Communities @ APPC

Supplemental Material

glgehman — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:59:00 GMT

For readers of Echo Chamber

How to use this web site

Any reference in Echo Chamber to appendix material will be found here
Appendices 1-14 parallel the 14 chapters of Echo Chamber
Materials within each appendix are organized in sequence with their appearance in each chapter of Echo Chamber
Use the chapter number and page number of citations in Echo Chamber to find specific appendix material
Use the chapter and page number along with the Table of Contents for the Appendices (TOCA), below, to locate the specific supporting material
TOCA lists every chapter and page number from Echo Chamber where appendix material is offered

Table of Contents for Appendices
Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment

Chapter	Brief Description	Appendix
1	How the Conservative Opinion Media Attack the Democratic Opposition	None
2	How the Conservative Opinion Media Defend Conservatism	None
3	Conservative Opinion Media: The Players	None
4	The Conservative Opinion Media as Opponents of Liberalism	None
5	Effects of an Echo Chamber Distribution of PTR Listeners: 1996, Waves 1-3 - Page 86 Distribution of PTR Listeners: 1996, Waves 4-5 - Page 87 Adherence to Instructions: PTR 1996 Experiment - Page 88	App_5.pdf
6	Speaking to the Republican Base Description of the PTR Surveys 1996 - Page 94	App_6.pdf
7	Vetting Candidates for Office Attitudes toward Limbaugh & Buchanan 1996 Primaries - Page 112 Favorability toward McCain, New Hampshire primary, 2000 - Page 114 Favorability toward McCain, Super Tuesday primary, 2000 - Page 114 Political Party Defectors, Limbaugh & Fox Audiences, 2004 - Page 125	App_7.pdf
8	Stirring Emotion to Mobilize Engagement Trust in Government by PTR Groups, 1996 - Page 127 Political Indifference by PTR Groups, 1996 - Page 129 Political Participation by PTR Groups, 1996 - Page 130 Mistrust of Government and Political Participation, 1996 - Page 131 Data from The Executive Branch study, 2003 - Page 132 Trust in Government by PTR Listeners, 2003 Executive Branch Study - Page 132 Limbaugh's Content versus Other Sources, Primary, 1996 - Page 132 Emotional Reactions and Candidate Preference, Election, 1996 - Page 137	App_8.pdf
9	Framing and Reframing the Mainstream Media	None
10	Engendering Distrust of Mainstream Media Distribution of PTR Listeners: 1996, Waves 1-5 (same as Appendix 5.1) - Page 164 Mistrust of Mainstream Media by PTR Group, 1996 - Page 165 Adherence to Instructions: PTR 1996 Experiment (same as Appendix 5.3) - Page 168 Exposure and Aattention to Mainstream News by PTR Group, 1996 - Page 172 Mistrust of Mainstream News by PTR Group, Post-election, 1996 - Page 173 Mistrust of Mainstream News on Exposure to News, 1996 - Page 173 Exposure to Mainstream News by PTR Group, 2004 - Page 174	App_10.pdf
11	Defending an Insular Interpretive Community	None
12	Balkanization of Knowledge and Interpretation Creation of Five Comparison Groups - Page 195 Knowledge Questions from Presidential Campaign, 1996 - Page 196 Balkanization Effects - Page 196 Distortion of Candidates' Views (Items), 1996 - Page 198 Creation of Five Comparison Groups, 1996 (same as appendix 12.1) - Page 199 Distortions of Candidates' Views by PTR Group, 1996 (Figures 12.2 a & b) - Page 199 Interpretation of Political Events by Media Groups, 1996 - Page 204 Attributions about the Outcome of 1996 Presidential Campaign - Page 210 Swift Boat Veteran ads on survey, details - Page 212	App_12.pdf
13	Distort and Polarize Polarization of Attitudes after Exposure to PTR, 1996 - Page 224 Polarization of Policy Positions by News Media Groups, 1996 PTR Survey - Page 225 Polarization of (Additional) Policy Positions by News Media Groups, 1996 PTR Survey - Page 226 Perceived Ideology of Candidates for all Respondents, 2000 - Page 228 Perceived Ideology of Candidates by Limbaugh Group, 2004 - Page 229 Distortion of Candidates' Positions by Media Exposure, 2004 - Page 232	App_13.pdf
14	Conclusion	None

Beam Signing Ceremony at New APPC Building

kriley@appc — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:35:00 GMT

Photo by Kyle Cassidy

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann (left) joined Gail Levin, executive director of the Annenberg Foundation, and Michael Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, at a beam-signing ceremony Friday morning, April 11, to mark completion of the ironwork construction phase of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center (visible in the background).

