4-Part Series: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future: How Philanthropy Can Build Narrative Power that Lasts

Narratives shape policy, sway elections, and determine whose voices are heard or silenced. Media is not just a communication tool: it is civic infrastructure, as essential to democracy as roads and schools. Yet the systems that shape our shared understanding are collapsing, consolidating, or being strategically captured.

This four part Media Learning Series designed in partnership with Independence Public Media Foundation is for funders who recognize that the fight for justice, equity, and democracy is also a fight over the stories we tell, and who gets to tell them. Through four dynamic sessions, we’ll explore how media and narrative power underpin every funder’s work, regardless of sector. Participants will move from conceptual understanding to actionable strategies for funding community-driven media and narrative ecosystems that can endure and adapt over time.

Across the series, you will:
Understand how today’s media systems shape public imagination, democracy, and movement building and why current funding approaches often fall short.
See how community led narrative work fuels organizing, shifts policy, and builds long-term power.
Learn how to assess and invest in the media and information needs of the communities you serve.
Leave with concrete steps, peer connections, and tools to begin or deepen your media funding practice.

SESSION LISTINGS:

Session 1 – Wednesday, 10/8, 12-1 PM via Zoom
Who Tells the Story?: Media, Power, and Philanthropy’s Role in Shaping the Narrative

Session 2 – Wednesday, 10/22, 12-1 PM via Zoom
How Narrative Fuels Organizing, Movement-Building, and Policy Change

Session 3 – Wednesday, 11/5, 12-1 PM via Zoom
Building Community Information Power from the Ground Up

Session 4 – Wednesday, 11/19, 12-2 PM In-person (location TBD)
Taking Action, Learning, and Adjusting: Building a Media Funding Practice that Lasts

We encourage you to attend the entire series, as each series will build on the last. However, we welcome you however you can show up. Recordings and resources will be available after each meeting. The stakes are high and the moment to act is now. Funders who engage today can help ensure that tomorrow’s media landscape reflects the full diversity, truth, and resilience of our communities.

Presented by Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia