A top news executive and two leading global policymakers have been appointed 2010-2011 senior fellows of Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. As part of CCLP, senior fellows contribute to the Communication Leadership blog, participate in public programs and lead projects in specific areas of engagement for the Center.

Newly appointed CCLP senior fellows are:

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for jeremy curtin headshot.jpgJeremy Curtin, who served until December 2009 as Coordinator of the Bureau of Information Programs in State Department, where he was the government’s senior public diplomacy officer. During more than 30 years in the Foreign Service, he specialized in international public affairs and strategic communications. He served with U.S. embassies in Europe and East Asia, including as Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs in Seoul, South Korea. He held a number of positions in Washington with the U.S. Information Agency, the National Security Council and the State Department. Working with the U.S. Agency for International Development after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mr. Curtin directed a program to support independent media and other democratic institutions in newly free Eastern Europe. From 2002 to 2005, he was chief of staff and senior adviser to the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

As a senior fellow, Curtin is developing a program to explore how governmental and non-governmental organizations can incorporate new communication technologies, including social media, to achieve strategic objectives.

Thumbnail image for Dan Glickman headshot.jpgDan Glickman, the former White House cabinet secretary and Member of Congress who serves as chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. While at the MPAA, Glickman has led efforts to safeguard intellectual property, reduce trade barriers and enhance the movie ratings system. He also leads the industry’s advocacy efforts during a time of profound globalization and technological transformation. Prior to joining the MPAA in 2004, Glickman was the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration and previously served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. During that time, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he was a leader on technology issues.

As a senior fellow, Glickman will work on programs exploring the role of media in a democracy with a special focus on government and campaign finance regulations.

Thumbnail image for narda zacchino headshot.jpgNarda Zacchino, an author and award-winning journalist who served as a top editor at the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle. During her 31 years at the Los Angeles Times, she was a reporter, government and politics editor, Sacramento bureau chief, editor of the Orange County edition, deputy managing editor and vice president. She was deputy editor of the San Francisco Chronicle from 2001 until 2007, when she left to co-write a book on NFL star/Army Ranger Pat Tillman with his mother Mary, Boots On The Ground By Dusk. Zacchino was an editor at the Center for Investigative Reporting before co-founding Time Capsule Press, whose inaugural book, The LA Lakers: 50 Amazing Years in the City of Angels, was published in October 2009. She is an editorial and business consultant at Truthdig, a daily news website and is currently working on a new book about California.

As a senior fellow, Zacchino will work on programs exploring the role of media in democracy with a focus on state government financial crises.

In addition to the new appointments, current CCLP senior fellows include Neal Baer, Cinny Kennard, Adam Clayton Powell III, Kit Rachlis, Richard Reeves, Orville Schell, Derek Shearer and David Westphal.

“Each of our remarkable senior fellows is finding ways to navigate some of the most challenging issues facing democracy in this era of profound changes in culture and technology,” said Geoffrey Cowan, dean emeritus of the USC Annenberg School and director of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. “We are thrilled that Jeremy Curtin, Dan Glickman and Narda Zacchino will be joining the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy to help instruct students, engage in public discourse and advance research efforts in these areas.”