Each participant signed the beam, which will be incorporated in the new building’s skylight. The event was held at the Walnut Street entrance of the Annenberg School.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson Discusses Media Coverage of Race on NewsHour

sstranahan@appc — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:07:00 GMT

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and an expert on political rhetoric, spoke about the media's handling of race in the 2008 presidential campaign in an appearance last night (May 7) on The NewsHour.

"If you look at the words that are being used, you see words that are largely undefined," Jamieson told the NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown. "And, as a result, a lot of people are having to build in their own assumptions about what's meant."

"So, for example, `If you ask, what is meant when people say that Senator Obama has a post-racial candidacy, or that the Reverend Wright controversy burst the post-racial bubble?' I don't know what that means. What does it mean when somebody says that someone is playing the gender card or the race card?

"And those who think they know might want to go back and look at all the times that that is a positive concept and all the times that it's a negative concept and ask what those things have in common.

"We have, as a result, words that are being used without being defined, and, as a result, context isn't being illuminated. We're simplifying. And another of those is `the race issue.'"

A transcript of the NewsHour segment is available here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june08/race_05-07.html

Student Voices Web site rated "A+" by Education World

nirenberg@appc — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:14:00 GMT

In an April 2008 review, Education World, Inc., a company devoted to helping make the Internet easier for teachers to incorporate into classroom learning, rated the Student Voices Web site "A+", the highest such ranking given by the organization. Read the review.

The Student Voices Web site provides news and resources on national and local government and elections and allows students to engage in online discussions on policy issues and elections, as well as youth-focused issues. Student Voices is a non-partisan civic education program designed to improve the dialogue of democracy among our nation's young people and encourage their civic engagement. Student Voices, created in 1999 by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, provides high school teachers with a unique and proven civics curriculum and interactive Web sites to use in the classroom. Working with teachers around the country, Student Voices helps young people learn about and discuss elections and local and national policy issues, and it connects them with government and community leaders.

Student Voices was also recently named a Keystone Program of The Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD), a coalition of state and national organizations committed to implementing civics education in classrooms and after-school programs in every Pennsylvania community. Read more.

For more information on Student Voices, contact Ron Nirenberg.

Aerial views of the new building

sstranahan@appc — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Our new building will be a tremendous asset to the Penn campus and to the work we do at APPC. For those of you who have been tracking the building’s progress via our regular updates and photo galleries, the following video be another opportunity to see how the structure is taking shape. (Suggestion: If you are prone to seasickness, grab a Dramamine.)

View the video here.

The makers of this video have called it “Bucket Cam,” to acknowledge the sophisticated technology utilized for the filming. (Some of us here at Annenberg Public Policy Center have given it another name: Boys and their Toys.)

Looming on the Horizon

kriley@appc — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Photo by Patrick Jamieson

From Walnut Street and the 36th Street Walkway, the steel framework of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center building is visible behind Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall.

Saying goodbye to the ironworkers

kriley@appc — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:48:00 GMT

Photo by John Vettese

With erection of the main building steel nearly complete, it’s almost time to say goodbye to the big crane – and with it the ironworkers. But not before a few final touches. Next crew to arrive will be the concrete workers. Still to come: the topping-off ceremony for the new building, set for later this month.

Annenberg Book Series Featured on "Saturday Night Live"

kriley@appc — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:12:00 GMT

In the above photo, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and actress Amy Poehler share a laugh on last Saturday’s episode of SNL. So, what’s in the box? Among the books featured on the shelves to Senator Clinton’s right are the Annenberg Institutions of American Democracy, five volumes examining the pillars of democracy: the three branches of government, a constitutionally protected free press and universally available public schools.

