Who Are the Real Experts? How inclusive, relatable expertise can increase audience engagement and impact.
By Maggie Burnette Stogner
It is challenging today to know who to cast in films and media as experts. We want people who are knowledgeable, engaging, relatable, diverse, trustworthy, inspiring, empowering, and who can deliver significant audiences/followers. Yet we live in a world of increasing misinformation, mistrust, and wariness of science. Scientists are criticized for being too elitist, white male-centric, and biased. Academic scholars are viewed as out of touch. At the same time, social media is ubiquitous, enabling nearly everyone to offer opinions…and they frequently do. The casting pond has become an ocean of self-anointed experts, dogmatists, conspiracy theorists, opinionators, influencers, and more. The increasing mistrust of traditional scholarly expertise and the explosion of digital and social media set in motion a provocative question: who are the real experts?
There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect.
— Jacob Bronowski, scientist & host of the BBC documentary series “The Ascent of Man” (1973)
This blog provides a strategic framework for embracing a more diverse and inclusive range of expertise. There are many types of expertise that have been undervalued and unrecognized. The goal is to select experts who can have the greatest impact on your target audiences. Traditionally, the experts in documentary film have been predominantly white, male scholars. In recent years, there has been a growing movement to address the lack of diversity and inherent bias in both academia and the media. A meaningful path for greater equity is to recognize diverse types of expertise, including life experience, ancestral oral histories, front-line testimonies, and local perspectives. We’ve created a helpful new tool — an Inclusive Expertise Framework — to explore how to increase the relatability and authenticity of your storytelling. Case Studies demonstrate how human-based knowledge can be instrumental in creating greater empathy and impact.
This research is part of a larger impact media research project over the past two and a half years, supported by HHMI/Tangled Bank Studios. http://www.cefimpactmedia.org/
Relevancy
Why is a more inclusive model important? The value and impact of authentic, humanistic storytelling is key to fostering major transformation in social change. Often, expert voices in documentary films are people in positions of power and privilege. The bias of their personal experience infuses the ways they explore, frame, and represent our humanity. Inherent bias can cause a range of issues, from misunderstanding cultural norms to blatant misrepresentation. At the core of shifting the power dynamics of our humanity is shifting the power structure of storytelling. The stories we tell through documentary film, journalism, social media, and even scholarly papers define who we are as individuals and as a society. Which stories and who tells them can greatly influence social change.
The Rise of Diverse Expertise
The classical definition of an expert, dating back to Ancient Greece, was the Sage — a man who had mastered a substantial range of knowledge and was a good, virtuous person. Over the centuries, this definition morphed and expanded to include someone who is wise, knowledgeable, educated, specialized, intellectual, scientific, technical, and/or a deep thinker.¹ Modern experts are generally defined as having moral acuity, leadership qualities, and they typically align with mainstream societal values and normative views. Such adherence to privileged status quo can be exclusionary for many diverse groups of viewers. This is a factor in the push for greater diversity in academic institutions.
In 2018, among full-time university professors in the U.S., 40% were white male, 35% white female, and only 3% Black or Hispanic.² This lack of diversity corresponds with the perception that academic institutions do not equitably represent the public. A 2019 American Academy of Arts and Sciences survey found that humanities and science are having a “credibility problem,” and that a majority of Americans agree that “the humanities attract people who are somewhat elitist or pretentious.”³ The lack of women, minorities and underrepresented communities in academia has contributed to misrepresentation, bias in research and data, and significant content gaps. One example is Dr. Maya Livio’s investigation of bird and birdsong research. It reveals a significant “absence of female and intersex birds from biological collections” — a gap that can impact the study of “the anthropogenic causes of climate change and biodiversity loss.”⁴
Science communicator Ayesha Tandon emphasizes how lack of diverse scholarship:
“…can create blind spots around the needs of some of the most vulnerable people to climate change, particularly women and communities in the global south.”⁵
There is a growing movement in science journalism and environmental filmmaking to recognize the value of expertise beyond academia. Christina Selby, author of Including Diverse Voices in Science Stories, states: “They may not be traditional “expert” sources, but they are experts on their own lives and the impact scientific developments have on them.” ⁶ In this same article, science writer Laura Paskus points out that “people in underrepresented communities have perspectives and experiences vastly different from state or federal officials, scientists, PIOs, and industry.” Diversifying the voices represented in your films and media requires a more inclusive definition of expertise. Local voices can provide crucial information and much-needed human perspectives in our storytelling.
