I

Summer 1998 / Vol 8 No 2 / Published Winter, Summer and Fall

The Annenberg School for CommunicationUniversity of Pennsylvania

{ continued on page 2 }

Governor Whitman speaks with students after her lecture.

G O V E R N O R C H R I S T I N E T O D D W H I T M A N

S P E A K S AT A S C

Is there a place in political campaigns for attack ads — if they focus on policies, not personal

lives? How does the public react to a candidate who attacks an opponent — and does it make

any difference if that candidate is a woman?

On March 16, Annenberg School students heard answers to these questions from a lectur-

er with first-hand experience charting her own successful campaigns: New Jersey Governor

Christine Todd Whitman.

In her address, the Governor emphasized that political discourse should be about inform-

ing the public. “It should provide information on the candidates’ qualifications, an evaluation

of their past public records, an explanation of their views on the important issues of the day,

and their vision for the future,” she said.

“But far too often, that’s not what they are given. Instead, in the comfort of their living

rooms, voters are asked to sit through the sort of name-calling they wouldn’t tolerate from

their own children. And then we wonder why people tune out politics.”

{ continued on page 3 }

Vincent Price

Joins ASC Faculty

Joining the Annenberg School

faculty this fall as Associate

Professor is Vincent Price,

an expert on mass communi-

cation and public opinion,

social influence processes,

and political communication.

Price comes to ASC from the

University of Michigan,

where he was chairman of

the Department of Commun-

ication Studies and Faculty

Associate with the Center for

Political Studies.

Price is the editor of Public

Opinion Quarterly, a leading

journal in the areas of public

opinion polling, survey

research methods, political

psychology, and opinion and

attitude change. His book,

Public Opinion, has been pub-

lished in several languages

and is used in graduate and

undergraduate courses

throughout North America,

N E W S«2»

{ continued f rom page 1 }

“

The Governor said that in the past New Jersey has been

known for some of the most negative campaigns in the coun-

try. She pointed to the 1989 gubernatorial campaign, in

which James Florio and Jim Courter accused each other of

lying in what became known as the “Pinocchio” ads, and the

1996 Senate race, with its vituperative attacks between Bob

Torricelli and Dick Zimmer. In both cases, Whitman said,

the campaigns “did nothing to elevate the debate or to

enhance the reputation of either candidate.”

In her own campaigns, Whitman said she has tried to

maintain positive advertising, even in the face of assaults. She

described the personal attacks she received from incumbent

Jim Florio in 1993. “As I told one journalist in the midst of

the campaign, ‘If all you knew of me is what you got from his

ads, I drive drunk at night, with my Uzi hanging out the

window, shooting women who have their cars stolen.’”

When she responded with an ad referring to Florio as

“perhaps the worst governor New Jersey’s ever had,” not

only did Florio’s negative ratings go up, but her own positive

ratings got a boost. “As you probably know,” she said, “attack

ads usually succeed only in driving up your opponent’s nega-

tives — they usually don’t help your own positives. Some

thought that my gender may account for that anomaly but

no one has really studied it, as far as I know.”

In her 1997 re-election campaign, the Governor was

determined that “New Jersey not remain a national model for

nastiness.” Whitman said she was personally committed to

running an issues-oriented campaign and vowed to maintain

accountability by appearing in her own ads. “It’s much more

difficult to level a personal attack when you’re the one doing

the talking,” she noted.

In the comfort of their living

rooms, voters are asked to sit

through the sort of name-

calling they wouldn’t tolerate

from their own children. And

then we wonder why people

tune out politics.”

Governor Whitman and Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson

L I N K

N E W S L

{ continued f rom page 1 }

Europe, and Asia. Price’s

contributions to communica-

tion theory include refine-

ment and extension of

the concepts of the spiral

of silence, issue publics,

third-person effects, and

the connection between

knowledge and opinion.

ASC Professor Joseph

Cappella described Price

as “one of the best minds

working in political commu-

nication in the United

States.” He noted that

Price’s recent ascension to

editor of Public Opinion

Quarterly is “testimony to

the high regard with which

he is held. This journal is

one of the premier outlets

for research on politics and

social affairs.” Cappella

said that Price spans several

disciplines: communication,

political science, sociology

and public opinion. “His

Whitman stressed that she had no desire to “take the

passion out of the campaign,” but rather wanted to “take

the poison out of the discourse.” Attack ads, she claimed,

can serve a useful purpose in a campaign. “They help define

differences and can convey information that voters need to

make a decision.”

“But,” she added, “attack ads should focus on an oppo-

nent’s record or positions. They should not be personal.”

She applauded a study carried out for Leadership New

Jersey, identifying five issues of greatest concern to state

voters and evaluating all campaign advertisements against

that list. (The study was carried out by an Annenberg School

research team, headed by doctoral student Paul Waldman.)

The Governor said that she thought both she and her

opponent, Jim McGreevey, stayed on the issues and avoided

personal attacks. And, she added, the New Jersey voters

seemed to notice. An Eagleton Poll taken three weeks before

the election showed that 54 percent of the voters felt the

campaign had been very positive, compared to 17 percent

who felt that way about the campaign held the year before.

As satisfied as the Governor was with the tenor of the

campaign, she did express concern that “the kind of positive

campaign we ran in New Jersey seems to put voters to sleep.

We have to wonder if an issue-based campaign is too boring.

Do voters tune out, and thus fail to turn out?”

She concluded by pointing up a paradox which she said

faced politicians today. “Voters say they want more positive

campaigns. But voters don’t seem to become engaged by

them. And that makes it tough for any candidate to capture

interest and win support.”

Governor Whitman’s visit to the Annenberg School was

arranged by David Eisenhower, Senior Research Investigator

in the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

I N K

unique approach has been

psychological, so a bridge

to cognitive psychology is

spanned as well. Price has

done work that is read by

political psychologists, public

opinion researchers, political

scientists, and communica-

tion researchers.”

Professor Robert Hornik

called Price “a very strong

addition to our faculty. He

will provide great institution-

al strength in the field of

public opinion and survey

research, which is central

to much of the research

we and our students do.”

Professor W. Russell

Neuman noted that Price’s

scholarship “astutely moves

beyond the intellectual tar

baby and endless debate

over big versus minimal

communication effects.

Instead, his work systemati-

cally assesses the conditions

which impede, distort, or

enhance the process of

human communications.”

At ASC, Price will teach

undergraduate coursework

on communication behavior

and graduate coursework

on public opinion.

«3»

«4»

Later in the day, at a panel discussion on“What Gets Covered, What Doesn’t Get Covered,and Why?” New York Times reporter DavidFirestone criticized newspapers for focusing onbig-city mayors to the exclusion of other important urbanpolicy information. “Everything in New York concentrates onone person,” Firestone claimed. “So many things about NewYork do not get covered.” The reporter said he argues withhis own newspaper about assigning staff to cover city agencybusiness, such as City Planning Commission meetings, but tono avail.

At a session on talk radio, Mary Matalin, host of her ownshow on the CBS Talk Radio Network and former politicaladviser to President George Bush, offered the mayors adviceabout how to use talk radio to advantage. “Radio is the mostdemocratized of media, the least visited by cynicism,” shesaid. “I’m there to give people access to public officials.” Butshe emphasized that talk radio requires particular skills from

AmericaLearningMessageThey came froReno, from Fordred mayors froon the Annenbemunicate better

The Confer

“I like mayyou have fewer up to you and cthe subject to acomplains abousubject to familand says the parIraq. There’s a klot of levels of o

Dionne addly hard becauseThe late MayorMichigan in Chthe ing‘Ma

Dean Jamieson greets John Garner, Jr., executive director ofthe Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities (far left),J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director of the U.S. Conferenceof Mayors (center) and Philadelphia Mayor Edward G.Rendell (right) at a reception at Philadelphia’s City Hall.

E.J. Dionne

CA N N

On a more serious note, Dionne said that he saw threedevelopments that boded well for American cities: thegrowth of volunteer and non-profit groups working in part-nership with government; a “back-to-basics” practicality indealing with crime, schools and job creation; and a growingrecognition for the need for regional cooperation.

