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 2006.

Guided by Ambassador Walter Annenberg’s view that communication affects all aspects of society and should be used in the public interest, CCLP aims to be a trusted source of research, dialogue, analysis and instruction.

The following report documents expenditures and provides a narrative overview of activities by the Annenberg Family Chair and CCLP during the fiscal year that concluded June 30, 2010. An annual endowment performance report on the grant funds used to establish the Chair will be provided to the Foundation by November 1, 2010.

Report on activities for FY 09-10

Geoffrey Cowan, the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership, had another dynamic and productive year – conducting and disseminating extensive research, speaking at numerous events at the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and across the country, and providing leadership on campus and to numerous external organizations.

A. Awards

  • In October 2009, Cowan was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a center for independent policy research. Cowan was elected to the Public Affairs, Journalism, and Communications section of the Public Affairs, Business, and Administration class. Among his classmates are Robert Gates, secretary of defense; Colin Powell, former secretary of state; Susan Stamberg, National Public Radio; and Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa.

B. Teaching

  • Professor Cowan introduced a new graduate-level course called COMM 579: Entrepreneurship in the New Media in fall 2009. It was developed and co-taught with David Westphal, senior fellow at the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) and executive in residence at the USC Annenberg School.
  • Also in fall 2009, Professor Cowan taught more than 100 freshmen in his popular Introduction to Journalism course.
  • In spring 2010, Professor Cowan taught a new course called Fact & Fiction: From Journalism to the Docudrama. This small, upper-division seminar for undergraduates was originally developed when he was dean of the Annenberg School. This course examined the creative, legal and ethical issues in the representation of fact across a variety of media, including fiction, non-fiction, journalism, film and theater.
  • Professor Cowan, along with Annenberg School adjunct professor Jim Hubbard, taught a micro-seminar on How User-Generated Photography Can Change the World, to 20 incoming freshmen in August 2009. This innovative course became the basis for a new interdisciplinary minor that was approved in spring 2010. The undergraduate minor in Photography and Social Change will launch in fall 2010.

back to menu

C. Research and Publications

  • Cowan continued work on his book about Theodore Roosevelt and the Election of 1912. He has hired more than 30 researchers across the country to help him track down primary sources and descendants of key people featured in his book. He is beginning the writing phase.
  • Published in August 2009, Cowan contributed an article to The Essential Bennis: Essays on Leadership by Warren Bennis. Cowan wrote in response to USC University Professor and leadership scholar Warren Bennis’ essay on “The New Transparency” in leadership and the media.

back to menu

D. Contributions to the University Community

  • At the request of USC Provost and incoming new university President C.L. Max Nikias, Cowan serves on three university committees: the District 3 Redevelopment Committee for the University Village area north of campus, the Strategic Planning Committee to outline USC’s long-term goals, and the USC Committee on University Recognition for honoring faculty members.
  • Along with Dr. Warren Bennis, Sidney Harman, and Judge Widney, professor of business at USC, Cowan is developing an interdisciplinary leadership program for doctoral students. He has been coordinating the Academy of Polymathic Studies and leading a seven-member faculty committee through the planning phase. The Academy launches in fall 2011.
  • Cowan hosted two dinners for students in the masters of Public Diplomacy program with leaders in the public diplomacy arena. In October 2009, the students met with former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and in November 2009, they met with Marc Nathanson, former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

