USC forum explores new FCC transparency & accountability requirements

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will propose a new "streamlined web system" regulatory regime for broadcasters, requiring licensees to file all information on the Internet in a publicly accessible and searchable form. That promise came from Steven Waldman (pictured left), senior advisor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who spoke at a Washington, D.C. forum organized by USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism to discuss the report, The Information Needs Of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age which was released on June 9. First came the good news: the U.S. is close to having "the best……

Landmark FCC Report highlights CCLP research

For its new report assessing the national and local media landscape and offering policy recommendations on how to preserve the public's access to news and information, the Federal Communications Commission appointed award-winning journalist and CCLP Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard to the working group that led research, conducted interviews and drafted the document. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski publicly thanked Kennard in his remarks at the FCC meeting in Washington D.C. on June 9. Kennard (pictured below) assembled a research team that included CCLP junior fellows Rebecca Shapiro and Monica Alba, along with research associates Cater Lee and Sarah Erickson. They investigated……

Updates from the War Room

Cinny Kennard and her team of researchers are hard at work preparing their report for the Federal Communications Comission entitled Future of Media & Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age (FOM) . Based in the offices at the CCLP, the team has set up a war room, spending countless hours researching each member's assigned area of focus. Kennard was approached by the FCC for this project, specifically to research the state of television news on commercial broadcast. The FOM project is led by Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the FCC, Steve Waldman…….

Obama's Afghanistan – Video used at WorldNews

In response to the change in leadership involving military forces in Afghanistan, WorldNews has created a library of videos on President Obama and his leadership during the war. The website features the CCLP's "Global Communication Forum on Obama's Afghanistan: The Media and the War" with Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard…….

Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard Sworn in as Special Consultant for the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission recently appointed Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard as a Special Consultant to work on the team researching and preparing a report on the Future of Media & Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age. According to the FCC, "the goal of the project is to help ensure that all Americans have access to vibrant, diverse sources of news and information that will enable them to enrich their families, communities and democracy." As traditional forms of news struggle to survive and new forms of media flourish, the research team will acquire extensive knowledge of the media world……

Annual Fellows Luncheon highlights CCLP impact in a variety of fields

Geoffrey Cowan (left) and Warren Bennis at the Annual Fellows Luncheon held at the University of Southern California. Faculty, staff and friends of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP) gathered for the second Annual Fellows Luncheon to honor senior, faculty, research, law, graduate and junior fellows. Following welcoming remarks from managing director Geoffrey Baum and director Geoffrey Cowan, guests and honorees listened as select fellows described projects and accomplishments during the 2009-2010 academic year. Distinguished fellow, noted author and leadership scholar Warren Bennis was the featured guest, offering observations about the rising importance of the communication field…….

August Is Too Long to Wait for Amanpour

The Huffington Post featured a piece by Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard on ABC News' announcement that Christiane Amanpour will host the Sunday morning talk show stalwart "This Week" beginning in August. Kennard wrote, "For those of us who have complained about the dumbing-down of news on television, declared journalism dead or carped about too few women in leading roles on TV news programs, it's time to celebrate."……

Leadership Qualities for Moving Ahead

Senior Fellow Cinny Kennard spoke at a workshop on "Leadership Qualities for Moving Ahead" in Milan, Italy at the European House-Ambrosetti–a professional consulting group founded in 1965 by Alfredo Ambrosetti. Kennard presented the findings of her work on the Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation. Visit www.awomansnation.com to read Kennard's work on the Shriver Report…….

Day One of CCLP Forum: Press and policymakers need to probe more deeply on rationale for war in Afghanistan

Policymakers and analysts are calling on the press to dig much deeper into the strife that engulfs Afghanistan, and to provide better analysis on the policy options now before President Obama as he weighs whether to send thousands more American troops. Former Ambassador Morton Abramowitz, who previously headed the State Department's intelligence unit, accused the press of "hit-and-run" coverage that has substituted for serious consideration of policy in Afghanistan. His observations, along with presentations and dialogue among top journalists, scholars and government officials, were presented at the inaugural Global Communication Leadership Forum , held November 6-7 in Los Angeles…….

Essay and a Woman’s Nation

I have just returned from the Los Angeles launch of A Woman's Nation –an ambitious project and a unique report on the status of American women which includes an essay I co authored with Stacy Smith, Ph.D. and Amy Granados entitled Sexy Socialization: Today's Media and the Next Generation of Women" . The Womens' Nation initiative is produced by California First Lady Maria Shriver with partners including the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the CCLP and the multifaceted report –including a comprehensive national poll–is known as, The Shriver Report…….