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Communications

People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them
An illustration of many different-colored heads with many different-colored talking bubbles.

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.

Michele W. Berger

Lights. Camera. Crime

Lights. Camera. Crime

Dan Romer of the Annenberg Public Policy Center analyzed Philadelphia’s broadcast networks in 1998 and found crime coverage to be racially biased, which he concluded is tied to financial incentives. “The suburbs are the target for their advertisers because they have more wealthy households and they tend to be white,” he said. “Showing people of color attacking whites, that’s scary stuff. Now, that’s a cynical view. But I mean, it’s a business.”

Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
Radio microphone and a soundboard with an ON AIR sign.

Image: Fringer Cat via Unsplash

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.

Alina Ladyzhensky

New COVID-19 roadmap: Four takeaways
A group of older people at a restaurant clinking half-full wine glasses, with their masks pulled down around their chins to reveal a smile. Food is on the table.

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.”

Michele W. Berger

Why unions matter for nursing
A nurse seated at a work station in a large hospital room with patient beds.

Image: Amir Arabshahi on Unsplash

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.

Alina Ladyzhensky

The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
Group of protesters in masks in the streets, one carries a large sign that reads BLACK LIVES MATTER.

On June 5, 2020, 50,000 protesters marched through the streets of Philadelphia during a Black Lives Matter protest. (Image: Shawn Kornhauser)

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.

Julie Sloane

Bridging Wikipedia’s gender gap, one article at a time
Person’s hand using a mouse and a keyboard at a computer.

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.

From Annenberg School for Communication

A Paideia fellow finds a community for research and connection
Celia Kreth reading  papers in an office in Arkansas.

Celia Kreth reading papers at The Madison County Record in Huntsville, AR, where original papers from 1957 are archived.

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.

Penn Today Staff

Nixon’s China visit, 50 years later
President Richard Nixon smiles and shakes hands with a smiling Chairman Mao

In this Feb. 21, 1972 file photo, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, left, shakes hands with Chinese communist party leader Chairman Mao Zedong during Nixon's groundbreaking trip to China, in Beijing. Forged in absolute secrecy at the height of the Cold War 30 years ago, the diplomatic ties established between the United States and China were meant to balance out the Soviet threat. (Image: AP Photo/File)

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. 

Kristen de Groot