The volumes, published by Oxford University Press, are a project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in partnership with the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

Hands of Steel

kriley@appc — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Photo by Bob Jamieson

With extraordinary nimbleness, ironworkers have swarmed over the rising skeleton of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center, guiding massive beams into place and installing the decking that will become the building’s floors. Despite appearances, it is delicate work, requiring precision and accuracy.

Bridge to be repaired: Another success for Canon McMillan Student Voices participants!

nirenberg@appc — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:35:00 GMT

Student Voices students and alumni from western Pennsylvania have more to be proud of today, as their project continues to get attention (and now, funding) from the legislature!

Students, school faculty and staff and residents from around the Canon McMillan community will be in the audience tonight as PennDOT displays its plans for repairs to the bridge over Interstate 79 in North Strabane Township. It was the Student Voices classes of Canon McMillan High School in 2006 who successfully lobbied the state legislature to name the structure Canon McMillan Alumni Bridge.

They were led by their history teacher, Tom Olszewski. After considering which issues they were most concerned about, their attention turned to a bridge with no name that stood just off of school grounds and was in need of repair. It was their idea to bring attention to the structure and have it named in honor of the alumni of their school, one of whom is State Rep. Tim Solobay. Canon McMillan High School sits on the southwestern end of the bridge.

Now the student “bridge-keepers” have been cheered by news that PennDOT is about to give the span the face-lift it has needed.

Rick Bell, Canon McMillan’s social studies department chair and actively involved with Student Voices, was quick to praise the efforts of those students and teachers, APPC and the Student Voices project. “Tom and I are extremely proud of the students from Canon McMillan responsible for this,” he said. “We believe this shows that students’ voices really can be heard.”

PennDOT currently is developing final design plans for rehabilitation of the bridge that carries State Route 1025 over Interstate 79 in Washington County. Work is expected to get underway sometime this summer.

In 2006, the Canon McMillan Alumni bridge renaming project was undertaken by social studies classes that participate in the school’s Student Voices program, organized by Bell. As part of their efforts, students launched a letter-writing campaign seeking the name change. State Rep. Solobay sponsored the bill while lauding the students for their work: “When these kids are older, every time they drive over the bridge and see the signs, they will remember the role they played in getting it named,” he said when the renaming legislation unanimously passed the House.

PennDOT plans to replace the deck of the bridge as well as to repaint the steel superstructure. One plan under consideration is to paint the bridge the Canon McMillan school colors of blue and gold, according to Valerie Petersen of PennDOT. That will be a fitting reminder for future classes of Canon McMillan of just what can be accomplished when pen meets paper and students speak out!

Links:

http://www.pahouse.com/prarchive/bridgename3.048.asp

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/washington/1571887/detail.html

New Silhouette Appears on Campus

kriley@appc — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Photo by Bob Jamieson

Ironworkers are wasting no time in assembling the skeleton of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center building. The steel beams are rising quickly above the concrete foundation and the silhouette of the building is now taking shape amid the Penn campus skyline.

For further updates on the building, as well as photo galleries documenting the progress of construction, please visit the APPC Building blog.

"Unrealistic fatalism" study discussed on local "Morning Edition" broadcast

sstranahan@appc — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:04:00 GMT

The belief among many U.S. youth that they will die before age 30 and the consequences of such "unrealistic fatalism" was discussed today by Dr. Dan Gottlieb during "Morning Edition" on WHYY. Gottlieb, host of "Voices in the Family" on WHYY, cited the study, published last month in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Co-authors are Patrick E. Jamieson and Dan Romer of APPC's Adolescent Risk Communication Institute.

Gottlieb noted that youth who do exhibit signs of "unrealistic fatalism" often are those least likely to have community support systems in place to offer guidance or mental health care. He quoted data from the survey that showed young people aged 14 to 22 often dropped out of school and lost contact with social networks that might provide counseling.