Social Media — A Democratizing Force
Today’s media landscape is increasingly fragmented, with a glut of formats, platforms, and multi-modal content. It is radically altering how people create, share, and consume media. The speed of change is overwhelming yet full of opportunity. There are many more ways to engage targeted audiences today, particularly through social media platforms. Consider these statistics: In 2000, fewer than 10% of the population used a smartphone. In 2021, there were 6.4 BILLION smartphone subscriptions worldwide. In 2000, there was no YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram. In 2021, over 80% of U.S. adults use YouTube, 70% use Facebook and 40% use Instagram. In 2016, TikTok launched. By 2021, 48% of teenagers were using TikTok.⁷
The use of social media has given rise to “the creator generation” where anyone with internet access can interpret and share knowledge. It has democratized knowledge brokers. However, this democratization comes with challenges. Social media platforms are rife with misinformation, nonhuman intervention, and have few checks and balances. In 2017, author Thomas Nichols sounded the alarm in his book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters:
“I fear we are witnessing the death of the ideal of expertise itself, a Google-fueled, Wikipedia-based, blog-sodden collapse of any division between professionals and laypeople, students and teachers, knowers and wonderers — in other words, between those of any achievement in an area and those with none at all.” ⁸
There are many concerns about social media, but using digital video on social media platforms can be a powerful way to create impact both around your film and in and of itself. For example, impact designer Ru Mahoney and her team created an impact campaign for the large-screen film “Our Last Wilderness,” using TikTok to garner 6.3 million public statements. This campaign was instrumental in defeating the former White House Administration’s attempts to open the Alaska Wilderness to oil extraction. Enlisting the help of TikTok Influencers was key. This campaign was organized by The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness. If you have any doubts that social media platforms can outgun traditional media dissemination, consider the fact that singer/performer Arianna Grande reaches over 300 million followers on Instagram, making her one of the most powerful “Influencers” to date. Wouldn’t you love to have her on your side for your next impact campaign!
The Key is Trust & Relatability
Trust becomes a determining factor between media creator and consumer in today’s paradigm of knowledge societies. UNESCO defines knowledge societies as having “capabilities to identify, produce, process, transform, disseminate, and use information to build and apply knowledge for human development. They require an empowering social vision that encompasses plurality, inclusion, solidarity, and participation.” ⁹ Author Reiner Grundmann, in his article Problem of Expertise in Knowledge Societies (2017), builds on this definition. He describes today’s experts as those who “…mediate between the production of knowledge and its application; they define and interpret situations; and they set priorities for action.”¹⁰ He adds that “…personal experience, judgment, and trustworthiness are much more relevant.” ¹¹
We know that film can be a powerful catalyst for creating empathy bridges between issues and audiences. The more strongly viewers relate to the characters/participants in the film, the more likely they will feel empathy.¹² According to the Pew Research Center, 80% of Millennials say they are more likely to be interested in addressing climate change when they see people like themselves. Jamil Zaki at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism concludes: “Empathy — attending to, sharing in, and understanding others’ subjective experiences — critically supports an individual’s ability to socially engage with others.” ¹³
Our Inclusive Expertise Framework provides a way to think about the kind of expert you might include in your film and the attributes that describe each type. It ranges from formally-trained scientists to front-line eye-witnesses. We invite your feedback on ways to expand and hone this framework. It is most effective when used in conjunction with our Visionary Change Framework, which encourages a strategic process to increase the impact of your films.
Using the Inclusive Expertise Framework
STEP ONE
When casting the experts in your film, start with our Visionary Change Framework. You can use this to initially hone your film’s impact goals and identify target audiences.
Start by asking these three questions:
- What changes do you want to encourage?
- Who can help make that change?
- How do you reach those specific audiences?
STEP TWO
When considering types of expertise, be clear about the core values of your film, your target audiences, and what type of experts will engage your viewers.
Start by asking these three questions:
- What words would you use to describe your ideal experts? Are they Diverse? Knowledgeable? Trustworthy? Empathetic? Relatable? Accessible?
- What type of information do you want them to convey? Research? Front-line experience? Historical perspective? Community advocacy?
- What type of impact are you seeking? Emotional? Cerebral? Great understanding? Engagement? Empowerment? Action?
If you are unsure what category of expert can best engage your target viewers, spend some time assessing digital conversations around the issue you are addressing.
STEP THREE
What process are you using to work with your experts? Are they characters? Talking heads? Participants? Content partners? Consider that you can create an impact journey that can make a difference throughout the production process, particularly as we move toward more diverse, collaborative approaches. Stay tuned for a future Storytelling For Impact blog on this important topic.
CASE STUDIES
Our Gorongosa and Wildlife Warriors, both set in Africa, have an impact goal of engaging local communities in conservation efforts. Our Gorongosa (2020) tells the story of the restoration of wildlife at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and of the people who live near the park. It is told through the voice and actions of a young woman park ranger who engages with front-line communities to spread a message of co-existence: “This is a new vision for conservation in the 21st Century, where people and animals must coexist — to the benefit of them all.” It relies heavily on experiential and familial modes of expertise, interwoven with conservation science.
Wildlife Warriors is a series directed and hosted by Dr. Paula Kahumbu, CEO of the nonprofit Wildlife Direct in Kenya. It set out to achieve greater engagement in wildlife conservation across the country and to build local filmmaking capacity. The series is entirely produced by Kenyans for Kenyans and, in 2019, reached over 50% of the Kenyan television audience. The series is supported by USAID and recently rebroadcast across 26 countries in Africa and the Caribbean ― reaching as many as 79 million viewers. It uses experiential, front-line, scientific, and community expertise.
