USC Annenberg News

Dean Wilson presents on philanthropy's role in preserving democratic media

May 8, 2008 14:47

Dean Ernest J. Wilson III presented alongside FCC commissioner Michael J. Copps on May 6 at the Council on Foundations Conference in Washington, D.C., and outlined the pros and cons of a changing media landscape.

Sara Melillo, a program officer for McCormick Tribune Foundation who covered the conference, wrote: "Levity aside, Wilson raises a good point that more cross-sector collaboration on the challenges facing media is vital. No one sector will “save media” - and self-importance won’t help their case either."

Melillo wrote that Dean Wilson "made the room chuckle today with his take on the state of the media as part of the popular Media and Philanthropy mini-summit held at the Newseum. The headline: Traditional media is dying/changing, and democracy is at great risk."

According to Wilson:

If you’re a member of traditional media you argue:
1. Newspapers are vital to democracy
2. Newspapers are dying, therefore:
3. Democracy in the U.S. is at great risk.

If you’re part of digital media you argue:
1. New media is opening new channels of communication and networking for all
2. Democracy is all about the interchange of ideas, therefore:
3. Democracy is being enhanced by digital media.

If you work for public broadcast you argue:
1. The non-commercial media space is essential for democracy
2. Public broadcasting is seeing a decline in audience and is slow to adapt digital media, therefore:
3. Democracy is at risk.

If you are with commercial media you argue:
1. Commercial media are desperately trying to leverage their assets and cut costs to save itself
2. Democracy is good in principal, but the government has moved away from regulation, therefore:
3. Commercial media pays little attention to democracy.

Wilson's panel addressed the following ideas and questions: "A free society is an informed society, what policies and practices are in place to ensure we have open access to information or what must we do to craft and enforce new ones; what is the quality of the information we receive and how can we sustain the very best content; and where and how are we getting our information and how are platforms evolving?"

Council on Foundations Conference
Melillo's article
May 6 Conference Overview

USC Annenberg launches M.A. degree program in Arts Journalism

May 1, 2008 16:40

In response to the critical need to enhance coverage of the arts in communities across the country, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California is launching an innovative new graduate degree program focusing on arts journalism. The program is open to journalists, recent graduates holding bachelor degrees in journalism or one of the arts, and experienced arts practitioners.

Offered by USC Annenberg in full and active partnership with USC’s five arts schools, the new nine-month M.A. program connects the fields of arts practice and arts journalism. Applications are accepted through July 1, 2008.

“The arts are a vital part of American life – they are really part of our soul – and they deserve the best news coverage, commentary and criticism that journalism can provide,” said Michael Parks, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism. “This program will bring together journalists wanting to cover the arts, and artists wanting to comment on changes in their fields of work. We believe they will learn from each other and develop the intellectual and skill sets needed for cultural journalism.”

The program begins Aug. 11, with a two-week summer intensive course on journalism and society. In the fall and spring semesters, students enroll in writing and reporting classes at USC Annenberg and elective courses at any of USC’s five arts schools: the School of Architecture, School of Cinematic Arts, Roski School of Fine Arts, School of Theatre and Thornton School of Music. The program culminates in a master’s professional project.

Students also participate in workshops, seminars and performances offered through USC Annenberg’s two highly regarded fellowship programs, the Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship, and the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Through attendance at events and interaction with the professional journalists who participate in them, master’s students gain firsthand knowledge of developments in the field of arts journalism.

Classes will cover digital media in cultural criticism, preparing students for an environment of fragmented media and always-on reporting. Through additional sessions in the entrepreneurial skills of strategic planning and individual branding, program graduates will have experience positioning themselves to compete in a crowded media marketplace. Students will also take full advantage of the arts and culture of Los Angeles to foster a broad, continuing dialogue that challenges them to think about the role of journalism in terms of its service to society.

“USC Annenberg offers this new degree out of a conviction that quality arts and culture journalism today requires subject matter expertise, advanced reporting skills and knowledge of how new communication technologies are changing the ways that people learn, think and behave,” said Sasha Anawalt, journalism professor and program director. “The M.A. in Specialized Journalism offers students a chance to move forward on all three fronts by putting the resources of a university and Los Angeles at their disposal.”

Journalism professor and Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post music critic Tim Page leads the faculty for the arts journalism program. Page has also written widely on film and literature for the Post and many other publications, including The New York Times, where he was music and culture reporter until 1987.

Doctoral student Gonzalez wins Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship

April 30, 2008 11:50

Second-year communication Ph.D. student Carmen Gonzalez (pictured) recently earned a Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship that will provide her with financial support to research Spanish-language media during her next three years at USC Annenberg.

Through its program of Diversity Fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, to maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and to increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.

