USC Annenberg associate dean and communication professor Thomas Hollihan says Fahrenheit 9-11 , the new politically polarizing film by Michael Moore, could be instrumental in getting more Democrats to the polling booths. "Feeling motivated, to the extent you make that extra effort to vote on your way home from work -- that matters," Hollihan said in a June 11 Los Angeles Times article. Read the article (subscription required)»

In a June 17 interview on KPCC public radio's "Talk of the City," USC Annenberg journalism professor Bryce Nelson took Tribune Co. to task for the recent cutbacks at the Los Angeles Times. "I think the Tribune Company is mistaken if they try to drag the L.A. Times down to a lower level," Nelson said. "What they should be doing is raising their other papers to higher levels." Nelson added that the Tribune Co. will jeopardize long-term quality and long-term profits by going after short-term profit and share value. Also, Crain's Chicago Business interviewed Nelson on June 7 on the possible effect of the Pulitzer Prizes won by the L.A. Times on the quality of the Tribune Company's 13 newspapers. "This shows you can make a great newspaper even better if you want to," Nelson says. "I hope it puts pressure on them to do the same thing at the [Chicago] Tribune ." Listen to the audio» Read the article»

Journalism faculty members Felix Gutierrez , Jay Harris and Diane Winston have been granted tenure at USC Annenberg, USC Provost Lloyd Armstrong Jr. recently announced. Gutierrez specializes in social diversity in the media. He rejoined the USC Annenberg faculty in 2003 after serving as the first executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association and the senior vice president of the Freedom Forum and Newseum. More about Gutierrez» Harris holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Communication and is the founding director of The Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy . He joined USC Annenberg in 2002 after serving as publisher of the San Jose Mercury News . More about Harris» Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion. She has written for several of the nation’s leading newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun and the Dallas Morning News . She is the author of Red-Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army and Faith in the City: Religion and Urban Commercial Culture. More about Winston»

Jay Harris , Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Democracy and director of the Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy , was at the forefront of a significant change in the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize for music. Harris headed the Pulitzer board’s decision to broaden the criteria to make musical theater scores, film scores and works containing large elements of improvisation accessible to the award. "The board has been concerned for many years that the full range of excellence in American music was not somehow getting through the process in such a way that it could be properly and appropriately considered," Harris says in a June 1 Boston Globe article. "The changes in the wording are intended to make sure that the full range of excellence can be considered." Read the article

The USC Annenberg Studies on Computer Games project was featured in an in-depth article in the June 6 Sunday Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times . The program, headed by communication research associate professor Ute Ritterfeld (pictured) and communication professor Peter Vorderer (pictured), was praised for delving into aspects of video games that are much talked about but little researched. "USC’s computer games project is probably the largest and most diverse collection of professors and students studying the vast yet mysterious world of video games," the article said. "The research at USC focuses on the gamer rather than game design or development, and much of what they are doing is groundbreaking." Read the article» Visit the ASC Games Web site» ALSO: Vorderer discusses the expanding video game audience in a June 11 Christian Science Monitor article. More»

46 USC Annenberg will receive part of a $1 million National Endowment for the Arts grant to establish an arts journalism institute to focus on improving theater criticism. In 2005, USC Annenberg will welcome up to 30 arts journalists to campus for a two week program taught by veteran journalists, artists, and scholars. "First-rate arts criticism helps strengthen cultural institutions and the communities they serve," says USC Annenberg dean and award-winning playwright Geoffrey Cowan . "NEA's support of this unique program will make it possible for the USC Annenberg School to enrich the perspective that critics in every part of the country bring to their coverage of classical and modern theater." The program will be the School's fifth major mid-career education program for journalists, joining the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism , the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program , the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship Program and the Institute for Justice and Journalism. More» NEA Web site»