In the production of Women On A Mission, filmmaker Katie Bryden collaborated with the Awajún women in the village of Shampuyacu, teaching them how to document traditional knowledge, such as dances, using a cell phone camera. She facilitates the expertise of indigenous women by providing the tools they need to document their traditions. The process includes teaching the women to use smartphones by demonstrating camera and audio recording techniques, exploring different storytelling approaches, and editing the footage into short videos to share. The smartphones were gifted to the Awajún women so they could continue to make videos after Katie returned to the U.S.
My current film in production, Upstream, Downriver, about our human relationship with water and the fight for water justice in the U.S., interweaves science, policy, environmental justice, and community action. The film’s experts are carefully selected to represent a range of cultural backgrounds and life experience. Scientists and policymakers appeal to the head; community activists, Indigenous healers, and waterkeepers appeal to the heart. The combination provides a powerful catalyst for outrage, passion, and action. Our process is collaborative, and the experts are referred to as content partners. This form of participatory documentary focuses on the value of the process itself as a form of impact. It requires taking the time to establish strong relationships with local, front-line experts through community engagement and personal meetings. Understanding and trust are achieved through a journey of listening and discussion. As content partners, the film’s participants are involved in and contribute more deeply to the storytelling. An essential part of this journey is sharing footage, creating short videos for community use in advocating for water justice, and grassroots screenings.
Another example that is important to highlight, though not in the environmental genre, is Through A Lens Darkly (2014). Directed by Thomas Allen Harris, this film:
“…probes the recesses of American history through images that have been suppressed, forgotten, and lost. Bringing to light the hidden and unknown photos shot by both professional and vernacular African American photographers, the film opens a window into the lives of black families, whose experiences and perspectives are often missing from the traditional historical canon.” ¹⁴
The film provides a sharp contrast to the images used for years by mainstream media. Using familial archive is one of the forms of knowledge included in the Inclusive Expertise Framework. It provides a source for authentic representation beyond the top-line Google search.
For more Case Studies, go to: http://www.cefimpactmedia.org/case-studies
Take-Aways
The decline of trust in traditional scholarly experts and the wide-ranging use of social media are game-changers. Today, shaping effective stories that have meaningful impact requires an Inclusive Expertise Framework that accurately reflects our entire humanity. This framework is a tool to encourage greater representation, authenticity, diverse perspectives and voices, in film and media.
We want to hear your feedback and thoughts! To be notified of future blogs, click on the Follow button and please share with others!
[1] Grundmann, R. (2017). The Problem of Expertise in Knowledge Societies. Minerva, 55, 25–48. DOI 10.1007/s11024–016–9308–7 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308700756_The_Problem_of_Expertise_in_Knowledge_Societies
[2] The Academy of Arts & Sciences (2020). The Humanities in American Life. Cambridge, MA. https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/publication/downloads/The-Humanities-in-American-Life.pdf
[3] Ibid., The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2020)
[4] Cooper, N., Bond, A. L., Davis, J. L., Miguez, R. P., Tomsett, L. and Helgen, K. M. (2019). Sex Biases in Bird and Mammal Natural History Collections.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1913), 2. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2025.
[5] Tandon, Ayesha (2021, October 6). Analysis: The Lack of Diversity in Climate-Science Research. Carbon Brief. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-the-lack-of-diversity-in-climate-science-research/
[6] Selby, C. (2016). Including Diverse Voices in Science Stories. The Open Notebook. https://www.theopennotebook.com/2016/08/23/including-diverse-voices-in-science-stories/
[7] Auxier, B. and Anderson, N. (2021). Social Media Use in 2021. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/
[8] Nichols, T.. (2017). The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters [eBook edition]. Oxford University Press.
[9] International Bureau of Education. Knowledge Society. UNESCO. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/glossary-curriculum-terminology/k/knowledge-society?msclkid=287e2364cd4d11ec9129829b67d3ba23
[10] Grundmann, R. (2017). The Problem of Expertise in Knowledge Societies. Minerva, 55, p. 26. DOI 10.1007/s11024–016–9308–7 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308700756_The_Problem_of_Expertise_in_Knowledge_Societies
[11] Ibid., p. 28
[12] Hoeken, H., Kolthoff, M., & Sanders, J. (2016). Story Perspective and Character Similarity as Drivers of Identification and Narrative Persuasion. Human Communication Research, 42, 292–311. doi:10.1111/hcre.12076
[13] Devlin, H. C., Zaki, J., Ong, D. C., Gruber, J, (2014). Not As Good as You Think? Trait Positive Emotion Is Associated with Increased Self-Reported Empathy but Decreased Empathic Performance. PLoS ONE 9(10): e110470. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110470
[14] Independent Lens (2015). Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/through-a-lens-darkly/
