Videos
Digging into crime data to inform news coverage across beats
Patricia Finneran is a leader in the documentary film and media impact community with a successful track record creating programs for organizations including AFI (Silverdocs), DocSociety, Good Pitch, Sundance, and IFP/New York. From 2022-24, she ran the StoryBoard Impact Fund in Geneva; her work increased awareness of impact distribution in Europe and supported more than 35 international filmmakers.
Patricia founded Story Matters to provide training and consulting services in documentary impact distribution, and work with nonprofit leaders to craft and activate strategies for organization advancement. She also frequently facilitates live programs and has worked with CPH DOX, DX Fest, FIFDH, IDFA, Movies that Matter, and more.
She holds a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University, is an AFI Producing alum, and completed National Arts Strategies Chief Executive and Ford JustFilms Rockwood Leadership programs. In addition to her research work at DFPI, upcoming projects include: co-creating Ireland’s first impact lab, launching director Neasa Ni Chianáin’s new climate-related feature, and Jonathan Stack’s new film SNIP TRIP.
While at Shorenstein, Patricia will look at how independent documentaries addressing climate change and fossil fuel extraction have affected interest in and the understanding of climate change issues, as measured by media impact data.
Videos
Commentary
Center News
Videos
Center News
Center News
Commentary
Videos
Center News
Attend the 2026 Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics with preeminent documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Shorenstein Center Director, Nancy Gibbs, will hold a fireside chat with Burns in the JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School.
Event
JFK Jr. Forum, HKS
6:00 PM
Join The Journalist’s Resource for an hourlong webinar on where to find reliable crime data and how to use it responsibly
Event
Zoom webinar
12:00 PM
Nancy Gibbs will moderate a bipartisan panel with Governor Spencer Cox (Republican of Utah) and Congressman Jake Auchincloss (Democrat of Massachusetts) focused on reducing partisanship in our political landscape.
Event
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, HKS
January 28 - 6:00 PM
Take part in a conversation with the recipients of the 2025 David Nyhan Prizes for Public Policy Journalism, Judd Legum and Samantha Maldonado. The discussion will explore their career accomplishments and the ethos behind their work, including a candid, peer-to-peer exchange between the honorees.
Event
1:00 PM
Join Shorenstein Center Director Nancy Gibbs for a timely and insightful conversation on today’s rapidly shifting media landscape.
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Zoom Webinar
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
For decades, U.S. colleges and universities where at least 25% of undergrads are Hispanic have received federal grants to help them expand educational opportunities and improve graduation rates for Hispanic students. In September, however, the U.S. Department of Education slashed funding for these schools, formally designated as “Hispanic-serving institutions.” Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit making its way through the courts argues that distributing public money to higher education institutions based on their percentage of Hispanic students is discriminatory and violates the U.S. constitution. This free webinar focused on the fate of hundreds of public and private colleges and universities, which, together, serve most of the nation’s Hispanic undergraduate students.
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Zoom webinar
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Next Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Learning Resources v. Trump, a case central to the fate of President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariff regime imposed since he took office in January. Join The Journalist’s Resource and Econofact for an hourlong, on-the-record webinar about the potential economic consequences of the case, important legal arguments, and the history and future of administrative authority in the U.S.
Event
Zoom webinar
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Join us for a wide-ranging conversation on the media and American Politics, with CNN’s chief political correspondent, and anchor of Inside Politics, Dana Bash.
Event
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Join the Behavioral Insights Student Group (BISG) in conversation with Judd Kessler on his recently published book, “Lucky By Design: The Hidden Economics You Need to Get More of What You Want.”
Event
HKS campus, Taubman Building - T-520 Nye B & Zoom
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
In this talk, Professor Lyons will explore the question “Why do older adults engage more with misinformation online, even when they often identify falsehoods correctly in surveys?” This event is part of the Speaker Series on Misinformation, co-sponsored by the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University.
Event
Rubenstein Building - R-414-AB David Ellwood Democracy Lab & Zoom
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM