What Stories Are Americans Watching — and What Does It Mean for Democracy? New Research from Harmony Labs

Harmony Labs, a media research organization, has released a series of findings from its multi-year partnership with Democracy 2076, examining how entertainment media shapes Americans' beliefs about government and democratic participation. Drawing on behavioral data from more than 300,000 opt-in panelists and content analysis of thousands of streaming programs, the research finds that 58% of scripted streaming content Americans watch daily is government-relevant — and that stories set in schools, workplaces, and community organizations can be as civically formative as those set in government itself. The lab has also released the Democracy Audience Map, a free values-based segmentation tool identifying eight distinct ways Americans relate to democratic institutions, offering civic communicators and practitioners a data-grounded framework for audience strategy. This research enriches NCDD's mission by equipping dialogue and deliberation practitioners with evidence-based insights about the media landscape in which civic engagement — and disengagement — is being shaped.

---

---

At a time when nearly 40% of Americans say they're actively avoiding political news and civic knowledge remains low, understanding how democratic values actually reach people has never been more urgent. Harmony Labs, a New York-based media research organization, has spent the past two years investigating exactly that question — and their findings carry significant implications for anyone working to strengthen civic culture. In partnership with Democracy 2076, Harmony Labs has produced a series of research reports examining how entertainment media shapes public beliefs about government, and the results challenge some fundamental assumptions about where civic engagement begins. 

The core finding of the research is striking: on any given day, 58% of the scripted streaming that people watch is government-relevant. To surface this, Harmony Labs analyzed the media behavior of more than 300,000 people across broadcast television, streaming, desktop, mobile, and tablet platforms — tracking not what people say they watch, but what they actually watch, minute by minute. Over the last two years, Democracy 2076 and Harmony Labs have partnered to study how entertainment media shape people's beliefs about government. Their research reveals that stories that shape people's beliefs about democracy don't need to be set in government — they just need a system, with rules, incentives, hierarchies, consequences, and a hero who attempts to change how that system works. Those systems can be schools, newsrooms, community organizations, workplaces, or sports teams — basically anywhere decisions get made and shape outcomes. For civic practitioners, this reframes the entire terrain of democratic culture-building. 

Harmony Labs has also developed the Democracy Audience Map, a free tool built on values-based audience segmentation derived from Shalom Schwartz's cross-cultural theory of human values, integrating the media behavior of 300,000+ people in the U.S. across broadcast television, streaming, desktop, mobile, and tablet. The map identifies eight distinct audience segments — or "wedges" — representing different ways Americans relate to democracy and its institutions, offering practitioners a research-grounded framework for understanding who they are trying to reach and how. For NCDD members working in civic communication, narrative strategy, or public engagement, this body of research opens a productive question: if democratic values are already being shaped by the stories people consume every day, what role can intentional dialogue and deliberation play in that larger ecosystem? Explore the Democracy Audience Map and the full research at https://harmonylabs.org.