On Friday morning, Dean Kathleen Hall Jamiesondescribed the work that she and Professor Joseph Cappellahave done on how voters react to news stories focusing oncampaign strategy rather than substance. “People who saw agreat deal of strategy in news stories were more likely to be

’s Mayors at APPC: How To Get a

Acrossm Bellingham and Knoxville, from Erie andt Myers and Virginia Beach. Over one hun-m cities across the United States convergedrg School on March 6 to learn how to com- with their local media and their constituents.ence on City Hall Communication, a joint

onferences…E N B E R G P U B L I C P O L I C Y C E N T E R

Firestone also noted the importance of using visuals toget a message across through the media. “The press arepathetically easy to manipulate with visuals,” he said. “IfMayor Guiliani goes out to a school surrounded by happykids, we put the picture in the paper, and the TV stations eat it up. This is not a hard thing for the mayor to do.”At the same session, Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe faultedlocal newspapers for their short institutional memories. “Weare dealing constantly with reporters who have little or noexperience covering the city. With many newspaper reporters,the institutional memory goes back all of a year. For thetypical TV anchor, it’s two weeks. How do you bring areporter up to speed in such a short time?”

Marc Duvoisin, metro editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer,advised the mayors to “make a lot of information availableand have someone at a fairly high level available to explain it.Mayor Rendell here in Philadelphia had a strategy of over-whelming us with information — and it was effective.”

an official. “They want a sense of you. They want information,but they want it in the context of their life. They want you todemystify what you do.” Philadelphia public radio talk showhost Marty Moss-Coane added her own perspective. “We arelooking for someone who can carry on an hour-long conversa-tion,” she said, advising public officials to establish a rela-tionship with a radio station and get to know the producers.

Also speaking at the conference were: Tanya Husar,assignment editor for WPVI-TV, the ABC affiliate inPhiladelphia; Jan Schaffer, executive director of the PewCenter for Civic Journalism; Jane Eisner, Editorial PageEditor, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Dave Davies, Reporter andColumnist, Philadelphia Daily News; Susan Bennett, EditorialBoard Writer, USA Today; Chris Satullo, Editorial BoardWriter, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Jim Williams, ABC NewsCorrespondent and former press secretary to Chicago’s MayorRichard M. Daley; Martha Moore, national reporter, USAToday; and Reginald Bryant, talk show host at Philadelphia’sWHAT-AM.

initiative of the Annenberg Public

oeobtykiue

“ Di

cynical, to think that the person who won couldn’t make adifference,” she said. She advised the mayors to “never answera strategy question,” but rather to respond by focusing on thesolutions they offer to the problems of their cities.

At the same session, ASC doctoral student Sean Adaypresented findings from a study he conducted analyzing print

and broadcast media coverage of sixU.S. cities. Local television newscontinues to focus predominantly onviolent crime in cities, he said, eventhough crime rates have been declin-ing substantially in the past decade.In newspapers, however, there is notas much focus on crime. “The city isa much safer place in print than onTV,” he said, adding that there was

little relation between crime coverageand actual crime in the cities he studied.

Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell also addressed

Policy Center, the City ofPhiladelphia, and the U.S.Conference of Mayors, was designedto assist mayors in refining theircommunication skills. E.J. Dionne,national columnist for TheWashington Post and Senior Fellow atthe Brookings Institution, kicked offthe conference with a keynote

address Thursday evening atPhiladelphia’s Downtown Club.

rs,” Dionne told those assembled, “becausexcuses than most people. If somebody comesmplains about a pothole, you can’t changeortion. If somebody comes up to you and a street light being out, you can’t change the values, and if somebody comes up to yous are a mess you can’t change the subject tond of accountability that doesn’t exist at a

Sean Aday

N E W S L I N K «5»

the conference, urging mayors to “communicate with yourconstituents what you want to accomplish and why.” Heexplained that when he came into office in 1992 and had todeal with severe fiscal problems, “I wanted to make sure peo-ple understood we weren’t crying wolf. The first six months I

r politics.”d that he thought mayors have it particular-people don’t give you credit for anything.aly once saw a man drowning in Lake

cago and he just walked on the water, pulled

Bryant

N E W S L I N K

was in office, everywhere I went, I said the same thing. ‘Thereisn’t any money. There isn’t any money.’ Everywhere I went, Itried to stay on message.”

man out, and brought him back to land. The next morn- The Chicago Tribune ran the story with the headline,yor Daly Can’t Swim.’”

Mary Matalin and Reginald

NetworkedConsumerHealthInformationUnited States SurgeonGeneral David Satcher (right)unveiled new features andservices for the government’shealth information web site atthe fourth annual Partnerships

«6»

Confid entWhile trust light inthe last few y cans aresatisfied with y 34 pebasically trus was onabout the nat erence o“Deconstruct ViewGovernment” rg PubCenter and T ashingMarch 9, 199

Accordin rch Cethe People an erence,lic’s frustratio s who government t nister imargin of 67 lic wasto have more er thanofficials, wou

Much of f their officials, acco e honesethics of gove e way gment does its Responreferred time onal ansional ethics, “disho“self-aggrand ial inte

The repo p in Amviews. Older ut the snation than w of gove

Samuel Popkin, Political Science Professor at theUniversity of California, San Diego, added that there isvirtually no connection between distrust in government andlow voter turnout in elections. Rather, he said, a public dropin confidence encourages the government to step in, tightencontrol over such things as trade and immigration, and enactmore direct programs.

During a luncheon speech, Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) called on Congress for more effective oversight ofgovernment agencies, in an attempt

“By a margin of

the public was

that fe

officia

CA N N P U

crease in highlyrcente of manyn

lic Policyton, DC on

was not as great among seniors as Baby Boomers. Olderpeople seemed to judge government more on the basis of its performance, while younger ones measured governmentby the quality of its leadership.

In a discussion of the report, Representative StephenHorn (R-CA) said he believed that people closer to govern-

ment have more faith in it becausethey see things get done. “People farfrom government have no trust,because they get press coverage of

ferences…B L I C P O L I C Y C E N T E R

for Networked ConsumerHealth InformationConference.

Co-sponsored by the U.S.Department of Health andHuman Services and theAnnenberg Public Policy Center, the conference was held onApril 28 in Washington. APPC also hosted a second confer-ence with the Department on May 30 on the topic “BringingKnowledge to Point of Use.” That event included a unique“Technology Showcase and Games,” in which developers andvendors demonstrated innovative applications for providingconsumers with health resources. ASC Professor MartinFishbein served as a judge for awards to the best innovationsin information resources about health. The awards were pre-sented by Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

nt tlet. f e

ptod

d nre

tarn

government,” said Horn, who sits on to reduce inefficiency and cut waste.He added that he thought thenegative view Americans havetowards their government was “more troublesome.”

“When you’re talking aboutpoliticians, with rare exception, youare dealing with honest people,” hesaid. However, he added, the mediatend to distort the public’s view ofpolitical leaders. “The negative isalways going to be more interestingand going to be reported most often,” Thompson said.

Also participating in the conference were: ASC DeanKathleen Hall Jamieson; E.J. Dionne, Columnist for TheWashington Post and Senior Fellow at the BrookingsInstitution; Author and Journalist Elizabeth Drew; DavidGergen, Editor-at-large, U.S. News and World Report; MorleyWinograd, Director, National Partnership for ReinventingGovernment, Office of the Vice President; Patricia McGinnis,President and CEO, Council for Excellence in Government;

Senator Fred Thompson

er forhe pub-ad the By aound lected

ublicy andvern-entsprofes-esty,”sts.”ericans’te of thement

the House Government Reform andOversight Committee. He added thathe thought older citizens have moretrust than younger ones because theyhave more interaction with the feder-al government.

Seymour Martin Lipset, Professor ofPublic Policy at the Institute of Public

Policy of George Mason University and Senior Fellow at theHoover Institution at Stanford University, noted that the lev-el of public trust typically follows trends in unemploymentand inflation rates. Why then, he asked, are Americans soreluctant to become more positive toward their government,when we currently have almost full employment? One answerhe offered was that television, as a window to the politicalarena, gives a “terrible” picture.

Representative Steve Horn

N E W S L I N K «7»

and William Galston, former Clinton adviser and Professor,University of Maryland School of Public Affairs.

67 percent to 16 percent,

found to have more trust

N E W S L I N K

deral workers, rather than elected

ls, would do the right thing.”

ence in Governmin government has shown a s

ears, only 20 percent of Ameri the state of the nation and onlt the government. This findingional mood discussed at a confing Distrust: How Americans co-sponsored by the Annenbehe Pew Charitable Trusts in W8. g to a survey by the Pew Resead the Press released at the confn is directed more at politicianhan at civil servants who admipercent to 16 percent, the pubtrust that federal workers, rathld do the right thing.the criticism Americans have ording to the report, involves thrnment leaders, rather than th job, or the direction of policy.and again to violations of persrepeatedly using terms such asizement,” “scandal,” and “specrt also revealed a generation gacitizens were more upbeat aboere younger ones and distrust

onE N B E R G

«8

crewosairesinvththgrAPou

ew Media and New Russia 1994, Vice President Al Gore proposed the creation of

Global Information Infrastructure (GII), which would rve as a “network of networks” across the continents,oviding for technical collaboration between industrializedtions and developing countries and targeting loans forlecommunications network development. On March 9,98, ASC Professor W. Russell Neuman convened a group

political leaders, researchers, journalists, and businessecutives to explore how the GII model could be extended

Community and the developing economies of Asia.” Thereport calls for the development of a self-sustaining Russiannational information infrastructure, developed in partnershipwith the U.S., which would not be dependent on either theRussian government or controlling outside investment.

