Cowan/Westphal report in Salon

The Cowan/Westphal report on Public Policy and Funding the News is mentioned in an article on Salon.com called "Let's subsidize open broadband, not journalists."……

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…….

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……

New Study Traces History of Government Subsidies for the Media

The New York Times featured research by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan and Senior Fellow David Westphal, which found that though American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since this country's founding, that support has dropped sharply in the last four decades. "The knee-jerk reaction tends to be that government can't get involved," Cowan said. "We think it's important for people to understand that the government has been involved from the beginning, and that the subsidies were much larger in the past."……

Centuries-Old Bailout of Newspapers is Going Away, Report Warns

Editor & Publisher featured research by CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan and senior fellow David Westphal that found that though American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since this country's founding, that support has dropped sharply in the last four decades. In today's dollars, government support for newspapers and magazines has fallen to less than $2 billion from more than $4 billion in 1970. Cowan and Westphal said that government print notices, which provide significant revenue for newspapers, will most likely migrate to the Web…….

What is Government’s Role in Supporting the News Business?

A new report on the role of government in supporting newspapers and other news organizations will be released by the University of Southern California’s Center on Communication Leadership & Policy on Thursday, January 28, 2010. That same day, a press briefing will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. at 9:30 a.m. The report, Public Policy and Funding the News, is co-authored by Geoffrey Cowan (pictured, left), USC Annenberg School dean emeritus and director of the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP), and David Westphal, former Washington Editor for McClatchy Newspapers and current CCLP senior fellow……

CCLP Research Briefing: “Public Policy & Funding the News”

The Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP) presents findings from a new report by Geoffrey Cowan (pictured, left), USC University Professor and CCLP director, and David Westphal, CCLP senior fellow and USC Annenberg executive in residence. The report, Public Policy and Funding the News, is sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York. The report "analyzes some of the financial tools that government has used to support the commercial press throughout our nation's history — from postal rate discounts and tax breaks to public notices and government advertising. It documents cutbacks across a range of sectors and presents a framework……

How Will Journalism Survive The Internet Age?

PaidContent cited an article written by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan and Senior Fellow David Westphal for USC's Online Journalism Review. Cowan and Westphal wrote that government intervention to aid the journalism industry isn't a new idea…….

Presented at FTC: New players help strengthen news scene

Remarks prepared for delivery Dec. 1 at Federal Trade Commission workshop on "How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?" Today, anyone can aspire to be a news provider, and increasingly, people and organizations are deciding that's exactly what they want to be. It's this process — many voices instead of few — that is fundamentally transforming our news ecology. The new players come in all sizes and forms, including the traditional for-profit model. I'll focus here on nonprofits and also on non-news organizations that are quickly emerging as news producers. These newcomers are not making up for all the resources……