"I am honored and excited to represent USC and Annenberg as a Ford Diversity Fellow," Gonzalez said. "I have always been very aware of the lack of diversity in higher education, and I look forward to addressing this issue in any way I can. For me, diversity in education means that everyone is given the opportunity to pursue their academic and personal dreams regardless of where they come from or what they score on a standardized test."

Gonzalez is currently working on a research study regarding the way in which Spanish-language media may be influencing Latino undocumented immigrants to become naturalized citizens amidst a hostile political environment.

"I am fortunate to be surrounded by very supportive colleagues and professors, without their guidance I would not be here, and I hope to make them very proud," she said.

Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
More on Gonzalez

Harris named co-chair of Pulitzer Prize board

April 29, 2008 14:00

Columbia University announced April 29 that Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Democracy holder Jay Harris was appointed the new co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Harris, founding director USC Annenberg's Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy and former San Jose Mercury News publisher, joins co-chair Richard Oppel, editor of the Austin American-Statesman.

Both Harris and Oppel have served on the Pulitzer Board since 2000. As the new co-chairs, they replace Joann Byrd, former editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Mike Pride, editor of the Concord Monitor (N.H.). Members of the Board serve a maximum of nine years while a chair serves for only one year.

In more than 30 years in journalism, Harris has worked as a reporter, editor, educator and corporate executive. Appointed publisher of the San Jose Mercury News in 1994, Harris emphasized more complete coverage of community life, increased the quality and quantity of news about Silicon Valley business and high technology, and launched weekly Spanish and Vietnamese-language newspapers.

After beginning his career as a reporter and editor at the Wilmington News-Journal of Delaware, Harris joined the faculty of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also served as assistant dean. While at Medill, he designed and launched the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual national census of minority employment in daily newspapers, which remains the industry benchmark to this day.

He worked as a national correspondent and columnist for the Gannett News Service and was executive editor of the Philadelphia Daily News before moving to Knight Ridder's corporate staff, where he served as assistant to the president of the Newspaper Division and, later, vice president of operations, where he was responsible for the business operations of nine of the company's newspapers.

Harris has been recognized with awards from numerous universities, nonprofit and social justice organizations, and national journalism and journalism education organizations, including honorary doctorates from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, his alma mater, and Santa Clara University in California.

More on Harris
Editor & Publisher article
Wall Street Journal article
Pulitzer Prize

Multi-million dollar grant extends Miller's HIV communication research

April 28, 2008 20:28

The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded communication professor Lynn Miller and her interdisciplinary research team a $3.475 million grant to develop a video game designed to reduce risky sexual behavior that can lead to acquiring HIV.

SOLVE-IT, a video game using computer-generated virtual people, is the next generation of interactive media aimed at reducing risky sex among young men who have sex with men (MSM). Participants will interact in a virtual environment that focuses upon HIV prevention in a dating context. Men will interact on an online date with realistic "intelligent agents" designed to model the beliefs, goals and policies of real people that drive their behavior.

Participants will go through a series of life-like interactions with these realistic agents and make many choices about how the date will proceed. When men make a risky choice, guides "pop up" and provide a message that — among other things — warns them about the consequences of the choice, which Miller said is likely to lead to a lesser likelihood of taking the same risk in real life.

The grant, worth $3.475 million over five years, will support an expansion of Miller's previous research that used interactive video instead of intelligent agent/gaming technology.

"People often engage in risky choices in the 'heat of the moment' that they later regret," said Miller, adding that researchers have not fully taken advantage of new technologies to engage young people in order to change their risky behaviors. "The more the environment is similar to real life, the more likely players in the virtual environment are to change their behavior in a real-world environment. We're trying to determine if we can use new technology to change people's virtual risky choices and if doing so changes their subsequent real-life behavior. If it did, men wouldn't have to face real-life physical consequences in order to change their risky choices."

Preliminary design of the game will take 2-2.5 years. The next step is recruiting men to play the game followed by studying the results. Based on her past experience with this type of game, Miller said SOLVE-IT will guide the user to make healthier automatic choices when in similar environments such as bars, clubs and domestic settings.

"Lynn Miller and her colleagues have pioneered in the application of sophisticated communication technologies to important problems in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases," School of Communication director Larry Gross said. "Her research on the use of virtual environments for motivating healthy decision making by sexually active men demonstrates the power of communication theory to address important societal problems."

Said Miller: "Another advantage of this game is that these same environments and intelligent agents with realistic bodies that we're creating can be used for other risk interventions involving drugs or smoking. A lot of other risk choices take place in similar contexts."

Other principal investigators at USC include: Robert Appleby (Psychology); Stephen Read (Psychology); Stacy Marsella (Information Sciences Institute); and Leslie Clark(Dept. of Pediatrics).