At the conference, a panel on “The Russian Revolution …in Telecommunications” questioned whether the UnitedStates is ready to enter into a strategic partnership withRussia during Russia’s new revolution. James Collins,Ambassador in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, observed thatRussia is opening itself up to the outside world and “we

Yuri Nesterov, Sergei Kolesnikov,and Hedrick Smith

A

Children andTelevision: APPC atLondon SummitAmy Jordan, APPC Senior ResearchInvestigator for Children and Television,and Douglas Rivlin, Director of APPC-Washington, led a delegation of Americanscholars, producers, and academics to thesecond World Summit on Children andTelevision in London, England March 9-13.

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and SocialScience has published a special volume devoted to the topic of Children and Television, edited by APPC SeniorResearcher Amy B. Jordan and ASC Dean Kathleen HallJamieson. Volume 557 of the Annals was published in May of 1998 by Sage Periodicals Press. The volume containsseveral articles by scholars associated with the AnnenbergSchool:

“Growing Pains: Children’s Television in the New RegulatoryEnvironment” by Amy Jordan and ASC doctoral studentEmory H. Woodard IV

NIna seprnate19ofex

Conferences…N N E N B E R G P U B L I C P O L I C Y C E N T E R

»

APPC awarded eleven travel fellowships inorder to extend U.S. participation beyondthe mainstream, major network representa-tion that dominated the First WorldSummit in Australia in 1996. The five-daymeeting covered a variety of topics — fromthe value of “Teletubbies” as an educationalpreschool program to the importance of

ating global partnerships to provide children around therld with diverse and meaningful programming. Jordand she came back with a renewed commitment to her ownearch on children’s educational television. “It was analuable opportunity to connect with researchers around

e world who grapple with similar issues — concern overe violence and commercialism endemic to children’s pro-amming and the belief that we can do better by kids.”PC is funding a report on the Summit’s proceedings, due

t this fall from the Summit Foundation.

o focus specifically on telecommunications development inoday’s Russia.

The APPC-Washington conference on Russian-merican Partnerships in Telecommunications and Mediaas intended to “light a little fire under Russian-American

elations” in the realm of telecommunications policy, accord-g to Neuman. He noted that while Americans are relieved

t the end of the Cold War and the prospect of dismantlingussian missiles, “there’s a natural weariness and wariness inussian-American relations. To the Russians, Americandifference is misperceived as a deliberate attempt to holdussia back.”

To overcome obstacles to cooperation, Neuman proposedhe creation of a “digital bridge” between Russia and thenited States. An APPC Information and Society Whiteaper released at the conference called for expanding on Viceresident Gore’s GII proposal through:• A special bridging partnership in technology and operat-

ing experience between Russia and the United States;• A unique broadband digital bridge across the Russian

have assumed that forming a partnership is in our strategicinterest.” Lew Cramer, with U.S. West, said his company issupportive of the digital bridge and has been working inRussia for ten years, but noted that “Russian partners don’twant American partners forever.”

Claudia Rossett of the Wall Street Journal questioned theprice tag of a telecommunications revolution. “How muchwill it cost?” she asked. “Who will pay? Who will controlit?” Rossett spoke in favor of private business control of anyventures. “It has worried me for some time … to see U.S. andRussian political leaders meet, and these meetings lead tobusiness deals,” she said. She also questioned whether Russianeeded the most advanced telecommunications technology at this point in time, noting that the last time she visitedcertain parts of Russia, “they were needing electricity.”

Also speaking at the conference were: Robert Gosende,Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy, Moscow; Sergei Kolesnikov,Advisor to the Prime Minister, Moscow; Yevgeniy Kiselev,NTV, Moscow; Yuri Nesterov, Chair, Duma InformationPolicy Subcommittee, Moscow; Hedrick Smith, Hedrick

“Newspaper Coverage of Kids’ TV” by ASC doctoral student Sean Aday

“Ratings for Program Content: The Role of ResearchFindings,” by Joanne Cantor (MA ’71)

“The Good, The Bad, and the Foreign: The Use of Dialect in Children’s Animated Television,” by Julia R. Dobrow (MA’84, PhD ’87) and Calvin L. Gidney

“Children’s Use of VCRs” by Assistant Professor Marie-Louise Mares

“Channel One and the Education of American Youths,” by former ASC Assistant Professor Christine Bachen

tt

AwrinaRRinR

tUPP

N E W S L I N K «9»

Eurasian landmass as a pillar of the GII;• A leapfrog strategy for Russia to bridge the telecommu-

nications and broadcasting sectors of her economy; and• A policy of Most Favored Technology bridging public

and private sector participation. According to the APPC White Paper, Russia’s geopoliti-

al position provides “a unique opportunity to create a superigh-speed, low-cost, secure and reliable, overland opticalber link of data and video between the Atlantic

Smith Productions; Mikhail Kazachkov, Freedom Channel,Boston; Gennady Volkov, Chair, Duma TelecommunicationsCommittee; and Terrence McGarty, Zephyr Telecom, New York.

The conference was fed to a live audio link over theWorld Wide Web to points around the globe. The digitalrecording of the conference, in addition to the White Paper, can now be accessed through the APPC web site(http://www.asc.upenn.edu/appc).

N E W S L I N K

chfi

APPC delegates to the London Summit

In the future, Witt said he thought there would still be demand for “elite newspaper brands,” such as The Wall

Street Journal and The New York Times,“but whether other newspapers cancontinue along those lines, I have my doubts.”

There was also discussion ofwhether consumers distinguishbetween sources of news on the Web.“On the Web,” Witt said, “it’s hard

Local NeWhat will joursearch engines conews and when ito the World W

This was onleaders at an APin the Digital Erorganized by ProHugh Carter DoInformation andNeuman posed sFirst, he warnedwith robust adve— could mask cpart of newspapeinevitably they wmore competitivinsufficiently att

He also raiseits robust archivgiving rise to a nknown as ‘categowhole categoriespers.” He pointerecruitment, anddevelop profitabchallenge competheir revenue baprofit margins, tprices.”

“Beyond cla“the more provokillers’ could miscores or stock poff readers, who one or two areas

«10»

think it’s an extraordinary medium.” He added, “And I con-tinue to believe that there are going to be a lot of people wholook for quality, for in-depth information and a lot ofbreadth. And certainly we in the newspaper business do itbetter than anybody else.”

However, Sikes said the newspaper industry is going tohave to respond to certain challenges. “We’re going to havemore and more workers who work immediately adjacent toscreens, and we’re going to have to do a better and better jobwith our screen-based products. I think if people in the news-

CA N N E

In an opening panel discussion, representatives of theonline newspaper industry discussed the future market forand character of digital news. ASC alumnus MartinNisenholtz (MA ’79), president of The New York Times

Electronic Media Company, com-mented that “one of the things thatbothers me most is this notion of theWeb as a 24-hour quality analysis ofwhat has gone on in the world. Ourview, at The New York Times, is that

ws in the Digital Eranalism look like in an era when Internetmpete with local newspapers to providenteractive television offers high-speed accesside Web? e of the questions addressed by industryPC-Washington conference on “Local Newsa” held April 28, 1998. The conference wasfessor W. Russell Neuman, along withnahue, of the research staff of the APPC

onferences…N B E R G P U B L I C P O L I C Y C E N T E R

to tell whether a story came from TheNew York Times or some idiot with aPC.” Nisenholtz added, “It’s trou-

bling to me that people don’t under-stand the difference between sources. It says something abouta democracy that people don’t know how to assess the infor-mation they’re getting.”

In a later session on “Pioneering New Models” CNN’sVice President for Research and Development, Kenneth D. Tiven, pointed up another issue. “What happens to ademocracy when there are no shared real-time events? Willthere be shared democratic issues?”

At a lunch session, Alan G. Spoon, president of theWashington Post Company, and Al Sikes, president of HearstNew Media and Technology, spoke. According to Spoon,“There are not yet any economics that work on the Web fornews providers like ourselves. We’re doing it perhaps on faithor on fear, trying to build something for the future.”

