Smith in FishbowlLA – “Gender roles”

Stacy L. Smith, Faculty Fellow, presented her research on "Gender in Media" at the Skirball Cultural Center in December. Smith's research examined the female role models that appear in family films and the frequency in which female characters appear in these movies. According to the Geena Davis Institute, 400 of the top grossing films released between 1990 and 2006 were analyzed. At that time, the ratio of male-to-female characters was determined to be 2.71-to-one. The article can be found on FishbowlLA…….Continue Reading Smith in FishbowlLA – “Gender roles”

Board member Thomas Nides appointed to State Department

The Center on Communication Leadership & Policy is proud to announce that a member of its board, Thomas Nides, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to a senior post in the US State Department. Beginning on December 30, 2010, Nides takes on a new role as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources under Sec. Hilary Clinton. The State Department announced Nides' position in their first briefing of the new year…….Continue Reading Board member Thomas Nides appointed to State Department

Westphal – SacBee “Boomers and Medicare”

Senior Fellow David Westphal currently heads the California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting, and recently released a report on the rising demands of healthcare professionals and medicare payouts as the first generation of "baby boomers" turns 65 years old this year. Westphal told the Sacramento Bee that "[a]s citizens we all have work to do in deciding what government can afford to do – and not do – in subsidizing seniors' health care." [additional article can be found at SecondAct]……Continue Reading Westphal – SacBee “Boomers and Medicare”

Suro – WaPo “Dream Act”

The Washington Post published an article by Faculty Fellow Roberto Suro about Congress' recent vote against "the Dream Act." The bill, if passed, would allow for children of illegal immigrants with "good character" to attain US citizenship upon their completion of a college education or service in the military. "The immediate task is to clean up the mess caused by inaction," writes Suro "and that is going to require compromises on all sides. Next, we should reexamine the scope of policy proposals. After a decade of sweeping plans that went nowhere, working piecemeal is worth a try at this point."……Continue Reading Suro – WaPo “Dream Act”

Seib in HuffPo – India

"At a conference in New Delhi," writes Faculty Fellow Phil Seib, "Indian diplomats, media executives, business persons, and others examined their country's "Public Diplomacy in the Information Age" and found that their efforts to reach the global public needs more coherence and imagination." Seib attended the conference in December entitled "Public Diplomacy in the Information Age." His findings of the conference can be found in his blog post on the Huffington Post…….Continue Reading Seib in HuffPo – India

Suro – NYT “Immigrant Path”

Faculty Fellow Roberto Suro was cited in a recent New York Times article about the recent influx of immigrant workers to suburban neighborhoods throughout the country, according to the US Census Bureau. Suro noted several years ago that immigrants were migrating to areas with the largest demand for construction workers. "The leveraged asset was the work of the immigrants. The long-term payout was the social requirement to settle them and look after their children."……Continue Reading Suro – NYT “Immigrant Path”

The Game-Changer List

The Associated Press, as usual, released last week its editors' poll of the 10 top stories of the year. No. 1, with 54 first-place votes, was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The congressional passage of health care reform was second with 30 votes. The list by the men and women who actually edit our news continued: (3) midterm elections; (4) U.S. economy; (5) Haiti earthquake; (6) tea party movement; (7) Chile mine rescue; (8) Iraq; (9) WikiLeaks; (10) Afghanistan. All of those were obviously big stories. But hold the presses! It is not a list I would……Continue Reading The Game-Changer List

Year End Success… Our Government Can Actually Work. Is Nirvana Here?

It is amazing what a deadline can do to focus the hearts and minds of our government. In the final days of the lame-duck session, Congress passed and sent to the president a major piece of tax and economic stimulus legislation, including the extension of unemployment benefits; the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', the nearly 20-year old Pentagon policy; historic food safety legislation; and the landmark START Treaty on nuclear weapons reduction. Most importantly, all were passed with bipartisan support. Maybe one of the lessons of all of this is to shorten the congressional session to one month per……Continue Reading Year End Success… Our Government Can Actually Work. Is Nirvana Here?