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Holiday-Suicide Link: Newspapers Turn the Corner

Newspapers are close to putting to rest the myth that the holidays increase the risk of suicide. A new study shows a dramatic drop in articles that – despite having no basis in fact – attribute the arrival of the holiday season with an uptick in suicides. An analysis of newspaper reporting released today by

Researchers peer into voters’ brains

Kathleen Hall Jamieson and fellow researchers accomplished what the field of 2008 presidential contenders can only dream of: They got inside voters’ brains. The results of their study were published as an op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe the brains of 20 swing voters, the researchers measured responses to

Factchecking by media a hit, new studies reveal

Political Mendacity and the Rise of Media Fact-Checkers More newspapers and television stations are fact-checking the claims of politicians, and the public seems to love it, according to factchecking practitioners and two new studies released today at a conference sponsored by FactCheck.org and the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “You get 100 e-mails saying thank-you for

Student Voices programming wins three regional Emmy Awards

Comcast MetroBeat TV, which broadcasts in the Denver area, recently won three Emmy Awards for programming affiliated with Student Voices, an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Singled out for recognition by the Heartland Regional Emmy Awards were “Student Voices: Teen Suicide” for the best Children/Youth program; “Student Voices: Dying to Be Thin” for

U.S. Must Be Engaged Around the World, says George P. Shultz

In a world that is drifting, the United States must come up with a cohesive game plan to guide its diplomacy, said former Secretary of State George P. Shultz who delivered the second annual Leonore Annenberg Lecture in Public Service and Global Understanding at the University of Pennsylvania on October 18. Shultz’s address was entitled

Annenberg Classroom wins W3 Award

Annenberg Classroom (www.annenbergclassroom.org) has won a silver W3 award from the International Academy of Visual Arts in the education category. The W3 Award honors creative excellence in websites, web advertising and web video. More than 2,700 entries were received by the judges.

Partisan Judicial Elections Foster Cynicism and Distrust

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans who live in states that hold partisan judicial elections are more cynical toward the courts than Americans who live in states that do not hold partisan elections. Partisan judicial elections foster the belief that “judges are just politicians in robes.” Partisan judicial elections also decrease public trust that state courts are

Google poised to become Big Brother, Turow warns

Google’s decision to spend $3.1 billion to buy little-known DoubleClick will affect the future of American media and the way advertisers tell stories about you and me,” writes Joseph Turow in an op-ed published in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. Turow, who studies the media, the internet and advertising, urges federal scrutiny of the acquisition because