Sikes, the former chairman of the Federal Communica-tions Commission, offered his view of the future of the news-paper and online industries. “First of all, I believe strongly

we don’t do online what we do in Soceve thartisomrs. ill

e mentd tal aewry of d, a rea

le otitises,o re

ssificatigraricepurof i

paper industry were candid, they’d admit that they wouldjust as soon that the screen go away.” He also cautioned thosepresent that “one of the reasons we should worry most is notthat Yahoo! or Excite know anythingabout the news — whether storieshave been sufficiently researched,whether sources are credible, whetherit should be the number one storyrather than the number 59th story— they don’t know anything aboutthat. But they do know about direc-tories. And in a networked, personalcomputer model of distribution,these companies get the customersfirst.” He advised online newspapers to“choose a more comprehensive approach, so that somebodymight start with me rather than with one of my competitors.”

Also speaking at the conference were: Katherine Fulton,of Global Business Network; Chris Jennewein, Vice Presidentfor Technology and Operations for Knight-Ridder NewMedia; Gene Quinn, Senior Vice President of Online and

Howard Witt

Al Sikes

print. In print, we take stock of theworld everyday in a thoroughly com-prehensive way. But our researchshows that most people don’t view

the Web as a substitute for analysis ofthe daily world.” Rather, Nisenholtz said, people come to theWeb seeking the most up-to-date information. “They want aquick stock quote, they want to know what’s happeningnow.” The challenge for newspapers is to gain brand recogni-tion as sources of “continuous news online.”

Nisenholtz said that unlike some in the newspaperindustry, who worry about competition from Internet searchengines and other news providers, his concern was with a“secular trend, namely the drop in literacy rates, the fact thatpeople don’t read a newspaper every day, that the news holefor legislative affairs is disappearing. This has nothing to dowith technology. It has to do with global forces that are more troubling.”

Howard Witt, associate managing editor for interactivenews for the Tribune Company, said he was “quite worried”

iety Program. In his opening remarks,ral issues warranting industry attention.t the present rosy economic climate —ing revenues and low newsprint pricespetitive decline and delay response on the“When any of these variables change, as, newspaper publishers will encounterarkets and may find that they were

ive to new entrants in electronic media.”he issue of classified advertising. “Withnd searching capacities, the Internet is genre of online classified advertisingkillers,’ because they could decimateclassified advertising printed in newspa-s examples, to online automobile, jobl estate advertising. “Unless newspapers

nline advertising sites of their own tove threats that category killers pose to publishers could be forced to lower adduce content or to raise subscription

Martin Nisenholtz

that people are going to continue to want news on paper. Iabout the future. “Broadband keeps me awake at night,” hesaid. “Five years from now, when there is high speed access tothe Web through TV sets — when we enter the world ofinteractive television — you are going to see something very

ed advertising,” Neuman continued,ve issue is to what extent ‘categoryte to specific news content, like sportss and develop achase newspapnterest.”

N E W S L I N K «11»

Interactive Services for MTV Networks; and Mark Thalhimer,Director of the News in the Next Century Project for theRadio and Television News Directors Foundation.

new. Newspapers will be competitively disadvantaged in thisworld of video.”

s Web sites siphoning ers preponderantly for

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FacultyinPrint

Communicationand Race: AStructuralPerspective byOscar Gandy, Jr.(Arnold, 1998)

Communication and Race:

A Structural Perspective

represents the first

comprehensive textbook

synthesizing research on

race and the media. The

book, which is interna-

tional in scope, provides a review of scholarly approaches to

understanding the place of race and ethnicity in the evolving

systems of information media. It explores the concept of race

through three streams of analysis: media systems and institu-

tions; communication frames and symbolic representations;

and social constructions. Drawing on insights from behav-

ioral science, political economy, and the more interpretative

strands of contemporary cultural studies, the book enters

directly into the contemporary debate about structure and

agency, and ends by proposing an agenda for the development

of critical theory in the area of race and ethnicity.

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“The identities which are defined by race, gender, and class,or social position, are likely to be a powerful influence on our media choices. However, our ‘present’ identities, definedexternally on the basis of objective features, may not actuallybe the identities that guide our media use. Who we are maynot be who we intend to be. Thus, it is important to recog-nize the influence of anticipatory socialization as a factor thatexplains the tastes and preferences of media audiences. This isespecially relevant with regard to young people who are inthe process of developing both preferences and expectations …”

“At the time of its introduction, Ebony magazine wastargeted to an upwardly mobile, primarily Northern Blackaudience. Integration was the cornerstone of Ebony’s editorialpolicy, and the success of light-skinned Blacks was a promi-nent feature. Perhaps if one considered an interracial marriagethe penultimate form of integration, surpassed only by ‘pass-ing’ as White as the ultimate form, then Ebony’s dependenceon advertisers that proffered skin lightening creams andstories that featured interracial marriage makes perfect sense.News stand sales certainly appeared to demonstrate a prefer-ence for such stories. Among the most popular issues thatEbony published during its early years was one focusing onromances between Black GIs and German frauleins. Theother was a feature on ‘Five million US White Negroes.’What kind of racial identity shall we assume these readerswere motivated toward preserving?”

— From Communication and Race: A Structural Perspective

L I N K

O

neF a c u l t y

D E A N J A M I E S O N

Wins Lindback Award

One of the most prestigiousawards for excellence in col-lege teaching this year wentto Annenberg School DeanKathleen Hall Jamieson. TheLindback Award for Distin-guished Teaching, estab-lished in 1961 at 42 collegesand universities by Christianand Mary Lindback, recog-nized the Dean as one ofeight University facultymembers whose teachinghas been “intellectuallydemanding, unusuallycoherent, and permanent in its effect.”

In making the presenta-tion at a ceremony April 23,Acting Provost MichaelWachter called DeanJamieson’s teaching “leg-endary.” Wachter noted

that the Dean’s students fre-quently mention her lastinginfluence on their professionalchoices, with some changingmajors, and directions,because of her. He alsoapplauded the way sheinvolves students in researchprojects, noting that at least66 undergraduates and 106graduate students haveworked with her on spon-sored research.

Students were enthusi-astic in their praise of theDean’s teaching. One said ofher, “Dean Jamieson is bril-liant, but, more importantly,she has found a waythrough her teaching andmentoring to make thatknowledge meaningful toher students.”

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Another student noted,“If you have ever wanted to hear the sound of a pindropping in a room of 150people, I recommend you sit in on one of KathleenJamieson’s classes. If thestandard of what theLindback Award representsincludes a gift for teaching,a personal commitment toeducation, and support ofPenn students beyond whatoccurs in the classroom, thenthe Committee could ask forno finer nominee thanKathleen Hall Jamieson.”

One ASC graduate stu-dent said what was impor-tant to her was the Dean’s“faith in the ability of herstudents.” The studentexplained, “She believes in

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{ more

their intelligence and compe-tence, their capacity to con-tribute new ideas and toengage in scholarship wor-thy of attention. This faith inour ability as students spursus to challenge ourselves:she sets high expectations,provides tools and resourcesto help us live up to them,and enables those whostudy under her and workwith her to surpass what wethought were our limits.”

Dean Jamieson is thesecond Annenberg Schoolfaculty member to receivethe Lindback Award. Associ-ate Professor Carolyn Marvinwon the Award in 1992.

ws…

Dean Jamieson serves cake to Associate Professor Carolyn Marvin (right) at a recep-tion in honor of the Dean’s Lindback Award. Professors Larry Gross and CharlesWright look on.

«13»

f aculty news on page page 23 }

( )a l u m n i n e w s

M . A . & P h . D . P r o g r a m

David Andrusia (MA ’80) has published two recent books, ThePerfect Pitch: How To Sell Yourself For Today’s Job Market (WarnerBooks) and New York Hot and Hip (Evans and Co.)

Derek Bousé (MA ’89, PhD ’91) has been appointed AssociateProfessor of Communication at Montana State University inBillings. His most recent research project is evaluating and mea-suring the conservation “effectiveness” of natural history television.

Howard Burkat (MA ’65) has been appointed Vice Presidentof Entertainment Media Marketing at Don Jagoda Associates, afull-service promotion and marketing agency.

Julie Dobrow (MA ’84, PhD ’87) is Acting Director of theCommunications and Media Studies Program and Coordinatorof Family and Media Initiatives at the Eliot-Pearson Departmentof Child Development at Tufts University.

Julie Eisenberg (MA ’86) is a freelance writer of independent-ly produced videos in Washington, DC.