More than two dozen members of the USC Annenberg School faculty will present papers, chair discussions, and serve as respondents at the 2004 annual conference of the International Communication Association , held May 27-31 at the New Orleans Sheraton Hotel. This year’s conference is titled "Communication in the Public Interest." USC Annenberg professors Margaret McLaughlin and Peter Monge are past presidents of the ICA. Communication professor Sandra Ball-Rokeach chairs "Geo-ethnicity: A Challenge for Media Theory & Communication Research," a panel exploring research papers from the "Metamorphosis" project. She will present a paper she co-authored titled "Floating Signifiers of Urban Community in Los Angeles" in two sessions of "(Un)Covering the Public Interest? The Role of Mediating Institutions" and will chair the Mass Communication Division Keynote Panel. More» Assistant communication professor Sarah Banet-Weiser participates in a panel addressing the need for a renewed focus on gay and lesbian identity in visual popular culture, "Straight Eye on the Queer Guy: Domestications of Sexual Difference." She will also present a paper on the mainstream embrace of girl power on Nickelodeon, "Girls Rule!: Gender, Feminism, and Nickelodeon" in a panel exploring Third Wave Feminism in television trends. More» Associate communication professor Francois Bar participates in a communication and technology panel session of "Media Meets Technology: The Co-Evolution of Communication, Artifacts, and Users." He will also present his paper on wireless networking, "A Magic Bullet? Development Applications of Wireless Networking." More» Assistant journalism professor Craig Carroll chairs a mass communication paper session titled "More Evidence for Media Priming and Third Person Effects." He also co-chairs a public relations panel titled "Impact of Press Coverage on the Monetary Value of Companies" with visiting journalism scholar Sabine Einwiller. More» Communication professor Janet Fulk presents a paper on collective action and social influence in a panel on information use in organizations. Fulk co-authored the paper "Individual Contribution and Retrieval of Information from the Organizational Information Commons: The Impact of Social Influence and Intranet Competency." She is also a respondent in a panel on the theory and research of group communication. More» Assistant communication professor Hernan Galperin chairs a panel on "Globalization and Imperialism" and presents with Francois Bar in a panel on wireless networking. More» USC Annenberg School of Communication director and communication professor Larry Gross chairs "Narrative, Storytelling, and Visual Media in Grassroots Advocacy," a panel on community-based approaches to local environmental improvements and their use of media and "Straight Eye on the Queer Guy: Domestications of Sexual Difference," a panel on the apparent rising of gay society as well as its containment by dominant society. Gross also participates in "The State of Media Studies Theory and the Public Interest." More» Assistant communication professor Kwan Min Lee chairs "Interfaces and User Responses," a panel that explores the relationships between computers and humans. Lee also presents his paper "Can a Robot Be Perceived as a Developing Creature?" More» Communication professor Lynn Miller participates in a panel on the discourse of HIV-AIDS prevention and education, and presents her paper "Which Change Begets Which?: Modeling Risky Behavior Change as the Result of an HIV Prevention Intervention." More» Communication professor Peter Monge presents his co-authored paper, "The Role of Enforced Structural Holes in Independent Radio Promotion" at a panel exploring organizational communication in networks and organizing processes. He also presents a paper he co-authored on "Individual Contribution and Retrieval of Information from the Organizational Information Commons: The Impact of Social Influence and Intranet Competency." More» Associate professor of communication Patricia Riley is a respondent for a paper session titled "Generative Functions of Communication in Organizations." More» Communication professor Peter Vorderer participates is a respondent for a panel session on the quality of television programs in the new millennium, and chairs a panel on the "Shifting Attitudes and Behaviors" in Mass Communication. More» Visiting scholar René Weber participates in a panel session titled "Quality of Entertainment Products: Is it Possible to Measure it?" More»

45 CNN news anchor Kyra Phillips and Westwood One chairman Norman Pattiz addressed the graduates at USC Annenberg's commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 14. A graduate of USC Annenberg's School of Journalism, Phillips looked back on her time at the school and thanked her former professors for their guidance and support. 43 Pattiz, a member of the United States Broadcasting Board of Governors, discussed his work setting up international broadcasting services, which he said are crucial to the U.S. interest of maintaining amicable foreign relations. Graduating communication student Shayne Thomas spoke at the School of Communication's undergraduate ceremony. Humorist Art Buchwald also attended the School of Journalism ceremony and announced the winner of the Art Buchwald Scholarship. School of Journalism Ceremony» School of Communication Undergraduate Ceremony» School of Communication Graduate Ceremony» More about USC's commencement ceremony»