back to menu

E. Speeches and Events

  • In October 2009, Cowan gave a speech to the distinguished Graham Group describing Roosevelt’s involvement in the primary system in the election of 1912.
  • In November 2009, Cowan led the conversation with former News Corp. president Peter Chernin at the annual Communication Leadership CEO Series, presented by CCLP in partnership with USC’s Marshall School of Business and USC Spectrum.
  • In November 2009, as CCLP director, Cowan led the Global Communication Leadership Forum on the topic Obama’s Afghanistan: The Media and the War. The conference attracted distinguished journalists, policymakers, military leaders and scholars. The event is discussed in more detail in the CCLP report.
  • In February 2010, Cowan and CCLP hosted Alec Ross, Secretary of State Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation, for preliminary discussions about the impact of technology on key issues on the U.S. foreign policy and development agenda.
  • In March 2010, Cowan testified before a subcommittee of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, discussing the 2003 report of the Bipartisan California Commission on Internet Political Practices ¬- which he chaired – and the developments in the area since the report was issued.
  • In May 2010, Cowan and CCLP hosted the second annual Fellows Luncheon to honor senior, faculty, research, law, graduate and junior fellows of the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
  • In May 2010, Cowan was a panelist at the Intentional Conversation of civic, business, cultural and religious leaders at the Huntington Library, discussing the theme “From Here to Eternity: Envisioning the Legacy of Our Lives to Our Families, Our Communities and Our World.”
  • In May 2010, Cowan was the featured speaker in the Arts Industries Policy Forum held at Vanderbilt University‘s Washington, D.C. center.
  • In June 2010, Cowan co-chaired – with Alec Ross, Secretary of State Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation – a gathering of State Department and Congressional policymakers to explore new ways communication technology might be used in global efforts to combat human trafficking. As part of the convening, Cowan moderated a focused and engaged discussion in which he asked participants to describe ground-level view of conditions in various countries as they pertained to trafficking in persons. The needs of victims, service providers and policymakers were considered. Of particular interest were the types of social support services available to victims and the steps that many organizations have already taken to integrate new technologies into their efforts.

back to menu

F. Boards

G. Projects

  • In July and August 2009, Cowan convened leaders from Los Angeles’ major cultural institutions and representatives of online and print media for two thoughtful discussions on the future of arts journalism.
  • In June 2010, Cowan convened members of the State Department, NGOs, foundations and technology experts to discuss ways in which technology can be used to combat the issue of human trafficking. This is elaborated upon the Center’s report.

back to menu

H. Center on Communication Leadership & Policy

  • In his capacity as CCLP director, Cowan attracted top leaders to the CCLP advisory board (for additional information, refer to the CCLP report).
  • During the ’09-10 academic year, Cowan mentored CCLP junior fellows (and recent Annenberg graduates) Rebecca Shapiro and Monica Alba, as well as law fellow Ariel Fox, and graduate fellow Alden Stoner, on a variety of projects, events and research.
  • Cowan mentored and maintained regular contact with the 2009-2010 Communication Leadership Scholars. These nine undergraduates were selected based on their academic excellence and leadership potential. Throughout the year, the students worked closely with Cowan and the CCLP senior and faculty fellows.

back to menu

Report on activities for FY 09-10

The Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) was “designed around the [USC Annenberg] School’s continued significant impact on important communication and journalism issues at the state, national and international level.”

In fulfillment of that founding vision, the center had another successful year with major initiatives in its core areas of engagement:

Among other highlights, CCLP fellows Stacy Smith and Cinny Kennard provided leadership and contributed research for the groundbreaking project The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, director Geoffrey Cowan and senior fellow David Westphal published the widely cited report Public Policy and Funding the News, which sparked national debate on the role of government in addressing the crisis facing the news industry, and a series of colloquia in New York on national security and the public’s right to know held in conjunction with the new production of Cowan’s play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers. In addition, several recognized leaders in business, media, public policy and philanthropy joined the CCLP advisory board and roster of fellows this year.

In addition to its policy work, CCLP was established to support the holder of the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership as he “is able to assume a leadership role in important programs and represent the School and University in important convenings.”

Toward that end, among other accomplishments, CCLP is providing critical support to the Annenberg Family Chair in his new role as president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.

A. Areas of Strategic Engagement

CCLP continued to sharpen its focus and build upon the center’s existing strengths and dynamic new senior fellows, advisory board members and staff. Major areas of emphasis for research and projects center around New Models for News (including alternate sources of funding for news and development of new sources of news and information in the public interest), Communication Leadership (including instruction, training and research with a particular focus on women and other aspects of diversity), Communication and Social Change (including uses of new technology for global humanitarian efforts), the Role of Media in a Democracy (including the annual Global Communication Leadership Forum) and Civic Discourse. Activities within each area are described below.

i. Future of News

  • Public Policy and Funding the News. A grant from the Carnegie Corporation helped support CCLP’s efforts to document the government’s engagement in the news industry and to assess new policy proposals. Geoffrey Cowan served as principal investigator with David Westphal – former Washington editor for McClatchy Newspapers – leading the research team. CCLP law fellow Ariel Fox also was actively involved in the project. The project analyzed past, present and potential future programs through which the government provides some form of incentive or benefit – or some form of impediment – to the costs of producing and distributing news and information. The analysis included original sources and interviews, and covered a broad range of laws, policies and regulations, such as tax policy; anti-trust policy; postal rates; broadcast and cable regulations; public investments and licensing of new technologies; federal financial support for content providers, producers and distributors; and government-supported and/or produced journalistic content, such as Voice of America, Stars and Stripes, government-owned public broadcasters and Department of Agriculture news feeds.
  • News Entrepreneur Boot Camp. USC Annenberg’s Knight Digital Media Center (KDMC), USC Marshall School of Business’ Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and CCLP partnered to present a “boot camp” for digital journalists and others passionate about new ideas for serving the information needs of their communities but who lack business experience. Twenty aspiring entrepreneurs – almost all of whom are former journalists trying to create new news/information enterprises in the digital world – gathered in May for the session. Each journalist received individualized instruction, coaching and mentoring from expert faculty on developing sustainable plans for providing news in the public interest. The research and projects produced by the boot camp fellows were shared online through the KDMC and CCLP websites.
  • Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age. Cinny Kennard has been appointed special consultant for the Federal Communications Commission to work on a team researching and preparing a report on the Future of Media and 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.” Working with CCLP researchers, Kennard will report on the state of television and radio news.
  • Arts Journalism. CCLP co-sponsored the first National Summit on Arts Journalism. With more than half of the nation’s arts journalists unemployed, the summit explored the future of arts journalism by presenting 10 innovative projects and two conversations about the evolving art and reinventing business of arts journalism.
  • Communication Leadership CEO Series. Former News Corp. president Peter Chernin served as this year’s guest for the Communication Leadership CEO Series, an annual event that brings some of the nation’s leading media executives to campus to share their experience and insights with students.
  • Loper Lecture in Public Service Broadcasting. Founding Frontline executive producer David Fanning delivered the USC Annenberg School’s James L. Loper Lecture in Public Service Broadcasting, an annual event that brings together scholars, students and the public broadcasting community to explore the future of public service broadcasting. The November 2009 lecture was presented during a lunch sponsored by CCLP.

ii. Communication Leadership

  • Courses. Professor Cowan introduced a new graduate-level course called Entrepreneurship in the New Media (COMM 579) in fall 2009. It was developed and co-taught with David Westphal, senior fellow at the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) and executive in residence at the USC Annenberg School.
  • Communication Leadership Scholars. In a highly competitive application process, nine USC Annenberg undergraduates were chosen as the 2009-2010 Communication Leadership Scholars. The students represented all four Annenberg majors and were selected based on academic excellence and leadership potential. The cohort worked closely with Geoffrey Cowan, as well as senior and faculty fellows, attended leadership workshops and interacted with campus guests. CCLP project specialist Kelsey Browne was the program’s day-to-day adviser, working in consultation with USC Annenberg’s director of undergraduate advisement and academic services, Cynthia Martinez, who is also a CCLP research associate. This program is being reconfigured for the 2010-2011 school year with Martinez leading the group in a research project on leadership and emotional intelligence.
  • Women and Communication Leadership. Senior fellow Cinny Kennard spearheads CCLP’s project on Women and Communication Leadership, in collaboration with faculty fellow Stacy Smith, who jointly authored (with CCLP graduate fellow Amy Granados) an essay in The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything. Award-winning broadcast journalist and author Maria Shriver, in partnership with CCLP, the Center on American Progress and TIME Magazine, produced A Woman’s Nation, an ambitious project examining “the consequences of women’s more prominent economic status in the institutions that matter most in American life–government, business, faith, education and health.”

iii. Communication Technology and Social Change

  • Communication Technology and Foreign Policy. CCLP is partnering with the Henry L. Stimson Center and the American Academy of Diplomacy to study the training and education needed today by American diplomats. Led by senior fellow Jeremy Curtin, the project will examine what American diplomats do now and what they will be called upon to do in the future; what professional skills are necessary to carry out these tasks successfully; what skills should be added and outdated ones dropped; and what patterns of training, education and assignments can best prepare our diplomats to achieve maximum effectiveness in the service of the American people. This project comes at a particularly relevant time as the State Department is undertaking the first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. This review will examine fundamental issues about the way the United States manages its relations with the world. The project will build on previous reports from the Stimson Center and the Academy.
  • Communication Technology and Combating Trafficking in PersonsThis project is being developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of State. It focuses on the application of mobile, web and other rapidly evolving technologies in areas such as human rights, economic development and women’s empowerment ¬- beginning with the issue of efforts to combat trafficking in persons. Discussions began in February with a visit to USC Annenberg by Alec Ross, Secretary of State Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation. Then in June, CCLP convened a group of State Department and Congressional policymakers, along with nongovernmental and technology industry leaders, in Washington, D.C.
  • Photographic Empowerment. The pioneering Institute for Photographic Empowerment (IPE) maintained its presence as the hub for participant-produced documentary work. The IPE website is updated weekly with news and events, and features empowerment projects from throughout the world. A new USC minor in photography and social change has been approved by the university.

iv. Role of Media in a Democracy

  • Constitution and the Press. A new production of Leroy Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan’s play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers completed a successful New York run in spring 2010, garnering rave reviews and drawing capacity crowds. Produced by LA Theatre Works in partnership with New York Theatre Workshop and Affinity Collaborative Theatre, the production was a model for using theater to explore and discuss the role of media in a democracy, and the conflict between the Constitution and the press. CCLP presented more than a dozen colloquia, entitled Top Secret Talks in conjunction with the performances that included top journalists, scholars, jurists and policymakers. Additional details are included under Events below.
  • Global Communication Leadership Forum. This year’s forum was on Obama’s Afghanistan: The Media and the War and attracted leading journalists, former generals and policymakers with long records of distinction. Additional details are outlined under Events below. CCLP is exploring a focus in FY 2011 on the Global Financial Crisis.

v. Civic Discourse

  • Reagan Centennial. Geoffrey Cowan will chair a panel at the Reagan Library in February 2011 as part of a major event during the Reagan Centennial.

B. CCLP Leadership, Fellows and Staff

  • New advisory board members joining CCLP this fiscal year were:

  • Neal Baer, Cinny Kennard, Adam Clayton Powell III, Kit Rachlis, Richard Reeves, Orville Schell, Derek Shearer and David Westphal maintained their involvement as CCLP senior fellows. They have been joined by the following new senior fellows:
  • Jeremy Curtin served until December 2009 as coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs in the U.S. Department of State, 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. Curtin held a number of positions in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Information Agency, the National Security Council and the State Department. 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. On behalf of CCLP, he is leading a project for the Henry L. Stimson Center and the American Academy of Diplomacy to study the training and education needed to prepare American diplomats for 21st century statecraft.
  • Dan Glickman was secretary of agriculture during the Clinton administration and represented the state of Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 2004 until March 31, 2010, when he became president of Refugees International. Prior to joining the MPAA, he was director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. While serving in Congress, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he was a leader on technology issues. As a senior fellow, Glickman works on programs exploring the role of media in a democracy with a special focus on government and campaign finance regulations.
  • Narda Zacchino is 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, entitled 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 the daily news website Truthdig and is working on a new book about California. As a senior fellow, Zacchino works on programs exploring the role of media in democracy with a focus on state government financial crises.
  • Jeffrey S. Klein, former senior executive with the Los Angeles Times and Times Mirror, has joined the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy as executive in residence. Trained as both a lawyer and a journalist, he has more than 24 years of experience operating newspaper, magazine, television and Internet businesses. Klein spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times and Times Mirror in senior management positions, including senior vice president and general manager, news, and senior vice president for consumer marketing. He also served as president of two large regional editions of the newspaper. For several years, Klein was CEO of California Community Newspapers, Inc., a Times Mirror company.
  • With the backing of a Chicago-based private equity firm, The Frontenac Company, Klein co-founded 101communications – a B2B multimedia publisher serving the information technology market. From 2001 to 2006, he served as 101’s president and CEO. In April 2006, Klein and Frontenac sold 101 to 1105 Media, a magazine, trade show and web publishing company where Klein remains as non-executive chairman of the board.
  • CCLP’s outstanding group of faculty fellows continued their efforts to expand the center’s research agenda and public programming. Journalism professors Sasha Anawalt, Michael Parks and Roberto Suro, communication professors Tom Hollihan, Christopher Holmes Smith and Stacy Smith, and journalism and public diplomacy professor Phil Seib were joined as faculty fellows by:
  • Additional staff and junior fellows joining CCLP during the fiscal year were:
  • Monica Alba, junior fellow for 2009-10: Alba is an award-winning, honors graduate of USC Annenberg (Class of 2009), where she earned her degree in broadcast journalism with minors in international relations and cinematic arts. She is the co-founder of the highly successful Social Issues Film Festival, which fosters student productions of short documentaries on social issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and awards $30,000 each year to students, schools and nonprofits.
  • Ariel Fox, law fellow: A graduate of Harvard College and Law School, she began work in intellectual property litigation in Washington, D.C., after completion of her fellowship at CCLP. Her work at the center has focused on legal issues affecting news media and news producers, including intellectual property and antitrust issues faced by online news providers, legislation affecting print newspapers, newspaper shield laws, and first amendment, copyright and trademark rights in the online news space.
  • Susan Crookston Goelz, program assistant/office manager: Goelz is the center’s primary administrative staff member, responsible for budget administration, event coordination, office management and payroll administration, among other duties. She completed her B.A. in communication at USC Annenberg in 2008 after nearly 20 years in sales and customer service in the communication technology field and as a co-owner of a family painting business.
  • Erin Kamler, research associate. She is an award-winning playwright and composer whose interest in public diplomacy began when she studied in Thailand as an AFS exchange student. She has conducted research at the Development Education Programme for Daughters and Communities, an NGO in northern Thailand dedicated to preventing child trafficking, and two of her papers on trafficking and Thai national identity have been published in academic journals in Thailand and India.
  • Cynthia Martinez, research associate: Martinez is the director of undergraduate advising and academic services for USC Annenberg, she is working toward her PhD in leadership studies at the University of San Diego. Her research interests include global leadership, college student leadership programs and development, emotional intelligence, and intercultural competency models.
  • Lauren Schultz, IT and student manager: Schultz is earning her master’s in communication management at USC Annenberg. She is a cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University with a BA in Communication and a minor in musical theory and performance. She has experience working with numerous entertainment companies and before joining CCLP was a producer and content developer for an online entertainment news firm.
  • Alden Stoner, graduate fellow. She holds a master’s in global communication from USC Annenberg and a master’s in global media and communication from the London School of Economics, both with a focus on leadership and organizational development. While at the Center, she developed CCLP’s strategy on executive education programs for communication leaders. Previously, she worked at Davie-Brown Entertainment, an Omnicom entertainment marketing consultancy.

C. Events

  • July 2009
        CCLP organized a reception celebrating the work of the

Institute for Justice and Journalism

         and honoring

Steve Montiel

      , the institute’s founding director and now a media relations representative for the University of California Office of the President.
  • August 2009
    On August 7, CCLP senior fellows David Westphal and Adam Clayton Powell III gave a research presentation on “The Future of News” at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Boston. The presentation included initial findings from CCLP’s Public Policy and Funding the News research. While 40 individuals registered for the talk, it ended up drawing nearly 150 attendees, as the CCLP briefing quickly became a highlight of the convention. Among the attendees was Melvin Miller, publisher of the Bay State Banner, who shared his experience and perspective after receiving a loan from the city of Boston to keep his newspaper afloat.

 

CCLP held a Communication Leadership Open Forum with Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

back to events menu

CCLP co-sponsored the first National Summit on Arts Journalism on October 2. Among the participants were NPR technology and arts reporter Laura Sydell; author and journalist Jeff Chang; New York Times reporter Seth Schiesel; Salon.com CEO Richard Gingras; and Getty Foundation director Deborah Marrow. The summit also was viewed by live audiences at 17 satellite gatherings in places such as the Republic of Moldova, New York City, Boston and the University of Missouri.

CCLP, in partnership with USC Annenberg’s School of Communication, communication professor Robert Scheer and the USC Unruh Institute of Politics, presented a reception with former U.S. senator and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.

CCLP, USC Thornton School of Music and USC Marshall School of Business presented a concert and conversation with Grammy Award-winning musician Peter Buffett.

CCLP held a Communication Leadership Open Forum with Bill Boyarsky – veteran editor and author – and Tom Hollihan – CCLP faculty fellow and communication professor and author. Boyarsky recently authored Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times, while Hollihan’s latest book is Uncivil Wars: Political Campaigns in a Media Age. A book signing followed their discussion.

CCLP hosted Communication Leadership Open Forum with Peter Steinfels, religious columnist with The New York Times, who recently authored A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America. A book signing followed the discussion.

David Fanning, founding executive producer of the awarding-winning series Frontline, delivered the annual James L. Loper Lecture in Public Service Broadcasting before an audience of public broadcasting leaders, community leaders, scholars and students. The program also honored USC Annenberg School Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, who was recently elected to chair the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Former News Corp. president Peter Chernin was the featured guest for the annual Communication Leadership CEO Series, presented by CCLP in partnership with USC’s Marshall School of Business and USC Spectrum. The conversation before an audience of 500 students at USC’s Bovard Auditorium was led by CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan. During the program, Chernin offered insights from his own experience in publishing, television and at the helm of one of the world’s largest media companies, News Corp, parent company to 20th Century Fox studios and Fox Broadcasting.

CCLP and Occidental College‘s Office of Global Affairs held the two-day Global Communication Leadership Forum on the topic Obama’s Afghanistan: The Media and the War. The conference featured presentations by distinguished journalists and policymakers, including former Ambassador Morton Abramowitz, who previously headed the State Department‘s intelligence unit; Nushin Arbabzadah, Afghan journalist and senior fellow at the UCLA Center for India and South Asia; retired Admiral William J. Fallon; Peter Galbraith, former U.N. deputy special representative to Afghanistan; retired General Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander; Richard Reeves, author, syndicated columnist, award-winning documentary and CCLP senior fellow; Robert Scheer, legendary journalist, now with truthdig.com, and USC communication professor; Derek Shearer, ambassador to Finland during the Clinton administration, Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College and CCLP senior fellow; and Kathy Spillar, executive editor of Ms. Magazine and executive vice president of the Feminist Majority and Feminist Majority Foundation.

CCLP organized the conference “Entrepreneurship and the Community Web,” chaired by senior fellow David Westphal, which drew participants from community news sites throughout California. The event is believed to be the first time such a large group representing community news sites had convened to share ideas and insights. The entire conference proceedings remain available for viewing on the CCLP website and YouTube channel.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy, in association with CCLP, the USC Master of Diplomacy Program and the Public Diplomacy Council presented a reception featuring USC professor and author Nick Cull and Syracuse professor Mike Schneider at USC’s offices in Washington, D.C. The event marked the launch of Cull’s new book The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Public Diplomacy and Propaganda, 1945-1989 in its paperback edition.

back to events menu

  • February 2010
    On February 4, Cowan and Westphal presented the findings at a USC Annenberg forum hosted by Dean Ernest J. Wilson III.

CCLP and Dean Ernest J. Wilson III hosted Alec Ross, Secretary of State Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation, for a visit to Los Angeles and a series of discussions about the impact of technology – current and potential – on key issues on the U.S. foreign policy and development agenda. The visit 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.

  • March 2010
    On March 10, Cowan presented the Public Policy and Funding the News research as part of a two-day Federal Trade Commission workshop in Washington, D.C., exploring how the Internet has affected journalism. The audiocast of Cowan’s presentation is available online. Other panelists at the workshop included News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt, Knight Foundation Vice President Eric Newton, Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Newspaper Association of America Vice Chair Mark Contreras as well as representatives from major new media organizations, academic institutions and other leading experts.

A subcommittee of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), the state’s independent watchdog for politics and campaigns, conducted a hearing at the USC Gould School of Law on March 24 to discuss the current trends of paid political activity on the Internet, email and social networking sites. Cowan testified at the session, discussing the 2003 report of the Bipartisan California Commission on Internet Political Practices ¬- which he chaired – and the developments in the area since the report was issued.

Senior fellow Cinny Kennard spoke at the workshop “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 from her work on The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation.

On March 25, CCLP faculty fellow Sasha Anawalt moderated a panel on the Future of Arts Criticism sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Society of Professional Journalists.

The 13-part discussion series, titled Top Secret Talks, explored the many themes and issues embedded in theatrical docudrama. The play asks an enduring question: In a democratic society, when and how long, if ever, should a government be allowed to keep secrets in the name of national security? Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers provided a dramatic look at the Washington Post‘s decision to publish information from the classified study documenting U.S. involvement in Vietnam after a federal court had shut down publication by The New York Times. The ensuing court battle over the potential national security threat posed by publication tested the parameters of the First Amendment and focused a spotlight on the conflict between government and the press. The epic legal battle went to the nation’s highest court – arguably the most important Supreme Court case on freedom of the press.

