Russian media critic named visiting fellow

Vasily Gatov, a Russian media researcher and author based in Boston, has been named a visiting fellow with the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Gatov, 49, has more than 28 years of professional experience in domestic and international media. "With his impressive background in both academia and journalism, Vasily Gatov is in a position to make an important contribution to issues of the kind that CCLP tackles on a regular basis," said CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan. "We are looking forward to research, blogs and conversations that will build on his experience with new media and with the challenges……Continue Reading Russian media critic named visiting fellow

VOA chief cites imbalance in international media

The director of Voice of America called attention to the slanted news coverage by state-owned media outlets in foreign countries during the keynote luncheon of an international policy conference co-sponsored by the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) on April 17, 2015. David Ensor was interviewed by CCLP senior fellow Adam Clayton Powell III at the Pacific Council on International Policy's Spring Conference. CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan, former VOA director, introduced Ensor and Powell to the more than 200 people from governmental, non-profit, academic, and private sectors who gathered at the historic and elegant California Club in downtown Los……Continue Reading VOA chief cites imbalance in international media

Easter egg of the two-headed eagle

This column is authored by CCLP senior fellow Vasily Gatov, founder of the Novosti Media Lab BOSTON–As the framework for a nuclear deal with Iran was concluded in Geneva, the world's press engaged in a commentary race on the meaning and implications of the agreement. One may expect a significant difference in public attitude in the U.S., EU and the Middle East; as various countries have different approaches and positions on the issues of security, consequences of the accord, and even the vision of the strategic implications. But when it comes to Russian media coverage of the Geneva process itself……Continue Reading Easter egg of the two-headed eagle

Roots of U.S. public diplomacy in 1917 echo debates of 2015

WASHINGTON – 98 years ago, the United States government formally inaugurated the first American agency of public diplomacy, and it faced the same questions in 1917 during World War I that the U.S. faces in 2015 against ISIS. That agency, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) was created to counter German propaganda and to create a more favorable image of the U.S. both at home and around the world. This agency and its mission was the topic of the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy's Washington Communication Leadership forum on Monday, featuring historians from the State Department and academic experts……Continue Reading Roots of U.S. public diplomacy in 1917 echo debates of 2015

Fellows say political polarization is increasing

Political polarization is growing in this country, said CCLP senior fellows Matthew Dowd and Narda Zacchino at a Communication Leadership Roundtable at the new Wallis Annenberg Hall on March 23. The data, Dowd said, shows that "we're at the most polarized state that we've ever been in." Left to right: Narda Zacchino, Matthew Dowd, Geoffrey Cowan, and Geoffrey Baum Dowd and Zacchino were joined by CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan and CCLP advisory board members and senior fellows who were in town for a board meeting prior to the event, as well as staff and students from the USC Annenberg School……Continue Reading Fellows say political polarization is increasing

California public higher ed needs sufficient funding, Baum writes in op-ed

California's public higher education segments – community colleges, California State University, and University of California – require adequate funding in order to continue the vision laid out decades ago in the state's Master Plan, according to a new op-ed in the Sacramento Bee penned by CCLP managing director and president of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors Geoffrey Baum. The article was co-written by Lou Monville, chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, and Bruce Varner, chair of the UC Board of Regents. "Ensuring the dream of higher education is achievable for all Californians depends heavily on adequate……Continue Reading California public higher ed needs sufficient funding, Baum writes in op-ed

Reeves exposes ugly truth of Japanese internment camps in new book

CCLP senior fellow Richard Reeves examines the key causes and dire consequences of the Japanese-American internment in relocation camps during World War II in his new book, concentrating on a shortsighted military strategy and anti-Japanese sentiment following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. "A day that will live in infamy," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said of the attack in asking Congress for a Declaration of War, after which the president himself signed an executive order that moved more than 120,000 Japanese, most of them American citizens, "behind barbed-wire and machine gun towers, into concentration camps spread across the……Continue Reading Reeves exposes ugly truth of Japanese internment camps in new book