Listen to the podcast here http://www.whyy.org/news/gottlieb.html

Kathleen Hall Jamieson Returns to Moyers Journal Tonight

sstranahan@appc — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:14:00 GMT

In the aftermath of Super Tuesday and the shake-up in the Republican contest, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, will join Bill Moyers again tonight to talk about the 2008 presidential campaign. Jamieson, a regular guest of Moyers during the election season, will discuss how well the candidates are delivering their messages and how the public is perceiving them. For additional program information, click here http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02082008/profile.html

Kathleen Hall Jamieson Returns to Bill Moyers Journal Tonight

sstranahan@appc — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Annenberg Public Policy Center Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson makes a return visit to Bill Moyers Journal tonight on PBS to discuss the busy week in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Viewers of the program also have been invited to submit questions for Jamieson on the election. Visit the site at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02012008/profile2.html

During this election cycle, Jamieson has been a frequent guest of Moyers to talk about politics, perceptions and how the candidates' messages are being delivered.

A Hint of What's to Come

kriley@appc — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Kyle Cassidy

The footprint of the Annenberg Public Policy Center on the Penn campus has now become evident. Viewed from the roof of the adjacent Annenberg School for Communication building, looking east, the new policy center has started to rise from its concrete foundation. Next to arrive: Ironworkers, who will erect the building’s skeleton.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming!

sstranahan@appc — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:39:00 GMT

FactCheck.org yesterday recorded its best day so far in terms of unique visits -- 82,000 -- a figure undoubtedly driven by the Florida primary, the State of the Union address and a tightening of the Democratic and Republican primary contests. Traffic to the site for January will easily exceed 1.5 million, a big jump from December's 874,000, according to FactCheck director Brooks Jackson.

And this doesn't even count readership on Newsweek.com, which re-posts FactCheck articles on its own site.

See here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/106098 and here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/105959

Nor does it measure response to a lengthy profile of FactCheck aired yesterday by Los Angeles station KCAL-TV. Watch here: http://cbs2.com/politics/factcheck.politics.ads.2.640188.html

FactCheck's subscriber base also is growing. An email alert of a new article, sent Jan. 3, went out to 65,674 readers; last night's email alert was sent to 67,136 readers.

Daily Pennsylvanian Profiles FactCheck

sstranahan@appc — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:54:00 GMT

The University of Pennsylvania's Daily Pennsylvanian today profiles the Annenberg Public Policy Center's FactCheck.org.

In the interview, FactCheck's Brooks Jackson says the candidates are just getting warmed up in terms of misleading statements. "What you've seen so far is nothing," Jackson told DP senior writer Anne Dobson. After Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, the real mud will start flying.

"Candidates are not holding public policy seminars," said Jackson. "They are trying to persuade the voters by arguing as a lawyer would argue before a jury. They're giving you at best one side of the story and at worse a made up story."

And that's where the accuracy sleuths at FactCheck come in. Rapidly sifting through claims and counterclaims, the FactCheck team lays out "facts that sometimes some of the candidates find inconvenient," according to Jackson. "We probably get in the way of convincing everybody that they're absolutely right and their opponents are absolutely wrong."

Read the Daily Pennsylvanian article here:

http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/storyFeatures/jan-29/factcheckperspect/index.html

Three Students, One Project and Harrisburg Perks Up Its Ears

sstranahan@appc — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:46:00 GMT

A prize-winning Student Voices project has caught the ear of two Pennsylvania lawmakers who now are pushing for hearings on a proposal to let 17-year-olds vote in the state's primary elections if they will be 18 (and eligible to vote) before the November general election.

"In the very beginning, it was just a civics-fair entry," said Doug Weisband, one of three students from Fox Chapel Area High School, near Pittsburgh, who created the project. "Day by day, it got more real."

Weisband, and classmates Julia Hazlet and Kevin Pflumm, saw their project take top honors in the fourth annual Greater Pittsburgh Student Voices civics fair. But that was just the start. They then took their idea to State Rep. Frank Dermody (D., Allegheny), who in conjunction with Rep. Richard T. Grucela (D., Northampton), is considering holding hearings on the idea.

Nine states already allow the practice.