Robin Nabi (MA ’94, PhD ’98) has been appointed AssistantProfessor of Communication at the University of Arizona. Shewill be teaching in the areas of mass media effects and socialinfluence and doing research on emotion and persuasion, as wellas on public health campaigns.

Eleanor Novek (MA ’90, PhD ’94), Monmouth UniversityAssistant Professor of Communication, served as ActingDirector of the 1998 Governor’s School for Public Issues and theFuture of New Jersey, which enrolls 90 high school seniors forsummer sessions as Governor’s Scholars.

Tony Pals (MA ’95) has become Assistant Director for PublicAffairs at the National Association of Independent Colleges andUniversities.

David Phillips (MA ’94, PhD ’98) has been named AnnenbergSchool Coordinator of a new undergraduate Digital MediaDesign major offered in conjunction with the School ofEngineering and Applied Science and the Graduate School of Fine Arts. He will also be teaching a course on the History of Communication Technology.

N E W S«14»

David Perlmutter (MA ’91), Area Head of PoliticalCommunication in Lousiana State University’s Manship Schoolof Mass Communication, has been named to the board of direc-tors of the American Association of Political Consultants.

Catharine Riegner (MA ’95) directs her own market researchfirm, MindShare, in San Francisco, CA, providing online surveyresearch, site design research, and traffic reach and frequencyanalyses.

Brian Rusted (MA ’80), Associate Professor at the Universityof Calgary, recently received the Teaching Excellence Awardfrom the University’s Student Union, in recognition of his workin communications studies and folklore. He edits the journalStudies in Cultures, Organizations, and Societies, published byHarwood Academic Publishing.

Lynn Tomlinson (MA ’91) conducted a seminar on heranimation work at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania inApril. Tomlinson, who teaches animation at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, has produced spots for publicprograms such as “Sesame Street,” as well as for cable networks.

Ann Weiss (MA ’94) showed her photographic exhibit “Eyesfrom the Ashes,” at the Hunter Museum of American Art inChattanooga, TN from February 21 through March 21, 1998.“Eyes From the Ashes” is a collection of personal photographsbrought to the Auschwitz concentration camp, which were hid-den and saved by Holocaust victims.

Edmond Weiss (MA ’65), Associate Professor of Communica-tions at Fordham University’s Graduate School of BusinessAdministration, continues to manage Crown Point Communica-tions, a training and consulting firm that specializes in scientific,technical, and management communications.

L I N K

( )a l u m n i n e w s

U n d e r g r a d u a t e C o m m u n i c a t i o n M a j o r s

Christina Antonopolous (BA ’91) is Graphic Designer forCDI Group in New York City.

David Arnold (BA ’90) is Writer/Editor for ParagonEngineering Services in Houston, TX.

Susan Baer (BA ’87) is an Associate at Ogilvy, Adams &Rinehart in New York City.

Daniel Berman (BA ’95) is Account Coordinator at Gauger &Silva in San Francisco, CA.

Sundeep Bhan (BA ’94) is President of Obelisk Interactive inNew York City.

Perry Bromwell (BA ’87) is currently playing and coachingprofessional basketball in Europe and has recently published TheStudent-Athlete’s Handbook, a guide for high school athletes whoare making college decisions.

Leslie Cohen (BA ’85) is Vice President for Business Develop-ment at SONY Music Entertainment in New York City.

Jonathan Cutler (BA ’93) is Assistant Product Director forJohnson & Johnson in Fort Washington, PA.

Rochelle Eisenberg (BA ’85) is Account Supervisor forPublic Relations at Trahan, Burden and Charles, Inc. inBaltimore, MD.

Doug Emanuel (BA ’91) is an attorney at Goldenberg & Muriin Providence, RI.

Jeff Golenberg (BA ’91) is Senior Account Executive-PublicRelations at Bragon Nyoan Cafarell Public Relations in BeverlyHills, CA.

Vivian Holmstrom-Frosch (BA ’86) is Director of Grants &Licensing at Apple, Inc. in Happauge, NY.

Jo-ann Hines-Gamble (BA ’91) is FM Programming Assistantat WDAS in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Michael Karz (BA ’89) is President and Producer, KarzEntertainment, in Burbank, CA.

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Douglas Leferovich (BA ’94) is a ProfessionalEntertainer/Magician with The Gamesters in Los Angeles, CA.

Tommy Leonardi (BA ‘95) is a freelance photographer workingin Philadelphia and co-author of a column for Point Of Viewmagazine in New York City.

Jeff Lichtman (BA ’93) is Brand Manager for The QuakerOats Company in Chicago, IL.

Nita Longo (BA ’88) is Communications Manager for FidelityInvestments in Lovington, KY.

David Martin (BA ’95) is Reporter at WOFL-TV Fox 35News in Lake Mary, FL.

Aimee Miller (BA ’95) is Project Assistant at Fairmont CapitalAdvisors in Philadelphia, PA.

Barbara Rebell Nelson (BA ’92) is Producer for NightlyBusiness Report in New York City.

Maggie Rhodes (BA ’94) is Buyer at Lord & Taylor in NewYork City.

Allison Rosenberg (BA ’92) is Director at Sawyer MillerConsulting in New York City.

Heather Rosenbloom (BA ’92) is Consultant at TowersPerrin in Philadelphia, PA.

Eliot Rudnicki (BA ’94) is Business Analyst at MBNAAmerica Bank in Wilmington, DE.

Diana Sabloff (BA ’90) is Administrative Assistant at Pfizer,Inc. in New York City.

Stephen Sclafani (BA ’93) is Founder and Executive Directorof Baseball Factory Foundation, Inc in Columbia, MD.

Alan Sepinwall (BA ’96) is Reporter and TV Critic for theStar-Ledger in Newark, NJ.

Karima Zedan (BA ’98) is Associate Editor at The Player, amonthly business/society magazine, in Philadelphia, PA.

L I N K «15»

Kyle Cassidy

Buildingin ProcessA view from theparking lot: anew entrance tothe School willbe created.

«

How is the School’s majorreconstruction project pro-gressing through the sum-mer of 1998? We askedLarry Gross, chair of theBuilding Committee, togive us a progress report.

“This is not the best time fora nostalgic visit to theAnnenberg School.Once you figure out how toget in to the building —the Walnut Street entranceis reduced to rubble — youwould be disappointed innot being able to browse thelibrary, which is now a largeopen space lacking walls orfloors, or to check out yourold office space on theground floor, because thoserooms have also been demol-ished. And, were you look-ing forward to a performancein the Annenberg SchoolAuditorium you’d be disap-pointed by the hollow spacewhere the stage used to be

16»

and the floor shorn of seats.In other words, we’re wellinto the deconstructionphase of the building pro-ject. But, as Yeats said, allthings fall and are builtagain, and the school’s oldbuilding will rise from therubble, renewed and reinvig-orated in time for the startof the Fall 1999 semester.So, make your plans to comeback and visit us in late1999 or early 2000!” — Larry Gross

Undergraduate and graduatecourses continue to be held in theSchool during the reconstruction.Graduate student and APPCstaff offices have been temporari-ly relocated to the AmericanLaw Institute at 4025Chestnut Street.

For more views of thereconstruction, see the ASC web page:http://www.asc.upenn.edu

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S P R I N G 1 9 9 8

ASC Colloquium Series

Dhavan ShahUniversity of MinnesotaValues and the Vote: Explorations in Framing and Electoral Decision MakingJanuary 16

Eusebio M. AlvaroUniversity of ArizonaPassive, Active, and IndirectStrategies for Overcoming Non-Compliance: PreliminaryInvestigations in the Health and Intergroup ContextsJanuary 20

Bob McChesneyAuthorThe Global MediaJanuary 23

Marc HetheringtonUniversity of VirginiaThe Political Implications of Declining Political TrustFebruary 24

Arthur LupiaUniversity of California, San DiegoThe Democratic Dilemma: CanCitizens Learn What They Need To Know?February 27

Vincent PriceUniversity of MichiganInformation, Activation,Organization: Media Roles in Public Opinion DynamicsMarch 3

Simon L. GarfinkelJournalist and AuthorPrivacy, Economic, and Legal Issues Surrounding Identity Theft in Electronic CommerceMarch 18

Nolan BowieTemple UniversityTele Visions 2010: A CyberspaceOdyssey or A Preview of aDemocratic Information Society for the Digital AgeMarch 19

L I N K

Throughout the 1997-98 academic year, the Annenberg Public Policy Centerco-sponsored with the Afro-AmericanStudies Program and the Center for theStudy of Black Literature and Culture, aseries of discussion sessions:

ASC Professor Oscar Gandy andLawrence Bobo, Professor ofSociology, Harvard UniversityStructuring Race Through Time and SpaceNovember 14, 1997

Loretta Sweet Jemmott, Professor,School of Nursing, University ofPennsylvania, Earl Smith, Professor of Sociology, Wake Forest University,and Kenneth Shropshire, WhartonSchool of BusinessBlack, White, and Green: Demystifying Race and Social Status in the ProfessionsJanuary 16, 1998

Farah Griffin, Professor of English,University of Pennsylvania, and Robin Kelley, Professor of History, New York UniversityStrange Fruit — Straight, No Chaser: A Discourse on Billie Holiday andThelonius MonkMarch 20, 1998

Houston Baker, Professor in theCenter for the Study of Black Literatureand Culture, University of Pennsylvaniaand Manthia Diawara, Professor inthe Program in Africana Studies andDepartment of Comparative Literature,New York University April 17, 1998

The Du Bois CollectiveColloquium Series

“

James Taylor Delivers Gerbner Lecture

When I was writing a preface for my new book, I went back to a paper I wrote for George Gerbner’sseminar in the autumn of 1966. It made me real-

ize that I have been asking variations on the same question Iraised then, ever since. It’s a very simple question: ‘What isan organization?’ It sounds like a dumb question, I know.Everybody knows what an organization is. That’s true, in away, but it is probably more accurate to say, to paraphraseMark Twain, that everybody talks about organization, butnobody actually knows what it is.”

Thus began James Taylor (PhD ’78 ), as he delivered thetenth annual George Gerbner Lecture on “The EmergingOrganization: Communication as Site and Surface.” TheLecture series was established in 1989 to honor DeanEmeritus George Gerbner. The former dean of the AnnenbergSchool and his wife Ilona were in attendance for the Lecture,held April 22. Taylor is Professor of Communication at theUniversity of Montreal.

In his lecture, Taylor noted that in the early twentiethcentury there was a “yawning gap” between the “macro” and“micro” theories of organization. The Classical Theory viewedorganizations as hierarchically structured objects analyzed foroptimal design, while the Human Relations School focusedon motivation, morale, and leadership. The gap between thetwo approaches to understanding organizations continued,Taylor said, until the 1960s when scholars rediscovered theimportance of discourse in human affairs.

Taylor applauded Anthony Giddins’s work, which usedactions as a way of explaining both the macro world of socialinstitutions and the micro world of subjectivity, but said itsweakness lay in a “neglect of language. I think all communi-cation is embedded in other activities,” Taylor said. “What Iam suggesting is to rethink communication, first as an activi-ty, and also as a component within an activity.”

“Power,” he declared, “is mediated by communication.”Taylor’s aim, he said, was to develop what he called a

“situated theory of communication,” in which “authoritative

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and allocative resources necessarily complement each other:both are part of what it means to be caught up in an activity.”Over the years, Taylor said, he has often been frustrated byhow other scholars think about the subject of organizationalcommunication. “They seem to mostly see it as communica-tion in organization. To me, this leaves unaddressed the ques-tion of what organization is. I share John Dewey’s view thatorganized society exists not through communication but incommunication.”

Taylor went on to propose a view in which languagebecame the “vital resource in which organizational knowl-edge is stored. I am trying to give to language a new empha-sis as the central carrier of organizational structure: thatwhich binds situated practices together in time and space.”He made the argument that structure is stored in language,“and it is language-in-use that enables us to reconstruct oursociety in each interactional episode that we find ourselves in.Communication, as conversation, provides a site for the emer-gence of organization; the language that we use to communi-cate furnishes its surface.”

Taylor was a successful radio and television producer forthe Canadian Broadcasting System when he came to theAnnenberg School as both student and director of the televi-sion lab. He went on to found the department of communica-tion at the University of Montreal. “George Gerbnerbequeathed me a model of what a university program in com-munication studies should be, and the Annenberg School andPenn instilled in me deep concepts of what it means to be ascientific researcher. Now these same ideas have taken deeproots elsewhere in my department in Montreal.”

Taylor concluded by expressing his joy at returning toASC. “There is a cycle in the academic as in all life, and myhaving been invited here today, as I envisage retirement, is areminder of the fullness of life, and the richness of the disci-pline we have been, and will continue to be, investing in. Ithas been a wonderful moment for me, and an honor I shallnever forget.”

George Gerbner (left) and James Taylor

L I N K «17»

«18»

en

A

V

88

dnt

io

Peter Brodnitz (MA’94), Director, Penn and Schoen

On March 27, 1 nythe speakers urge eallucky, you have the Web,” Dara Carr told students, noting how easy it now is to locate a home page on the World Wide Web in orderresearch a firm. Other rdto make contacts with p Bat a conference, that’s w ogetting an “in” at an o t dents network to find o riConrad of LHK Partn d

Advertising

Christine Messina(BA ’90), BroadcastSupervisor, BozellWorldwide

Christine Scoma (MA ’95), AccountExecutive, Earle Palmer Brown

Lynn Pinkus(BA ’94), AccountExecutive,McCann Erickson

Non-profit Commun

Dara Carr (MA ’9Operations Officer,Demographic & Health Surveys, Macro Internationa

Katharina Kopp (MA ’92,PhD ’97), Senior PolicyAnalyst, Center for MEducation

Lorie Slass (MA ’90Communications DirFamilies USA

1 9 9 8

Market/Survey Research &

Business Development

Public Relations/Promotion

(BA ’96) Client Executive,Burson Marsteller

for example. We sold her as the heart and soul of the movie, acomeback story. All that publicity helped us to broaden the audiencefor the movie, to get an older audience.”

Showing the students front page stories from trade magazinessuch as Variety, Noto explained how the coverage changed fromscrutiny of the film for signs of disaster, to chronicles of its buildingmomentum. “Usually, a film gains momentum, then falls off. Titanicjust kept building.” As its phenomenal success became apparent,Noto said, the marketing images changed. “Once you’re sure theship is not sinking at the box office, you can start doing publicityshowing the ship sinking. You have to constantly adapt the imagesyou use as the environment shifts.”

Later in the day, Noto sat down to answer questions from 20undergraduate communication majors interested in careers in filmand public relations. He told the group that one of the most valuablethings they can bring to the industry is a conceptual approach. “Youneed a way of thinking that the Annenberg School gives you. A lotof people don’t think a project through. In any publicity campaign,you have to think about who, what, why, when, and to what effect.It’s a process. Here at Annenberg I think you learn how to under-stand such processes. The training you get here is great.”

Noto answered questions on marketing across different nations(“In Japan, the androgenous male is very popular; in Korea, wepushed action”), on how he is affected by mass media synergy(“We’ve realized recently the problems that can arise with synergy,when our new Nickelodeon ‘Rugrats’ movie couldn’t be advertisedon the Disney channel”), and how he deals with a film as it movesfrom theaters to cable to broadcast television (“As the time spanshrinks between those venues, exhibitors are saying ‘I’m not interest-ed if the window is too small.’”)

As students handed him resumes, and Noto passed his cardaround freely, student Emelda Wong shook her head in appreciation.“I can’t believe that someone as influential as he is would spend somuch time answering all of our questions. This was awesome.”

A Career Day Special Event:Blaise Noto Talks AboutLaunching Titanic

How do you draw an audience to see ahigh-budget period piece starring twounknown actors, a movie loaded with specialeffects at a time when special effects filmswere flopping at the box office?

It was hard for the students inCommunications 130, Mass Media andSociety, to believe that the film in question,described to them by Blaise Noto (MA ’85),was none other than the smash box-office hit

utive Vice President, Worldwide Publicity, for’ Motion Picture Group, shared with students anParamount went about planning the film’s publici-mmer of 1997. The priority, he said, was toages and assiduously avoid others. “By picking

ase,” he said, “you can control what happens.ories as best you can”early on to keep a very contemporary image to” Noto said. “We also decided to go aftering off males. We did that by trying to sell theage of Leo and Kate on the ship that was put onld show the action scenes without giving them was that if we sold the movie to women, menith women. We would focus on the love story

effects be a bonus.” that Paramount determinedly avoided theges that could provoke negative publicity. “Some

shots for the film were of director Jim Cameronanding in two feet of water. But we neverause we didn’t want to see them turn up withIs Cameron Drowning? Is Cameron In Over Hisose early on never to release a shot showing

t,

),

,

n

ofly

erutfstu-sten:

D a y

Titanic. Noto, ExecParamount Picturesinside look at how ty strategy in the sushowcase certain imthe images you releYou try to control st

“We decided marketing this film,females without turnlove story — the imthe poster. We wouaway. The thinkingwere going to go wand let the special

Noto also saidrelease of other imaof our first publicityshooting a scene streleased them, becstories headlined, ‘Head?’ And we chthe ship sinking.”

