Top Secret Talks: The tension between national security and a free press is the focus of a groundbreaking CCLP series in New York

In conjunction with the Off-Broadway debut of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, conversations spotlight journalists, scholars, jurists and public policy leaders With the nation involved in two wars and facing continuing threats of terrorism, USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents TOP SECRET TALKS, a timely examination of the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know, in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers…….

Landmark Settlement with African American Farmers is Long Overdue

Senior Fellow Dan Glickman wrote a piece for The Huffington Post on the government's landmark settlement with African-American farmers regarding discriminatory practices by some USDA employees. He wrote: "Even after serving 18 years on the House Agriculture Committee, when I became Agriculture Secretary in 1995, I was scarcely aware of this chapter in the history of USDA. As I faced my confirmation and entered office, I was prepared for the challenges of writing farm policy, the complexity of food assistance programs, and the unnerving difficulties of the historic changes in US forestry policy then unfolding. I never imagined that I……

Warren Bennis

Distinguished Fellow Warren Bennis is the founding chairman of USC's Leadership Institute, distinguished professor of business administration at the USC Marshall School of Business and advisory board chairman of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School. For the past 14 years, he and USC President Steven B. Sample have taught an honors class, "The Art and Adventure of Leadership." One of the world's foremost experts on leadership, Bennis has written 30 books and numerous articles on leadership, change and creative collaboration. His book, Leaders, was designated by the Financial Times as one of the Top 50 Business Books……

State Department’s Alec Ross visits USC Annenberg to discuss new communication technologies & US foreign policy

CCLP hosted Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation, for a visit to Los Angeles in February 2010 for a series of discussions about the impact of technology – current and potential – on key issues on the U.S. foreign policy and development agenda. CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan and USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III brought together entertainment, media, and academic leaders to explore ways in which their experience and expertise might facilitate the application of mobile, web and other rapidly evolving technologies in areas like human rights, economic development and women's empowerment…….

Should Government Support Journalism? It Always Has

Everyone knows from American history class that the First Amendment is the great protector of press freedom in the United States, barring Congress from "abridging" the sacred right to publish what you want to publish. So does that means there's a constitutional wall that separates government and the press, just as it separates church and state? Not exactly. Contrary to popular perception, the Constitution has not prevented the government from being a supporter of the press, and in fact it has been a generous benefactor since the founding of the country. In a report issued at USC's Annenberg School for……

Should Government Support Journalism? It Always Has

AOL News ran an op-ed by Senior Fellow David Westphal on whether government should support journalism. "In a report issued at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, my colleague Geoffrey Cowan and I concluded that federal, state and local governments have contributed billions of dollars a year to the commercial news business," Westphal wrote. "Is there a role for the government in helping ensure that citizens continue to get the news and information they need in American democracy? One popular response is no; government has no place in subsidizing the news business. Our findings disagree: It has always taken……