Individual programs were presented by organizations such as Columbia Journalism Review, Human Rights Watch, NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, Asia Society, the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU and the Center for Public Integrity. Speakers included Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense and State Department official who gave the Pentagon Papers to the Washington Post; legendary Washington Post investigative reporter Carl Bernstein; Leslie Gelb, who led the Department of Defense project that produced the Pentagon Papers; The New York Times Managing Editor Jill Abramson; Washington Post editor Marcus Brauchli; and Geoffrey Cowan.

  • April 2010
    An inaugural summit on leadership, hosted by the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy Scholars, brought together leaders and representatives from Annenberg student organizations to participate in an open discussion about the challenges of communicating in a globalizing world.

back to events menu

  • May 2010
    Faculty, staff and friends of CCLP gathered for the second annual Fellows Luncheon to honor senior, faculty, research, law, graduate and junior fellows. Following welcome 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 speaker, offering observations about the rising importance of the communication field.

back to events menu

  • June 2010
    With assistance from the U.S. Department of State, CCLP convened a group of State Department and Congressional policymakers, along with nongovernmental and technology industry leaders, in Washington, D.C. on June 3, to explore new ways communication technology might be used in global efforts to combat human trafficking. Cowan co-chaired the gathering with Alec Ross, Secretary of State Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation. Ross opened the meeting with remarks about 21st Century Statecraft, a concept introduced by Secretary Clinton that acknowledges the complexities of globalization and the proliferation of new technologies.

Among those participating in the discussion were: Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and senior adviser to Secretary Clinton; Amy O’Neill Richard, senior adviser in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; and Eric Beinhart, of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

CCLP will continue to act as a convening agent to keep the group and other individuals connected in order to collaborate on these and other issues.

D. Publications and Website

On January 28, CCLP issued its report Public Policy and Funding the News, a unique effort to examine how the government, at all levels, has been subsidizing news throughout American history to foster an informed citizenry, and what this support has meant for publishers, journalists and news consumers.

  • The CCLP-created website www.fundingthenews.org made the complete Public Policy and Funding the News research available to visitors, while also presenting information and ideas on a wide array of issues relating to the future of news.
  • Presentations on the Funding the News research were videotaped and made available on CCLP’s YouTube channel, the Funding the News website and the CCLP website. CCLP staff and senior fellows actively tweeted and blogged about presentations and the media/government/academia response to the report.
  • Westphal wrote an op-ed entitled “2009: A year for philanthropy-driven news,” which appeared in Newsday on December 13, 2009. The article explored the current state of news funded by nonprofits, as well as potential for future growth in this sector of the news industry.
  • CCLP faculty fellow Stacy Smith and senior fellow Cinny Kennard authored an essay released as part of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, an ambitious research project examining how women’s changing roles are affecting government, businesses, faith communities and the media. “Sexy Socialization: Today’s media and the next generation of women,” PDF which appeared in the report, was authored by Smith, Kennard and Amy Granados, CCLP research fellow and USC Annenberg doctoral student.
  • CCLP’s National Summit on Arts Journalism was streamed to live audiences at 17 satellite gatherings. The program received enough attention throughout the event that the number of live streams grew to more than 500 USTREAM users and the NSAJ was placed on the front page of the USTREAM website.
  • CCLP launched its new website in March 2010. The site was designed to better showcase the center’s breadth of research and programming and make it easier for visitors to navigate the site and learn about the center’s work. Administratively, the site is also easier to maintain and update. New features include video, a more comprehensive “about us” section better highlighting CCLP’s leadership, fellows and partners, and a prominent way of featuring breaking news or a major event. Main sections on the home page are the center’s blog, upcoming events, “in the news” (featuring press coverage of center fellows), video and rotating photos.
  • As part of the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, CCLP maintained a dynamic blog documenting the accompanying discussion series, Top Secret Talks. In addition, CCLP Media Fellow Lauren Popper Ellis is authoring a forthcoming report describing the success of Top Secret Talks and the way in which CCLP explored themes, highlighted issues and engaged audiences through theater.
  • In September 2009, CCLP published a promotional brochure highlighting its mission, research agenda, public programming and educational offerings.
  • CCLP prepared for publication of the 2010 update of Adam Clayton Powell III‘s landmark 2006 book Reinventing Local News, which examines trends and innovation in print, broadcast and new media serving the information needs of local communities.
  • CCLP’s YouTube channel now has some 35 videos available for viewing, including the Top Secret Talks held in New York this year, conference presentations and panels, and much more. This resource and archive is constantly growing, as CCLP posts video from all major events and gatherings.