998, 25 alumni came back to the Annenberg School to share their professional experiences with current students. Mad students to undertake research before interviewing for a job — or even before looking for positions. “You people are r

C a r e e r “The Annenberg Name Means Something”

Television Production

Ray Murray, PresidBanyan Productions

alumni speakers, particularly those in the non-profit sector, suggested students attend professional conferences in ootential employers. “I barely have time to return my mother’s calls,” said Brigette Rouson from Ms. Foundation.“hen I have time to talk to people.” Many of the speakers from the television industry emphasized the importancerganization, and working in any capacity to get experience. Almost all of the alumni speakers recommended thaut about positions — particularly with ASC alumni, who they said welcome such calls. And they agreed, as Kers put it, that “the Annenberg name means something.” The panels and speakers on this year’s program include

Brigette Rouson (MA’94), Senior Program Officer,Ms. Foundation for Women

Cass Conrad (MA ’95),Project Manager, New YorkTimes Co.

Glenn Holsten (B’84), DocumentaryProducer, WHYY-T

New Media

Neil Epstein (BA ’Vice President forStrategy Planning anBusiness Developme

Television

Chris Barlow(BA ’89), Producer, NFL Films

Donna Crilley (BA ’86),Reporter/Anchor, WBRE-TV

Kristen Conrad (MA’92), Account Manager,LHK Partners

Tanya Hands(MA ’95), Senior ResearchAnalyst, Nickelodeon

Viacom InteractiveServices

Syma Sambar(BA ’92), Product Manager/Producer,Nickelodeon

Political Communicat

ication

2),

l

Ingrid Hubler(BA ’88), Director ofAffiliate Marketing andPromotion, NBC CableNetworks

Nancy Weiner (BA ’95), Reporter, HawaiiNews 8

LiRon Anderson-Bell(BA ’91) VH-1 Networks

Diana Lin(BA ’93), GlobalCommunications Manager,Calvin Klein Cosmetics

Shannon Richardson

N E W S L I N K «19»

Another element in trying to control the film’s publicity was cen-tered on keeping the media from portraying Cameron as “the $200million director” or the “man out of control.” This they did by “being

. We let Jim talk to the press. When you have a problem,e director out there and talking.” Much effort was also putg the actors and actresses in the film on the covers of mag-ou also want to build a star,” Noto said. “Gloria Stuart,

Blaise Noto answers questionsfrom students after his lecture.

N E W S L I N K

Kiersten Stewart(MA ’96) Press Secretary,Rep. Maurice Hinchey’sOffice

edia

),ector,

Christopher Adasiewicz (MA ’97), Project Directorfor Princeton SurveyResearch Associates

Dan Tauber (BA ’96),Public Relations Specialist,RCN Corporation

responsiveyou get thinto gettinazines. “Y

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A May 18, 1998

A nies on May 18, 25 mas-te stage for the last officialfu auditorium before recon-st or a sample of thesis topics

ASC MA Thesis Topics: A Sample

“Variations in the Interpretation of America From Abroad: APerspective on the Influence of Imported American Media on theTurkish Audience,” by Idil Cakim

“Media Reflexivity: An Analysis of the Coverage of the Media In TimeMagazine from 1950-1980,” by Laura Segal

Dean Jamieson with graduate David Phillips

Far right: Graduate student Arul Baskaran (left) with ProfessorCharles Wright and John Isaacs

Far left: CGross wiMandelb

Graduatewith ASCspeaker

«20»

Margaret Allen

GraduatiNancy Lee

“How Relationships and Single Users are Portrayed: AContent Analysis of Newsweek Ads from 1965-1990”Supervisor: Klaus Krippendorff

David Nathanson

“The Settop Box as the Gateway to the Individuals withinthe Home: A Case Study of Cablevision Systems Corporation”

U N D E R G R A D U A T E S

or Honors Theses in Communication 1997-1998

year, many outstanding undergraduate students major-n communication choose to write a senior honors thesis,d on high quality research produced under the supervi- of an Annenberg School faculty member. In order toify to write an honors thesis, students must have a grade

arolyn Marvin and Larryth Clara and Juanaum

student Stacy Benjamin alumnus and graduation

Bill Novelli

ASC

welbaum (MA ’80) received

th rd, presented each year toan ol who has achieved dis-ti o has also embodiedA scholarship in the serviceo

aid tribute toM nd of career that many o e hand, he is the head o mpany serving both thep other hand, he is also t dependent documentaryfi dely and have receivedn

lbaum said, “This Schoolr re in 1977 with my wifeC rgentina) in great turmoil.T s of learning for me.L s of film with Amos Vogel,

“A Content Analysis of Talk Shows on Domestic Violence Compared toOutcomes from a Survey of Domestic Violence,” by A.D. Sunderland

ASC PhD Thesis Topics

“Digital Cash and the Surveillance Society: Negotiating Identificationin New Consumer Payment Systems,” by David Phillips

“Reasoning Through Emotion: An Explication and Test of a Cognitive-Functional Model for the Effects of Discrete Negative Emotions onInformation Processing, Attitude Change, and Recall,” by Robin Nabi

Excerpts from Commencement Address by William Novelli(MA ’64), President, National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids

“A career path doesn’t have to be a straight line. Follow your interests;be sure you are learning and being challenged at each step, and onegood thing will lead to another.”

“Don’t accept a boring career or even a boring job, for very long,and above all, don’t accept reporting to someone you don’t respect or someone you can’t learn from.”

Supervisor: Joseph Turow

Daniel Orr

“Digital Discourse: The Rise of the Internet in Politics andIts Effect on Political Communication”Supervisor: Kathleen Hall Jamieson

Ellen Trachtenberg

“Towards an Understanding of How and Why News MediaUse Racial and Ethnic Language”Supervisor: Carolyn Marvin

1998 Senior Awards

The following awards were presented at the undergraduatecommencement ceremony May 17, 1998.

The Honorable Walter H. Annenberg Award for Service waspresented to three students: Cheryl Harmelin for her ongoingefforts in the Philadelphia community providing tutoring,

int average in the major of at least 3.5. This year ten stu-nts out of a total of 85 graduated with honors in themmunication major. Their paper topics follow:

na Albert

onstructing the City: Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia”pervisor: Barbie Zelizer

layne Austin

onceptualizing Crime Coverage: The Daily Pennsylvaniand Crime”pervisor: Barbie Zelizer

zabeth Ceisler

elling Masculinity: A Study of Advertising in Men’sagazines”pervisor: Laura Grindstaff

mie Garfunkel

he Mature Market in the Age of Segmentation: The Effects

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emergency room volunteering, and victim assistance servicesin the Philadelphia courts, and to Amy Stover and Ellen

Trachtenberg for their diligent efforts in organizing andstaging various career, internship, and course panel sessionsfor current Communication students and faculty.

sing Older or Younger Models in Print Advertisements”rvisor: Paul Messaris

e Kao

and Censorship: An Analysis of Sexuality in Fifty Yearslm History from rvisor: Paul Mess

ifer Lang

Social Constructertisements in Tervisor: Kathleen

R dies, Bob Hornik’s course o all the work I did hereha ve found Annenberg grad-ua ave a bond. The experi-en ke anything we would getan

“Part of the art of career enhancement is to be selective and strive toalways join quality organizations and team up with high-performancepeople. Always be in training and in preparation for the next opportunity.”

“Remember, you’re hot stuff, and you have choices. I’m not advocat-ing for frequent or indiscriminate job-hopping, but rather for goodstair-stepping.”

«21»

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The George Gerbner Award for Best Honors Thesis by agraduating senior was presented to Elizabeth Ceisler.

The Kathleen Hall Jamieson Award to the graduating senior with the highest GPA in the major was awarded to Marlena Brawer

1946 to 1995”aris

ion of Female Identity through Producten and Women’s Fashion Magazines”Hall Jamieson

n19H E G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T

nnenberg Commencement

t M.A./Ph.D. graduation ceremor’s and doctoral students took thenction in the Annenberg School ruction began. (See box at right fritten by ASC graduates.)

At the ceremonies, Juan Mande Merrill Panitt Citizenship Awa alumnus of the Annenberg Scho

nction in her or his career, and wh

mbassador Annenberg’s vision of f society.

ASC Professor Paul Messaris pandelbaum: “Juan has had the ki

f our students aspire to. On the onf a successful media production corivate and public sectors. On the he creator of a growing body of inlms that have been shown very wiumerous awards and honors.”

