An op-ed written by Amy Jordan, Ph.D., director of APPC’s Media and the Developing Child area, and APPC Health Communication scholars Amy Bleakley, Ph.D., and Michael Hennessy, Ph.D., appears in the April 7 edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer. In the piece, titled “Media have a role in sex ed,” the authors argue that media should
Press Releases
ACI suicide research in the news
“Experts debunk suicide myth” (Washington Times) “Why the holiday suicide myth persists” (USA Today) Download the ACI press release
APPC Hosts Focus Group of Philadelphia-Area Voters
On November 30, APPC hosted a focus group of 11 voters from the Philadelphia area moderated by veteran pollster Peter Hart. During the two-hour discussion the group members – a mix of Republican, Democratic and independent voters – expressed concerns over the economy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other issues facing the
Holiday-Suicide Link: The Myth Persists
Despite the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s nine-year effort to debunk the connection, newspapers continue to perpetuate the myth that suicides rise during the end-of-year holiday period. According to an analysis of news reporting during last year’s (2008-09) holiday period, the proportion of stories that supported the myth remained at approximately the same level as during
APPC Mourns Loss of Distinguished Professor Martin Fishbein
Martin Fishbein, the Harry C. Coles, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and founding director of the Health Communication division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, died in London of a heart attack, Friday, November 27. The founder of the theory of reasoned action, Fishbein worked at the Centers for
Leonore Annenberg Fellow Richard Mosse’s photography featured in Time magazine
Photographer Richard Mosse, a 2008 Leonore Annenberg Performing and Visual Arts Fellowship recipient who has traveled the globe to pursue his craft, is featured in the current issue of Time magazine. Mosse’s 16-page photo essay is part of a feature on the tunnel economy in the Gaza Strip.
Findings released on mass media as an HIV-prevention strategy
In a study just released in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Adolescent Communication Institute (ACI) and five other universities along with a Philadelphia media development firm report that a mass media program directed to African American youth ages 14 to 18 reduced sexual risk behavior, especially among
ACI receives funding supplement from NIMH
The National Institute of Mental Health’s Division on AIDS has awarded a supplement to an ongoing research trial coordinated by APPC’s Adolescent Communication Institute (ACI). The funds, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will help to fund follow-up assessments of a trial testing the efficacy of preventive mass media messages delivered
APPC Contributes to Consumer Privacy Study Contradicting Claims That Americans Want Tailored Advertising
Annenberg Public Policy Center researchers Amy Bleakley and Michael Hennessy served as co-authors of a study directed by Annenberg School for Communication Professor Joseph Turow suggesting that the majority of Americans (66 percent) are opposed to advertising tailored to their interests, despite marketers’ claims to the contrary. A collaborative effort of the Berkeley Center for Law
APPC Hosts First Conference in Its New Building
New Media and Suicide Prevention On August 25-26, the Annenberg Public Policy Center hosted its first conference in its new home on the Penn Campus. The event convened national media and mental health experts to discuss Reporting on Suicide: Recommendations for the Media (2001), consensus recommendations developed by APPC’s Adolescent Communication Institute (ACI) in partnership