The Leonore Annenberg Funds announce 2014 awards for seven artists and eight schools

The declining visibility of tobacco products on prime-time U.S. broadcast television shows is linked to a drop in smoking of nearly two packs of cigarettes per adult per year, according to a study by Annenberg Public Policy Center researchers published online in the journal Tobacco Control. The study found that the drop in portrayals of smoking and tobacco use in TV dramas mirrored the decline in consumption

Doctoral candidate Karin Fikkers, from the University of Amsterdam, has been studying at the Annenberg School for Communication this winter as part of an exchange program with the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. She talks about her research and the differences between studying in the Netherlands and the United States.

A pair of studies involving more than 450 parents in Philadelphia that examined the effects of household smoking bans found that homes that imposed smoking bans were effective at reducing the number of cigarettes smoked at home. One study, in the American Journal of Public Health, found that smoking levels in a home did not determine whether a home imposed a ban; the other, in Preventive Medicine, profiled smoking policies in homes with children under the age of 13.

The proportion of U.S. adults identifying themselves as Independent has grown significantly over the last four presidential elections, rivaling both major parties, according to a national study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center that is being published in Presidential Studies Quarterly.

In January, the Annenberg Public Policy Center brought together scholars in the fields of communication and debate and speech at a conference in Honolulu to review and make recommendations on current projects at the policy center, ranging from FlackCheck.org's Patterns of Deception videos to Tobacco Watch to an examination of presidential debates.

A national study of teenagers suggests that school drug testing did not deter them from starting to smoke tobacco or marijuana or drink alcohol. But in high schools that had a “positive school climate,” teens were less likely to start smoke cigarettes or marijuana, according to the study, in the January issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. The study compared the effectiveness over one year of school policies of student drug testing with a positive school climate.

A study in Addiction Biology of smokers’ brain activity has found that graphic anti-smoking warning labels that produce a strong emotional response are effective at deterring the urge to smoke, according to researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

It's that time of year again: Time to look back at some of the year's biggest deceptions. The award-winning site FactCheck.org and its companion site, FlackCheck.org, offer a rundown and video looking at some of the year's biggest whoppers. No surprise: Some of them centered on the Affordable Care Act. But FactCheck.org also found noteworthy nonsense about immigration, gun control, Benghazi and the IRS.

Annenberg Classroom’s documentaries “The Right to Remain Silent: Miranda v. Arizona” and “Search and Seizure: Mapp v. Ohio” have received the CINE Golden Eagle Award. The 25-minute film “The Right to Remain Silent” details the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona, the landmark decision that ensured the right to consult an attorney and