Professor Ed Cray's new book, Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie , was featured in the March 29 issue of The New Yorker . The magazine's reviewer called the book a "work of tempered debunking." Cray also discussed Guthrie on WBUR, a Boston public-radio station, and on KCET Television's "Life & Times." "It was that vision of California, the different vision than the Chamber of Commerce put forward, that radicalized him and he became a very major advocate of farmworkers in organizing," Cray told KCET. New Yorker article» WBUR interview» "Life & Times" interview»

On March 12, the 71st anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt's celebrated "Fireside Chats" on radio, visiting professor Norman Corwin told NPR's "Day to Day" that the president was a master of the medium. "His 'Fireside Chats' were not just friendly neighborhood get-togethers. They were substantive," Corwin said. "The choice of that term 'Fireside Chat' is an indication of how shrewdly he used the medium. It was not 'Fireside Addresses,' it was not a press conference, it was nothing but a chat, which invoked the sense of a small group of people sitting around a radio." Listen to Corwin on NPR»

35 Professor Manuel Castells , who holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society , was awarded an honorary doctorate March 17 by City University London. Presenter Frank Webster praised Castells as "a prolific author" and "an energetic thinker," adding: "His accounts of 'The Information Age,' his conceptions of the 'network society' and its 'information flows' have rapidly become part and parcel of how we think about our times." Prior to the doctorate presentation, Castells delivered City University's 18th Birley Lecture to a packed audience of faculty and students.

Professor Doe Mayer was one of three USC faculty members presented with the "Remarkable Women" award on March 3. Created to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduates at USC, the annual awards are a collaboration between the Office of Campus Activities, the Women's Student Assembly, the Center for Women and Men, and Gender Studies. Criteria for faculty selection include achievements in one's field, contributions to USC, commitment to students, commitment to women's issues, community involvement, leadership accomplishment and professional recognition.

Tri-Sight Communications , USC Annenberg's student-run public relations firm, held an extremely successful media day in early March on behalf of its client, The Memorial Coliseum Commission , which was working to restore the Olympic rings from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony. Student members of the firm developed a media strategy, distributed media advisories and called various media outlets to pitch them on the idea of covering the pick-up of the 2.5-ton Olympic rings. The story received wide coverage in Los Angeles print and broadcast media, and through the Associated Press it garnered broadcast coverage in nine other cities across the United States, and print coverage in three other cities. USC Daily Trojan story» L.A. Times story»

Associate dean Thomas Hollihan recently spoke to the Los Angeles Times about presidential hopeful John Kerry's comments regarding the "Republican attack machine." "This makes it hard to appear later that he's in any way above the fray and that the other side should be held accountable for taking the debate into the gutter," Hollihan said. "And when the attack comes from the candidate himself, then there's no distancing himself from the message at all." L.A. Times story»

Marty Kaplan , associate dean and director of the Norman Lear Center , appeared March 8 on KCRW 89.9's "Which Way, L.A.?" to discuss Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's part-time appointment as executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines. Kaplan said he's concerned that Schwarzenegger might be acting improperly by conferring the prestige of California and his gubernatorial post on a commercial venture. "Is it appropriate for a public figure whom we elect to use his prestige to help other people make money in for-profit ventures?" Kaplan asked. Kaplan was also quoted in a New York Times article about the same topic. Listen to Kaplan's KCRW interview» Kaplan in The New York Times » Also: Kaplan on Schwarzenegger in the L.A. Daily News

USC Annenberg has received a $1.83 million grant from The California Endowment , a foundation dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Californians, to establish The California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship Program . The program, to be operated through USC Annenberg's School of Journalism, will bring mid-career journalists to campus as fellows for intensive seminars on issues of health, medical and health care facing California. USC Annenberg expects to attract 100 journalists annually across a range of media, including local and ethnic press, and will sponsor workshops for editors and news directors. "This is a big and bold undertaking to improve health care, and the journalism about it, in California," said Michael Parks, director of USC Annenberg's School of Journalism. This will be the School's fourth major mid-career education program for journalists, joining the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism (co-run with the University of California at Berkeley), the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program and the Institute for Justice and Journalism . The California Endowment Web site»