News & Notes

 

 

New Editor for Political Communication

Like another race, the ballots "trickled in one at a time over the fall," according to Susan Herbst, who chaired the nominations committee. But unlike the Presidential contest, "David Paletz will certainly be the next editor of Political Communication," she announced in early November. He was chosen by what Herbst called a "hefty" margin.


Joan Shorenstein Fellows

The following fellowships have been announced by the Joan Shorenstein Center, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Fall Term 2000

Jason DeParle, welfare correspondent for The New York Times, is writing a book on welfare reform.

John Gage, the chief researcher and director of the Science Office for Sun Microsystems, is teaching a module called, Technology, Media and Governance, at the Kennedy School of Government.

Julie Hall is senior media advisor of the Active Community Unit initiated by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Unit has developed new partnerships with the media to encourage government policies that promote community involvement among the diverse communities in the United Kingdom. Her research project is called, Evaluation of Formats for Televised Election Debates.

Nelson Traquina, professor of communication science at the New University of Lisbon, is president of the Center for Research in Media and Journalism, Lisbon. His research project is titled, The Journalistic Tribe.

Deborah Mathis, former national correspondent for Gannett News Service, is working on a project Media and Race: A Case Study, as a fellow at the Washington D.C. office of the Shorenstein Center.


Spring Term 2001

Hans Bergstrom, editor-in-chief, Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, will undertake the research project Publication Bias and the G-Revolution: How Science and Media Interact in Shaping Public Perceptions in an Important New Policy Area.

Trudy Lieberman, director for the Center for Consumer Health Choices, Consumers Union, will engage in a project titled, How the Media Contribute to Waste and Harm in Health Care.

Jeff Madrick, editor of Challenge Magazine, writes a monthly column for The New York Times. His research project will examine The Press and the New Economy. David Nyhan, columnist for The Boston Globe, will be writing a book on the topic An Examination of the Decline of Fairness in Journalism.


University of Washington Political Communication Initiatives

New Center for Communication and Civic Engagement

The University of Washington is opening a new center for research and policy development on the role of communication in civic participation, the center's director, Lance Bennett, announced.

More than a dozen faculty from five departments have formed the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement (CCCE) in order to understand the sources and patterns of civic disengagement and to identify new areas of participation in democratic life. The Center is primarily concerned with how new technologies can be integrated with traditional communication to promote citizen engagement.

Projects currently underway at CCCE include studies of youth engagement and issue advocacy in local communities, the rise of a global citizen movement, the role of the Internet in issue campaigns, and an oral history of organizational networking in the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999.

In addition to these projects, the CCCE Web site contains a variety of citizen information resources that may be used in teaching political communication courses.


New Graduate Program in Political Communication

A new political communication Ph. D. program at the University of Washington is now open for graduate student applications.

More than twenty faculty from five participating departments contribute to the cross-disciplinary curriculum, including such areas as political rhetoric, press-politics, media effects, public opinion, democracy and deliberation, elections and campaigns, public policy, media and telecommunications law, journalism history, international communication, and the role of new technologies in public life.

Participating departments include Political Science, the School of Communications, Speech Communication, Technical Communications, and the Evans School of Public Affairs. Students apply to one of the participating department and then take courses and work with faculty advisors in any of the other departments.

The program description which can be found on line. http://depts.washington.edu/policom Questions about the program can be directed to Lance Bennett.