In accepting the award, Mandeeally changed my life. I arrived helara, leaving behind a country (Ahe Annenberg School was an oasiooking at frame-by-frame analysiay Birdwhistell’s living room stun development communications —

s stayed with me all my life. I hates everywhere — we always hce we got in this School was unliywhere else.”

News…G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T

Veronica Davison and Nicole Dickerson host debate.(In background, ASC staff members Beverly Henry and Stuart Jasper.)

ASC Grad Students Moderate Local Election Debate

Residents of the Southwest Philadelphia community of Kingsessing

were able to hear candidates for state government discuss issues

affecting the neighborhood, thanks to the efforts of two Annenberg

School graduate students. On May 7, 1998, ASC doctoral student

Veronica Davison and master’s student Nicole Dickerson moderated a

debate between three candidates running in the Democratic primary

for state representative: James Roebuck, Rufus Lynch, and Thelma

Peake. The debate, which was held at the Kingsessing Community

Center, was sponsored by the Southwest Action Coalition (SWAC), in

an attempt to get residents more involved in the election process. The

graduate students contacted the community organization about the

debate at the urging of ASC administrative assistant Beverly Henry,

who is a resident of the neighborhood and member of SWAC.

N E W S«22»

Davison and Dickerson prepared questions for all the candidates on a

variety of issues, from what measures they would take to monitor the

performance of caseworkers and ensure that welfare recipients are

properly assisted to what programs they would support to service the

youth population of Southwest Philadelphia. Some questions were

addressed specifically to the incumbent, Jim Roebuck, such as what he

had done in office to ensure that women in the district had access to

affordable prenatal care and pediatric facilities and what efforts he

had made to get Southwest Philadelphia included in the city’s plans for

empowerment zones.

Beverly Henry said she came up with the idea of an ASC student-mod-

erated debate because she wanted the students to experience local

politics and local community organizations and she also wanted to

provide the neighborhood with exposure to Penn’s Annenberg School.

“I particularly wanted to showcase our African American students,”

Henry said, explaining that community residents all too often have the

impression that Penn is an all-white institution.

“Nicole and Veronica were really impressive,” she said. “They really

controlled that debate. The people who came are still talking about it.”

The students also found the experience valuable. “The debate provid-

ed an excellent forum for me to put to work the skills I’ve learned in my

work on Dean Jamieson’s grant team,” said Davison. “Most important,

the residents of Southwest Philadelphia, some of whom are disenchant-

ed with the lack of interest Penn students have shown toward improv-

ing the community, saw first-hand that Penn students do care about

Southwest Philadelphia and are willing to make a contribution to the

neighborhood that surrounds the University.”

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etc…news…F a c u l t y { continued f rom page page 13 }

Joseph Cappella Oscar Gandy Larry Gross

Robert Hornik Carolyn Marvin Joseph Turow

Gandy and NeumanReceive AwardsProfessor Oscar Gandy receivedthe 1998 Dallas Smythe Awardfrom the Union for DemocraticCommunications (UDC) at theJune UDC meetings in SanFrancisco, CA. The award,named for the ground-breakingpolitical economist of commu-nication, is given for excellencein research, teaching, andadvising in international demo-cratic communication.

Professor W. RussellNeuman received the 1997Donald McGannon Award forSocial and Ethical Relevance in

Communication PolicyResearch for his book, TheGordion Knot: Political Gridlockon the Information Highway,written with Lee McKnightand Richard Jay Solomon.Instituted in 1987, the awardhas been given annually byFordham University’s DonaldMcGannon CommunicationResearch Center. According toCenter Director James Capo,the judges were particularlyimpressed by the book’s histori-cal perspective and “constructiveeffort in addressing and untan-gling the obstacles that confrontthis emerging technology.”

Term ChairsAwardedThe Annenberg School hasawarded six term chairs tomembers of its faculty: JosephCappella to the Media and theDialogue of Democracy Chair(to be named), Oscar Gandy tothe Herbert I. Schiller Chair inInformation and Society; LarryGross to the Sol Worth Chair in

Graduate Teaching and Advising;Robert Hornik to the WilburSchramm Chair in Communica-tion and Health Policy; CarolynMarvin to the Frances YatesChair for UndergraduateTeaching and Advising, andJoseph Turow to the Robert LewisShayon Chair in Media and theDeveloping Mind.

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Maxine BeidermanRetiresAfter 19 years at the University,

Maxine Beiderman retired from

the Annenberg School in January.

She came to the School in 1979 as

a receptionist, and performed a

variety of jobs in the ASC main

office before taking over the role of Assistant to Dean

Kathleen Hall Jamieson in 1993. At a farewell celebration in

her honor at La Terrasse Restaurant, Maxine reflected on the

many interesting people she had the chance the meet over

those 19 years. The highlight, she recalled, was the School’s

25th anniversary celebration, when Hollywood personalities

such as James Stewart and Josh Logan, came strolling down

the long red carpet. Her value to the School was evident in

the seemingly endless parade of students, faculty, and staff

members who stopped by her desk to say a fond farewell on

her last day at work. Maxine plans to spend her retirement

with her children and a new grandchild (due in September),

and cruising the Caribbean with her husband Joe.

Tommy Leonardi

Tim Blake To SubaruTim Blake, a programmer/ analyst with

the School for eight years, has taken a new

position with Subaru of America located in

New Jersey. He left the School in late May.

Tim was the “brains” behind several

major administrative and research computer systems, includ-

ing one of the first multimedia content analysis systems ever

used. He was a key figure in moving the School from a cen-

tralized minicomputer system to a distributed LAN-based

system and made a significant contribution to the ongoing

technical growth of the School’s computing capabilities.

L I N K «23»

«2

Wins!Bill Mikulak Ben Stein’s Money

For those who sometimes wonder about the range of thingsone can do with an Annenberg School doctorate, WilliamMikulak (MA ’87, PhD ’96 ) offered a novel suggestion onJune 6, when he appeared on Comedy Central’s hit gameshow “Win Ben Stein’s Money”. With a quick finger on thebuzzer, Mikulak trounced his competition and succeeded inwinning $1600 of Ben Stein’s money. (Stein, author and for-mer presidential speech writer in the Nixon White House,puts up his own money for prizes. Three contestants vieagainst each other in answering questions, with the winner ofthe first two rounds going head to head with Stein himself ina final round.)

Mikulak correctly answered questions in such novel cate-gories as “A Recurring Case of the Presidential Runs”:“Before Bill Clinton’s election in 1996, who was the lastDemocratic president to be re-elected?’ [Franklin Roosevelt]and “What independent political party nominated H. RossPerot for his second try at the presidency in 1996?” [Reform].The one question he missed, in the category of “Win BenStein’s Pants” was “What style of shorts that extends almostto the knee shares its name with an island group?” (Theanswer was Bermuda shorts.)

Although Mikulak failed to beat the host in the rapid-fireseries of questions for the big jackpot, Stein said it was not aneasy victory. “He struck terror in my heart by an adroit pieceof psychological warfare before we both went into thebooths,” Stein told the audience. “He told me he’s a colleagueof one of the smartest men I know, David Eisenhower.”(Eisenhower, Senior Research Investigator at APPC, is an oldfriend of Stein’s.)

While shining in the game show format, Mikulak has alsobeen hard at work on several more academic endeavors. Hehas written an article “Fans vs. Time Warner: Who OwnsLooney Tunes?” in Kevin Sandler, ed., Reading the Rabbit:Explorations in Warner Brothers Animation (Rutgers University

4» N E W S

Press, 1998), based on an e-mail survey of fans who form anonline community via the Internet. “Some fans create porno-graphic art and narratives involving their favorite characters,”Mikulak noted recently, “much to the chagrin of WBlawyers.” He has also co-authored (with Joe Quinlan) a recentreport for APPC, “Children’s Television in the NewEconomic and Regulatory Environment: A Case Study of‘Young Heroes.’”

The Annenberg School for CommunicationUniversity of Pennsylvania3620 Walnut StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19104-6220 215-898-7041

The Annenberg School Faculty:Joseph CappellaMartin Fishbein Oscar GandyLaura GrindstaffLarry GrossRobert HornikElihu KatzKlaus KrippendorffCarolyn MarvinPaul MessarisW. Russell NeumanVincent PriceJoseph TurowCharles R. WrightBarbie Zelizer

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dean

Phyllis Kaniss, PhD, Newslink Editor

Newslink Design: Dyad Communications

Photography: pgs. 1,2,4,5 Candace diCarlopgs. 6,7,9,10,11 Rick Reinhard

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