4/22
Louisa Shepard
Senior News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu
Communications
People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them
People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them
Research from postdoc Lacey Wade confirmed this idea, what she calls expectation-driven convergence, in a controlled experiment for the first time. The work reveals just how much the subconscious factors into the way people speak.
Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
A new study finds that countries with well-funded public media have healthier democracies, and explains why investment in U.S. public media is an investment in the future of journalism and democracy alike.
New COVID-19 roadmap: Four takeaways
New COVID-19 roadmap: Four takeaways
A report spearheaded by PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel, with input from other Penn experts, lays out a dozen priorities for the federal government to tackle in the next 12 months. The aim: to help guide the U.S. to the pandemic’s “next normal.”
Why unions matter for nursing
Why unions matter for nursing
A new study examines nursing’s relationship to union organizing and feminism, as well as the profession’s unique organizing challenges.
The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
As swing voters registered more awareness about discrimination against Black Americans, they became more likely to vote for the party they felt would best rectify that—Democrats.
Bridging Wikipedia’s gender gap, one article at a time
Bridging Wikipedia’s gender gap, one article at a time
Wikipedia has a major gender inequity problem. In a new study, Annenberg researchers evaluate how feminist interventions are closing the gap, and how they could improve.
Nixon’s China visit, 50 years later
Nixon’s China visit, 50 years later
On the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the People’s Republic of China, David Eisenhower discusses the significance of the milestone amid the fraying relations between the two nations.
A Paideia fellow finds a community for research and connection
A Paideia fellow finds a community for research and connection
For Celia Kreth, a junior in the School of Arts & Sciences, the SNF Paideia Fellows Program allows for a holistic, hands-on approach to her education.
Viewing 2021 through a lens
Viewing 2021 through a lens
Photojournalist Kylie Cooper’s annotated photo essay about the liminality of 2021 captured the Capitol insurrection, the Ground Zero commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and more.
Do success stories cause false beliefs about success?
Do success stories cause false beliefs about success?
Does explicitly acknowledging bias make us less likely to make biased decisions? A new study examining how people justify decisions based on biased data finds that this is not exactly the case.
Media Contact
In the News
Boston Globe
Two public radio stations. Two different business models. One future of public radio in Boston hangs in the balance
Victor Pickard of the Annenberg School for Communication says that there’s a greater need for public broadcasting than ever before, especially as entire sectors of the commercial news media system are crumbling.
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CNN
After four years with COVID-19, the U.S. is settling into a new approach to respiratory virus season
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that the sense of urgency around vaccination has faded as attention on respiratory viruses wanes.
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Forbes
Americans’ confidence in science remains high, finds new review
A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center suggests that most Americans continue to have confidence in science and scientists.
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Yahoo! Finance
Media companies cut thousands of jobs so far this year. They're not coming back
Victor Pickard of the Annenberg School for Communication says that the ad-revenue business model for journalism has collapsed and can’t be replaced with paywalls.
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Christian Science Monitor
Meet Sora: AI-created videos test public trust
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that AI video-creation can manipulate images in ways that make them seem more real than the original artifacts.
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MarketWatch
Meta, Google and other social-media companies brace for heightened deepfake perils ahead of 2024 elections
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that the capacity exists in 2024 for individuals and nation-states to generate more misleading content that is microtargeted and harder to detect.
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