For more information, see this Associated Press story:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20080122_Pa__lawmakers_push_to_give_primary_vote_to_17-year-olds.html

FactCheck in Action!

glgehman — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:30:00 GMT

FactCheck.org, the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s popular and oft-quoted political truth squad, launched a new video report today, hosted by FactCheck reporter Emi Kolawole. New reports will be posted each Friday morning. Find out more on the Annenberg Public Policy Center's website by clicking here.

In other FactCheck news, be sure to catch Brooks Jackson's appearance on PBS tonight (1/25/2008) as he brings his particular insights to the Bill Moyers' Journal program. Check your local PBS listings for time and channel.

Creativity lives at APPC building site

kriley@appc — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:17:00 GMT

Photo by Kyle Cassidy

It takes brawn and brains (and a little ingenuity) to construct a $41.5-million building in the midst of Penn's urban campus. Need to move this truck? No problem.

*See the photo gallery

Structural steel beams and concrete walls rise from the new APPC building site

sstranahan@appc — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:56:00 GMT

Photo by Patrick Jamieson

With a wave, an iron worker signals completion of another phase: the final structural steel beam going into the shear walls of the loading deck. This steel will be filled with a rebar grid and imbedded in concrete for strength and fire protection.

* See the photo gallery

APPC building excavation completed. External and internal walls are next

sstranahan@appc — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:01:00 GMT

Photos by Robert Jamieson

Excavation for the new APPC building has been completed and the final pier poured to support the original footings of the existing Annenberg School for Communication on the west side of the construction site. Work on the outer foundation walls is proceeding and internal support columns are being installed.

See Photo Gallery

APPC building begins to build up instead of digging down

kriley@appc — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:12:00 GMT

Photos by Robert Jamieson

The unusually dry autumn may have wreaked havoc on gardens and lawns in the region, but it has been a boon for construction crews at the Annenberg Public Policy Center building site. On November 1, the first two panels of concrete were poured for the east wall of the new building.

Bulk excavation of the site is three-quarters complete. Installation of the deep foundation along the 36^th Street walkway, necessary to protect the existing subway tunnel, is finished.

Because the foundation of the new APPC building will be lower than the adjacent AnnenbergSchool for Communication, workers are excavating beneath the school along its east wall and pouring concrete underpinnings which will stabilize the existing foundation as work continues at APPC. Work on the underpinning piers is nearing the halfway mark.

Asked what surprised him most about the ongoing excavation, Hunter Roberts project supervisor Allan Hurt said it has been the lack of surprises. “I’ve done a lot of work in the city and this is some of the cleanest urban material [dirt] I’ve ever seen.” He attributes that to the lack of previous construction on the property.

Digging in for the new APPC building

kriley@appc — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:55:00 GMT

Photos by Robert Jamieson

By September 20th, the footprint of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center was obvious to anyone traversing the 36th Street walk on the Penn campus. The $41.5-million structure will be located adjacent to the AnnenbergSchool for Communication.

To provide additional electrical power for the new APPC building and 13 other nearby buildings on campus, a trench was dug across Walnut Street at 36th. Street. (The Penn Bookstore is in the background.) The plastic conduits had to be heated and bent to circumvent existing infrastructure.

At the construction site itself, soldier beams were sunk into the ground to support wooden shoring for the foundation. (The AnnenbergSchool is located in the background.)

Special shoring was installed for the elevator that will serve the four-story glass and wood building, designed by noted Tokyo architect Fumihiko Maki.

Occupancy is set for late summer 2009. The building is a gift of the Annenberg Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.

Progress on new APPC building project

kriley@appc — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:44:00 GMT

Photo by Allan Hurt, Hunter Roberts Construction Group

By the end of the day Wednesday (July 31, 2007), the former Hillel House at 202 S. 36th Street had been largely leveled to make way for the new Annenberg Public Policy Center building on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Occupancy of the new building is scheduled for the fall of 2008.

The project is the latest transformation of this portion of the campus. To see how the view has changed over the past four decades, photos from the Saalbach Collection in the University of Pennsylvania Archives can be viewed here http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upx/saalbachannbrg.html.

Note the “new” AnnenbergSchool for Communication building.