Below is a list of some of our past projects, ranging from reports to workshops to conferences. Please feel free to email CCLP at commlead@usc.edu with questions about the project specifics. 

Mapping and App-ing Los Angeles

2018 – 2019 |

CCLP partnered  with the L.A. Times and the USC Harman Academy’s Ahmanson Lab to explore ways to tell newsroom stories using augmented reality. This collaboratory addressed the dual issues of a disjointed Los Angeles and a declining local press by working in partnership with the L.A. Times to create a mobile app for delivering immersive journalism. The project focused on large-scale environmental reports (e.g. stories about floods, hurricanes or fires) that when read, are often hard to visualize. A team of six talented students prototyped a method for using augmented reality as a way to move a user through the spread of the 2018 Camp Fire in California, as if they were experiencing it in real-time. At the invitation of former McClatchy President & CEO (and CCLP Board member) Craig Forman, our also team visited the McClatchy New Ventures Lab in Sacramento.

Children’s Media and the Impact of News on American Youth

2016 – 2017 | CCLP partnered with Annenberg Dean Willow Bay, non-profit Common Sense Media, and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center to host a meeting with stakeholders about the ways that children’s issues are covered by the media. The meeting focused on the psychological impact of the news on children and the credibility of traditional news sources in the eyes of American youth. Led by CCLP board member Jim Steyer and Senior Fellow Nicco Mele, the initiative was kicked off in March 2017 with a two-day conference at Harvard University (read more about the Harvard University conference here). The project is accompanied by an investigation, by Common Sense Media, into news and America’s kids. The concluding report from the investigation, which discusses issues such as whether or not children can spot fake news, how different sources of news are trusted by children, and how children most often get their news, was presented at a CCLP conference.

Combating Violent Extremism

2016 | The U.S. State Department partnered with CCLP and the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, among others, to discuss means to combat violent extremism; the coalition formed by the State Department hosted meetings with media figures, Middle Eastern leaders, and representatives of academia here in the United States to discuss CVE.  

Civic Tech USC

2015-2016  | CCLP launched an initiative to examine the intersection of technology, citizenship, and government. Civic Tech USC was a group of researchers and civic hackers exploring how new technologies can help to reimagine civic life and engage everyday people in improving their communities. It studied and developed new technologies that promote civic responsibility, transparency, fairness, and participation. In partnership with the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, Civic Tech USC released a report entitled Empowering the Public Through Open Data: Findings and Recommendations for City Leaders in Los Angeles County…[read more].

Women & Communication Leadership

2014 – 2016 | CCLP’s women in communication leadership initiative focuses on scholarly research, policy analysis and professional executive training. CCLP has completed and continues to work on many exciting and important initiatives aimed at empowering women in media and communications. One of our student researchers recently spearheaded a report encouraging guidelines for journalists who cover rape and sexual assault stories…[read more].

Get Mobile Forum on Mobile Technology for Community Engagement

2014 | In September of 2014, CCLP and the California Endowment came together to explore how widely used technologies, such as cell phones, can be leveraged to advance community health and well-being. Our report from the workshop, which brought together local community organizations , shows how mobile technology can amplify community engagement and empowerment…[read more].

Democracy and Culture of Civic Conversation Forum

2011 | “You want to do something good for democracy?” asked Tom Hollihan, Ph.D., USC Annenberg professor and CCLP faculty fellow. “Subscribe to a newspaper!” he told the audience at the California Council for the Humanities’ Searching for Democracy Forum, a symposium co-sponsored by CCLP. Hollihan’s suggestion that a strong democracy requires a vibrant news media was just one of many views on democracy and civic discourse offered by participants at the March 4th meeting held at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. Co-sponsored by nearly a dozen nonprofit organizations and academic institutions, the event kicked off a two-year initiative designed to foster public discourse on the meaning of democracy through a series of local, regional and statewide activities….[read more].

Technology & Human Trafficking

2010 – 2015 | CCLP’s Technology & Trafficking Initiative began in 2010 with a meeting convened in Washington, D.C. by CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan with Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s senior adviser for Innovation. Then, in February 2015, CCLP published the first comprehensive report on human trafficking and technology, based on a $130,000 research grant from Humanity United. Research Director Mark Latonero and his team traveled to the Philippines to conduct field research and investigate online labor recruitment. The report, Technology and Labor Trafficking in a Network Society was distributed widely to inform government, NGOs, researchers and the business community on how to improve future interventions in forced labor and exploitation…[read more].

Continuing Education: USC / New York Times Knowledge Network

2009 – 2012 | The New York Times Knowledge Network and the University of Southern California joined forces to establish and offer a new online continuing education program. As part of the program, the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy offered courses in journalism and public relations beginning in October 2011. Led by Mark Latonero, CCLP’s former director of research and instruction, courses were be taught by CCLP instructors with journalists from The New York Times…[read more].

A Woman’s Nation

2009 | California first lady Maria Shriver partnered with CCLP, the Center for American Progress and TIME magazine on A Woman’s Nation, a multifaceted project taking an empirical look at the status of American women today. A Woman’s Nation included roundtables, a national poll, interviews with icons of the women’s movement and other prominent leaders, and publication of The Shriver Report, combining the findings of economists and academics. The Shriver Report features the essay “Sexy Socialization- Today’s media and the next generation of women” authored by CCLP senior fellow Cinny Kennard, CCLP faculty fellow Stacy Smith, Ph.D., and CCLP graduate fellow Amy Granados.

Top Secret Play

2007-2008 | The play, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, concluded a five-week run at the historic 4th Street Theater in Manhattan’s East Village. CCLP presented the play in partnership with New York Theatre Workshop, L.A. Theatre Works and Affinity Company Theater. Originally produced in 1991, and co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and late journalism professor Leroy Aarons, the play is an inside look at the Washington Post’s decision to publish a top-secret study documenting the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial tested the parameters of the First Amendment, pitting the public’s right to know against the government’s claim of secrecy…[read more].

Ceasefire! Bridging the Political Divide

2007 | Bridging the Political Divide: A panel of Democrats and Republicans gathered to discuss pressing issues facing the nation and to work together. Held June 18-19, 2007, the conference was described as potentially “the most important gathering of the year,” by Matthew Dowd, political strategist and former adviser to President George W. Bush…[read more].

Institute for Photographic Empowerment

2006 – 2009 | A unique university-community partnership with Venice Arts, CCLP created the Institute for Photographic Empowerment, which supports the study and practice of participant-produced documentary projects in photography, film and digital media. The first institute of its kind, IPE serves as a growing resource for people around the world–from journalists, politicians and academics to photographers, filmmakers and project participants–to share ideas and learn from one another….[read more].