SOLVE-IT
More on Miller
National Institute of Mental Health

Sotomayor serves as official speaker at Salazar's USPS stamp unveiling ceremony in DC

April 22, 2008 12:00

Frank O. Sotomayor (pictured, speaking), associate director of USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism, spoke April 22 about journalist Ruben Salazar at the U.S. Postal Service postage stamp unveiling ceremony in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club.

U.S. commemorative stamps were issued for five distinguished American journalists, including Salazar, a Los Angeles Times columnist considered to be the first Mexican-American journalist to have a major voice in mainstream media.

“He served as a role model and inspiration for me and a generation of Latino journalists,” said Sotomayor, a staff editor at the L.A. Times for 35 years.

Salazar made significant contributions to American journalism as an LA Times reporter and commentator and as a pioneer in Spanish-language TV news.

"His legacy still burns strongly among countless journalists, educators and public servants who were inspired by his words," Sotomayor said.

Journalism and communication professor Félix Gutiérrez also spoke on an April 22 panel about Salazar at the Los Angeles Times building.

Other stamps are being issued for Martha Gellhorn, John Hersey, George Polk and Eric Sevareid. The ceremony was aired live by C-SPAN.

“These distinguished journalists risked their lives to record the events that shaped the modern world,” USPS Postmaster general John E. Potter said. “Their body of work stands as a towering monument to the importance of a free press.”

Sotomayor's remarks
SF Chronicle article

Arianna Huffington and Geena Davis to speak at USC Annenberg 2008 Commencement ceremonies

April 21, 2008 21:04

Author and The Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington (pictured, above left) and Oscar-winning actor and gender-equity advocate Geena Davis (pictured, above right) headline the 2008 USC Annenberg Commencement ceremonies on May 16.

Huffington will speak at the Journalism Satellite Ceremony held in USC's Argue Plaza and Davis will speak at the Communication Satellite Ceremony held in USC's McCarthy Quad. Both ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. — after the main University activities conclude. The University-wide ceremony starts at 8:30 with a recommended arrival time of 7 a.m. or earlier.

Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of 12 books. She is also co-host of “Left, Right & Center,” public radio’s popular political roundtable program. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2006, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Davis is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning actor, world-class athlete (at one time the nation’s 13th-ranked archer), skilled musician, and successful film producer. As a passionate supporter of girls and women, Geena has founded The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, focused on dramatically increasing the percentage of female characters – and reducing gender stereotyping – in movies, TV and other media aimed at children 11 and under.

Robert A. Iger will be the Commencement speaker for the University ceremony.

USC Annenberg Commencement
University Ceremony

UK Prime Minister Brown commends USC Annenberg students for public diplomacy work

April 16, 2008 16:45

United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured, right) commended USC students for their participation in a public diplomacy competition that was won by two USC Annenberg undergraduate students.

Katrina Chan (picture below second to right, B.A. communication, '08) and Tal Flanchraych (picture below second to left, B.A. communication, '08) won first and second place, respectively, for the Click for Change: Educate Africa competition, which highlighted the use of new media in public diplomacy.

"Social network sites offer a unique opportunity to involve thousands of ordinary people in our global campaign to ensure that every child in the world has the chance to receive free primary school education," Brown said. "I want to congratulate and praise the students from the University of Southern California for their commitment to this campaign, and congratulate the winner, OneClickforChange.org (Chan's project). This innovative Web site will be a powerful tool to make the vision of Education for All a reality."

Launched on Jan. 31 at USC, the Click for Change: Educate Africa contest was commissioned by The British Consulate-General in Los Angeles and challenged students to communicate the importance of supporting education in Africa using new media.

"My site currently focuses on the lack of education in Africa, but I want to expand it to include various humanitarian issues in Africa," Chan said. "What I hope is that OneClickforChange.org — partnering with the British government — will become a movement that inspires people and especially students to be advocates for the issues they are passionate about."

Flanchraych developed a site called whyshouldwecare.org for the competition.

"It is a social network about education and gender equality in Africa that has evolved into a site where activists meet, discuss their projects and favorite causes, and even collaborate," she said.

British Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander said he is delighted so many students have participated in this competition to highlight education outreach in Africa.

"Education is a right and should be made available to everyone," Alexander said. "It has a vital role in tackling poverty, can help transform lives, leads to better health and helps people make informed decisions. Yet today there are some 72 million primary aged children not going to school. I congratulate the finalists and all who have helped to highlight this crucial issue."

