CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan gave a presentation at Central European University in Budapest on May 20: "Independent Journalism in the US and China: From The Pentagon Papers to the Era of Snowden"….
CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan was recently honored with the 2014 Alumni Award from Choate Rosemary Hall. "Geoff Cowan '60 is being honored for his distinguished career promoting the greater good through communications, including his influence in the fields of law and public policy, broadcasting and journalism, and the humanities and higher education." Choate Rosemary Hall also published a feature on Geoff Cowan, highlighting his role as president of Sunnylands, along with his many other endeavors:…
On December 4, 2011, Geoffrey Cowan, director of the CCLP, delivered the prestigious F.Y. Chang Lecture at the US-China Education Trust at Peking University in Bejing, China. The event came at the end of the China tour of Cowan's play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which played in theaters in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing. Cowan lectured on the themes of his play Top Secret in the speech, which was called "National Security vs. Free Speech: An American Case Study." A copy of the speech can be downloaded below. Cowan is the latest in a line of distinguished…
More than two decades after he exited the political stage and rode off into the California sunset, President Ronald Reagan continues to spark passionate debate about his policy achievements, foreign policy, and political legacy. "Ronald Reagan was a great president, and he will be remembered in history for one thing, winning the Cold War," exclaimed Reagan biographer Lou Cannon to a standing room only crowd of more than 500 students, scholars and Reagan admirers, who came to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on February 2 for a discussion led by legendary journalist and author Tom Brokaw….
On January 20, CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan, along with Senior Fellow Derek Shearer took part in a three-part discussion on the Wikileaks scandal and cablegate. Shearer, a former US Ambassador, and Cowan discussed the fall-out and contention that the publication of US State Department cables has caused not only in the realm of public and international diplomacy, but also how this emergence of information effects the media. "WikiLeaks – Part II: Will WikiLeaks Transform American Diplomacy?" took place on the campus of UCLA in coordination with the Burkle Center for International Relations. An article featuring Cowan was published in UCLA's…
Just weeks after the tragedy in Tucson, President Obama used his annual State of the Union address to urge the nation to move past divisive political debates and work together to confront the nation's problems. "What comes of this moment," Obama explained to an audience of legislators, who eschewed the traditional partisan State of the Union seating chart, "will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow." While the President earned plaudits for his tough talk, turning it into tangible results will prove to be a greater challenge. That subject, how…
Background In 2006, the Annenberg Foundation established the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and established and endowed the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. In 2009, the Center's name was changed to the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) to better reflect the breadth of its activities and research. The Foundation established and endowed the Annenberg Family Chair with a $3 million grant in July 2006. The Foundation established CCLP through a $3 million grant scheduled to be paid in five installments of $600,000, beginning in July…
CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan, dean emeritus of the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, has been named the first president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands. The Sunnylands Trust is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating entity established by the Annenberg Foundation primarily to hold high level retreats that "address serious issues facing the nation and the world community." Sunnylands is the name of the late Walter and Leonore Annenberg's beautiful 200-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The estate will serve as a venue for important meetings of top government officials and leaders from education, philanthropy, the arts, culture, science…
Journalists, accountants and bankruptcy experts found accord Thursday on the No. 1 issue facing Tribune Company as it begins its Chapter 11 bankruptcy adventure: It isn't owner Sam Zell. It isn't the company's huge indebtedness. The question, said Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton, is "whether this is a viable business." In one way, Stanton told a gathering at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the answer is already clear. "I think big-city newspapers, the way we have known them, are not long for this world, as they're now configured."…