A new initiative called the Center for California Health Care Journalism, led by journalism professor and principal investigator Michael Parks, will provide quality journalism on health care issues for California news media. The center is funded by a $239,000 grant from the California HealthCare Foundation

Writer in residence Norman Corwin's play about the Lincoln-Douglas debates stars Paul Giamatti and David Straithairn and will be performed at the Skirball Cultural Center from Oct.15-19

USC Annenberg presents an exhibition of images by photographer María Teresa Fernández documenting life and death along the border fence between the United States and Mexico. The exhibit, "Cerca de la Cerca - Near the Border Fence," runs until May 20, 2009 and is located on the second floor of the Annenberg School building

A large survey of online game players by communication professor Dmitri Williams found interesting results, including that more players are in their 30s than 20s and the average game player exercises more than the average American

Journalism experts, including CNN.com executive producer Mitch Gelman, gathered at USC Annenberg on Sept. 26 to discuss the changing state of media, and concluded there are more opportunities than challenges facing the field

Communication professor Dmitri Williams recently received a $176,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to research the dynamics of group behavior in virtual worlds

Johanna Blakley, deputy director of USC Annenberg's Norman Lear Center, critiques the presidential candidates' Web sites and finds Barack Obama's to be flashy and uninviting, and John McCain's to be old fashioned and welcoming

Daniela Gerson (M.A. Specialized Journalism, '09) wrote a Sept. 19 article in the New York Times about her experience fainting and becoming temporarily paralyzed on a New York subway