At USC Annenberg, we don’t just cover the news, we make it. “Quoted: USC Annenberg in the News” gathers a selection of the week’s news stories featuring and written by Annenberg’s leaders, faculty, staff and others.
Why the Gaming Industry Can’t Afford to Ignore Latinos or Women
Associate professor Dmitri Williams was quoted in a Highbrow Magazine article about the underrepresentation of Latinos and women in video games, despite the growing interest in video games by these groups. According to the article, Black and Latino children spend the most time playing video games, but Williams said in an interview with Voxxi that “they’re not really able to play themselves.” “For children, the stakes may be slightly higher, many have suggested that games function as crucial gatekeepers to interest in technology, which translates into education and careers in mathematics and science-related fields,” he added.
Designer or journalist: Who shapes the news you read in your favorite apps?
Assistant Professor Mike Ananny and Microsoft researcher Kate Crawford wrote a story for The Nieman Journalism Lab about their recent study on how engineers and designers from media companies compare their work to traditional journalism. “Today, press ethics are intertwined with platform design ethics, and press freedom is shared with software designers,” they wrote. When a designer makes a news app, the designer is, in part, “constructing an idea of news.” They added that designers “must make their own decisions about what is important for news delivery.” When Ananny and Crawford interviewed designers about “journalism as a process and a profession,” they found that common values included: organizing information, meeting user demands, strategic transparency and distancing from journalism.
Remaining Uninsured Face Challenges in Cost and Simply Signing Up
Lisa Morehouse, a Journalism fellow through Annenberg’s California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship program, wrote a story for KQED Radio’s “The California Report,” about the challenges facing Californians who have yet to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Through the story of Palo Alto resident Leaburn Alexander, Morehouse explained that many Californians, like Alexander, “still find coverage too expensive, or face other obstacles in enrolling.”
Davis on NFL: 'This is a Teaching Moment'
Adjunct Professor Jeetendr Sehdev was interviewed on CNN, along with sports agent about Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer’s recent arrest in a domestic violence case and calls for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s resignation. Though he admits that there does seem to be a leadership issue in the NFL, Sehdev said that the issue “is much bigger than Goodell.” “We have to look at the brand itself. The culture of the organization and see how we can start implementing policies and procedures that are actually going to shift that.” According to Sehdev, 48 percent of 3,000 Americans have described the NFL as “sleazy,” which suggests that the NFL needs to rethink how they communicate with the public. “Transparency, authenticity, really telling us what’s going on is the first step toward correcting the NFL brand,” Sehdev said.
Long live Gustavo Cerati, Rock en Español's "avant-garde crooner”
Associate Professor Josh Kun was quoted in a Fusion story about the late Gustavo Cerati, lead singer of Argentine band Soda Stereo and revered solo artist. “Latin American rock has always had stars and always had stadium-sized personalities, but Cerati was one of its first truly great, truly artful, songwriters,” Kun said, adding that Cerati’s work with Soda Stereo was proof of the authenticity of new wave and alternative rock from Latin America. Kun interviewed Cerati multiple times during his solo career and noted that he “always heard Sinatra in Cerati's singing. He was Rock en Español's avant-garde crooner.” Though the story noted that “Rock En Español might be dead as a concept,” Kun added that for young people: “The past is just a click away from the present.”
