators in the technological and political spheres, helps them connect with each other, and supports their development of tools that will revolutionize our democratic system. This month we’re teaming up with Harmony Labs and the Brown Institute for Media Innovat...

11/22/2017

Reboot: Informing the Electorate

Join us this Tuesday as we partner with Reboot Democracy for a conversation focused on Informing the Electorate at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation

Reboot Democracy brings together innovators in the technological and political spheres, helps them connect with each other, and supports their development of tools that will revolutionize our democratic system. This month we’re teaming up with Harmony Labs and the Brown Institute for Media Innovatio...

10/27/2017

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Little-Known, Arresting Modernist Data Visualizations of Black Life for the World’s Fair of 1900

Modern data visualizations have nothing on W.E.B. Du Bois's arresting visualizations of black life from 1900 https://t.co/T0HbrCq2CG

A trailblazing effort “to give, in as systematic and compact a form as possible, the history and present condition of a large group of human beings.”

10/20/2017

'After, I feel ecstatic and emotional': could virtual reality replace therapy?

How virtual reality as therapy helps treat phobias, paranoia, PTSD, and depression.

https://t.co/9hcQKke2Xz

If you’ve got acrophobia, paranoia, fear of flying, PTSD, even depression, software could soon be the solution

10/17/2017

The scientist who spots fake videos

"It’s an arms race." Specialist worries the technology to create fake videos will get really good in 5 to 10 years https://t.co/sykuWeIYOm

Hany Farid discusses how to detect image manipulations — and the increasing sophistication of forgers.

10/13/2017

In the fight against fake news, artificial intelligence is waging a battle it cannot win

Fake news a challenge to AI: Novelty of news stories means information needed for verification might be unavailable https://t.co/XExIydUemF

The problem of sorting truth from lies is much bigger than Facebook or Google.