Introduction
Stories have always shaped how we understand the world. But today, the platforms delivering these stories determine what becomes visible, what gains traction, and what gets silenced. These systems—algorithms, platform architectures, narrative frames—structure public and private life. They shape what we see, what we accept as true, and how societies make decisions about policy and democracy.
My work helps people and organizations see this terrain clearly. Drawing on narrative theory, platform studies, visual communication, and political economy, I examine how stories, images, and digital systems shape public voice and policy outcomes. I work with organizations that need to understand these dynamics—not just to navigate them, but to build alternatives.
WHAT I STUDY
Narrative & Framing
How stories and visual symbols structure public meaning and public possibility.
How stories and visual symbols structure public meaning and public possibility.
Media & Platform Systems
How media architectures, digital platforms, and algorithms, shape visibility, discourse, and agency.
How media architectures, digital platforms, and algorithms, shape visibility, discourse, and agency.
Political Theory & Public Life
How democratic participation, public voice, and policy formation are shaped by technopolitical systems.
How democratic participation, public voice, and policy formation are shaped by technopolitical systems.
WHY IT MATTERS
These systems determine what we see, what we believe, and what becomes politically possible.
Public voice depends on literacy in the infrastructures that mediate it.
Democracy cannot function when the systems that shape public speech remain invisible and ungovernable.
Understanding these systems is the first step toward reshaping them.
HOW I WORK WITH ORGANIZATIONS
I work with mission-driven and advocacy organizations on issues where narrative framing and storytelling shape outcomes. The work centers on:
Helping leadership see the terrain — how narratives move, how platforms shape visibility, where opposition messaging is working, what structural dynamics are at play
Strategic design and guidance — campaign architecture, narrative framing, visual communication that clarifies complex issues, support through critical decision points and transitions
This takes different forms depending on need: campaign strategy, visual narrative development, high-stakes communications, training, or longer-term partnership.
LEARN MORE
For those interested in the intellectual foundations of this work, I’ve compiled a [Field Guide to Narrative Power & Platform Systems] — a curated list on media studies, platform governance, political economy, and democratic theory.
For further inquiry: monte@monteritz.com