Representatives from the British Embassy in the U.S., the Kenyan Consulate in Los Angeles and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy reviewed each of the entries based on content, creativity and reach before selecting winner Chan and her project, OneClickforChange.org, as the winner. Her work will be featured on the British government’s Web site for the U.S. and the Web site for the British Department for International Development. Chan will also receive an Apple gift package valued at $1,000 including an iPhone, (Product)Red iPod nano and (Product)Red gift cards. Flanchraych will receive $250 in Apple (Product) Red gift cards.

"My site means so much more to me than just a contest and winning a prize," Chan said. "It’s about raising awareness for the standard of education in Africa."

Click for Change: Educate Africa
OneClickforChange.org
whyshouldwecare.org
British Consulate press release

UK Prime Minister Brown commends USC Annenberg students for public diplomacy work

April 17, 2008 16:50

United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured) commended USC students — including many from USC Annenberg — for their participation in a public diplomacy competition in which the winners will be announced April 18 at noon.

Undergraduate students Katrina Chan (B.A. communication, '08) and Tal Flanchraych (B.A. communication, '08) both entered the Click for Change: Educate Africa competition, which highlights the use of new media in public diplomacy.

Flanchraych developed a site called whyshouldwecare.org for the competition.

"It is a social network about education and gender equality in Africa that has evolved into a site where activists meet, discuss their projects and favorite causes, and even collaborate," she said.

British Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander said he is delighted so many students have participated in this competition to highlight education outreach in Africa.

Representatives from the British Embassy in the United States, the Kenyan Consulate in Los Angeles and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy review each of the entries based on content, creativity and reach before selecting winner. The winner's work will be featured on the British government’s Web site for the U.S. and the Web site for the British Department for International Development. The winner will also receive an Apple gift package valued at $1,000 including an iPhone, (Product)Red iPod nano and (Product)Red gift cards. Flanchraych will receive $250 in Apple (Product) Red gift cards.

Click for Change: Educate Africa
OneClickforChange.org
whyshouldwecare.org

20 top journalists to study health journalism as national health journalism fellows

April 16, 2008 10:17

Twenty journalists have been chosen from 15 states to participate in a weeklong institute as National Health Journalism Fellows as part of the USC Annenberg / California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships. This new track of the fellowship program is designed for professional journalists covering topics related to health and health care, and to explore the intersection between community health, health policy and the nation’s growing diversity.

The National Health Journalism Fellows are:

Ana Campos, KTVW 22 Univision, Phoenix
Mary Agnes Carey, Congressional Quarterly
Evelyn Coley, The Post and Courier , Charleston, S.C.
Alejandro Dominguez, La Raza del Noroeste , Everett, Wash.
Don Finley, San Antonio Express-News
Anne Geggis, Daytona Beach News-Journal , Daytona Beach, Fla.
Josh Goldstein, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Maria Huynh, BN Magazine (a Vietnamese-English publication), Sacramento, Calif.
Jan Jarvis, Fort Worth Star Telegram , Fort Worth, Texas
Nesita Kwan, WMAQ-TV (NBC), Chicago
Piet Levy, The Post-Tribune , Merrillville, Ind.
Shamane Mills, Wisconsin Public Radio, Madison, Wisc.
Monica Navarro, KWEX Univision, San Antonio
Kristi Nelson, Knoxville News Sentinel , Knoxville, Tenn.
Kawanza Newson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Hiran Ratnayake, The Wilmington News-Journal , Wilmington, Del.
Lisa Rosetta, Salt Lake City Tribune
Sharon Salyer, The Herald , Everett, Wash.
Leah Ward, Yakima Herald Republic , Yakima, Wash.
Valentina Wilson, WLVA-TV (NBC), Baton Rouge, La.

The seminars, running from April 13-18, delve into health trends, policy innovations and the political context of health reform. “The fellowships encourage reporting on health status in relation to race, ethnicity, poverty and environment,” said Michelle Levander, director of the fellowship program. “Fellows emerge with a greater understanding of community health, health disparities, access to care and the nation’s frayed safety net.”

“In understanding how California has dealt with the health challenges that come with population change, we hope the fellows will gain insights to improve their reporting in their own communities,” said Michael Parks, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism. “Los Angeles is an international city that has become the proving ground for a multicultural society.”

The program is funded by a generous grant from The California Endowment, a statewide health foundation working to improve the health of California’s underserved communities. “Connecting the dots between looming and complex health policy issues back to how those issues are affecting communities on the ground is an incredible challenge. Journalists have a daunting but critical job to do to help communities and policy makers alike understand both the barriers to building healthy communities as well as potential solutions,” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., the Endowment’s president and CEO.

The program gives a $2,000 reporting stipend for major fellowship projects, with an emphasis on collaborative efforts between teams with backgrounds in mainstream and ethnic media. Two teams of fellows, one from western Washington state and the other from San Antonio, will undertake collaborative projects.

Health Journalism Fellowships
The California Endowment