USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy

Public media junior staff question ability of senior managers to manage digital and social media platforms

2013-06-14T23:15:01Z

WASHINGTON - Senior managers in U.S. public media and millennial junior staff members share almost identical visions of the transition from broadcasting to digital platforms over the next ten years, according to a new survey presented at today's CCLP forum here. But the same survey shows more than 40% of the younger staff members are not confident that senior managers know what they are doing in digital media. The senior managers and junior staff were very close in their projections of the shift from broadcasting in 20132 to digital in 2023, "within a few percentage points" according to Mark Fuerst,...

Cowan's 'Top Secret' debuts at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts

2013-06-04T23:47:12Z

At the invitation of Beijng's National Centre for the Performing Arts and sponsored in part by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Department of State, L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) returns to China in June, 2013 with CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan's riveting historical drama, Top Secret: The Battle for The Pentagon Papers. LATW toured China with Top Secret in 2011, playing to sold out houses of Chinese professionals and students. CCLP has produced a series of educational conversations around these performances which can be found online at topsecretplay.org. L.A. Theatre Works will be the first American theater company to...

LISTEN: Some (accurate) quotes about media mistakes

2013-05-22T17:28:34Z

This blog and accompanying podcast first appeared on MPRnews. This morning Minnesota public radio featured senior fellow Cinny Kennard expounding upon the relationship between newsroom cutbacks and journalistic errors. Listen to the full podcast here: At a graduation speech at Quinnipiac University earlier this month, CBS anchor Scott Pelley said that journalists are "getting the big stories wrong, over and over again." "In a world where everyone is a publisher, no one is an editor," Pelley charged. "And that is the danger that we face today. We have entered a time when a writer's first idea is his best idea....

Technology shifts soft power goals from "winning hearts and minds" to forming relationships

2013-05-10T23:54:08Z

WASHINGTON - Successful deployment of soft power in the 21st century requires rethinking not only methods but also goals. That was the message this week from Nicholas Cull, who spoke at a CCLP forum here this week. Cull, who directs the Masters Program in Public Diplomacy at USC, urged policy makers to shift from "winning hearts and minds" to a new framing, enabled and driven by social media. "It is post-statecraft," said Cull. "It's not about 'hearts and minds.' It's about relationships." And building relationships, Cull continued, does not mean winning or losing. People who are focused on winning in...

FCC's Zachary Katz named CCLP Senior Fellow

2013-05-09T18:27:09Z

Zachary Katz, Chief of Staff of the Federal Communications Commission, has been appointed a Senior Fellow of the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The appointment begins in July 2013 following his planned departure from the FCC after Chairman Julius Genachowski leaves the agency later this month. As a senior fellow, Katz will help develop, lead and advise on programs and research projects related to broadband, mobile and media initiatives. He joins a distinguished group of CCLP senior fellows that include journalists and media executives such as...

White House initiative spotlights CCLP's research at Johns Hopkins symposium

2013-05-02T20:20:04Z

"Technologies are being used by malicious actors to create illicit networks," CCLP research director Mark Latonero said at a first-of-its-kind symposium on addressing the needs of victims of child sex trafficking. "However," he continued, "the use of such tools leaves digital fingerprints which law enforcement can use to combat criminal activity such as domestic child sex trafficking." Latonero presented research from the CCLP's groundbreaking initiative on Technology & Trafficking at the forum held on May 1-2, 2013 at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The symposium is part of a White House initiative and was hosted by...

End Trafficking Symposium highlights CCLP's Technology & Human Trafficking initiative.

2013-05-01T17:05:00Z

On May 1-2, 2013, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Advisory Council on Child Trafficking (ACCT) and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women will host a symposium to address the needs of victims of child sex trafficking. Research director Mark Latonero will highlight USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policies spearheading research initiative on Technology & Trafficking starting at 2:25 pm Eastern Time/11:15 am Pacific Time. Watch the live webcast on the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website by clicking here....

China's new e-commerce standard: from tap on your cell phone to delivery at your door - in one hour

2013-04-30T21:38:56Z

BEIJING -- Chinese online commerce is setting a new standard in convenience: tap your order on your mobile phone, and your merchandise is delivered to you within 60 minutes. Sound impossible?...

Chinese TV expands into social media, with new app - for reporters

2013-04-11T16:53:29Z

WASHINGTON - Chinese state television has embraced social media as a tool to expand its influence, according to its top consultant in the U.S. Speaking at a CCLP forum here, Jim Laurie described CCTV's expansion into social networks. Laurie said 300 CCTV reporters worldwide will soon carry a unique app that, as soon as they file a report, simultaneously transmits versions to China's Weibo, which has 369 million users, and to its English-language Facebook and Twitter sites here in the U.S....

CCLP collaborates to set forth guidelines for technological interventions of human trafficking

2013-04-08T21:13:34Z

In 2011 and 2012 CCLP research director Mark Latonero published two pioneering reports on the role of technology in both facilitating and combatting human trafficking. The issue has been rising steadily on the agenda of policymakers and stakeholders in recent years. Most notably, President Obama and The White House have identified human trafficking as a high-priority human rights imperative, and have advocated specifically for the development of technologies to stop it. In order to facilitate the development of effective technological interventions that are responsive to the realities and complexities of human trafficking, CCLP has worked with partners including Microsoft...

Multi-sector approach to combat human trafficking advocated by Dr. Latonero

2013-04-06T23:52:13Z

On Friday, April 5, 2013, CCLP Research Director Mark Latonero discussed the future of human trafficking detection and prevention - a "multi-sector approach" that employs new technologies to combat the modernized trafficking tactics that have permeated mobile networks, online classified and networking sites, and even video games. Dr. Latonero participated on a panel of human trafficking experts at the 7th annual L.A. Policy Symposium at the RAND Corporation, which welcomed students, researchers, and practitioners for a discussion on trafficking. The conversation focused on support for victims and survivors, public education, and innovative approaches to combat trafficking. The panel discussion was...

Taipei's free municipal wi-fi provides real-time data for cell phones, computers and even TV sets

2013-03-20T00:21:12Z

Taiwan's capital city, Taipei, has launched a free municipal wi-fi network, which provides cell phones, personal computers, video game consoles and even television sets with everything from typhoon alerts to store coupons....

U.S. countermeasures to Internet censorship detailed at CCLP forum

2013-03-04T22:31:11Z

WASHINGTON - The "spy versus spy" world of Internet censorship was the focus of today's monthly CCLP forum here. The speaker was André Mendes, Director of the Office of Technology, Services and Innovation at the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, who showed live demonstrations of circumvention technologies - in real time - as they were being used in China, Iran and Cuba....

Art on Public Media 'Anywhere and Anytime' - but on a flat budget

2013-02-23T01:08:27Z

WASHINGTON - The future of arts and culture on public media was the focus of a CCLP roundtable here on Wednesday, featuring leaders in broadcasting, on line and mobile media. The challenge, summarized by Alyce Myatt of the National Endowment for the Arts, is to present more culture from more artists on more platforms - "anywhere and anytime" - at a time when resources are not increasing. Click the following link for Myatt's report: Alyce Myatt presentation.pdf...

Alhurra marks ninth anniversary with plunge into mobile apps

2013-02-12T00:54:45Z

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's international TV broadcaster in the Middle East, Alhurra, celebrates its ninth anniversary on the air on Thursday with new initiatives to reach mobile devices. First up, will be a new Alhurra app for Android-powered cell phones, according to Brian T. Conniff, President of Middle East Broadcasting, Alhurra's parent company....