USC Annenberg Files

By Jim Wayne
M.A. Candidate, Online Journalism, 2009

Print Journalism: Analyst Andrew Tyndall suggests the journalism on cable news channels serves three distinct sets of needs: news on demand; crisis coverage; and prime-time personality, news and opinion programming. These days, it isn’t too hard to tell which of those baskets is catching all the eggs. Yes, the cable news channels are in a confused state of flux, thanks in large part to the Internet. And yes, opinionated, personality-dominated programming has built a proven model for success. Even so, at some point you must be thinking to yourself, “Hey, where’s the news?”

Continue reading "Where's The News?" »

By Haley Poland
M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: Though more than 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, including 3 million in the United States, it remains one of the world’s most misunderstood neurological conditions. While some people have sporadic seizures and can live relatively normal lives, others may be burdened by several a day. Seizures come in as many as 40 different varieties, ranging from a momentary absence of awareness to severe and prolonged convulsions.

Continue reading "Epilepsy Patients Seek Answers, Understanding" »

By Amy Tenowich
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Broadcast Journalism: Bill Compton thought he was an archangel who needed to lead all the good people to salvation. It sounds crazy, of course. But maybe it's not so black and white.

By Amanda Price
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Print Journalism: Had it not been for a Los Angeles judge’s decision nearly eight months ago, Mario Escobar realizes he would be back in El Salvador, not here fixing toys for his U.S.-born child. He realizes, lately even more, that he is one of the lucky ones.

Continue reading "Cry, Soul of Mine: The Search for Political Asylum" »

By Hanna Ingber Win
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Online Journalism: They tried to erase Burma from the Internet last week. In an attempt to weaken the opposition and shield itself from international opprobrium, the military junta that runs the country tried to cut off access to the Web.

It did not succeed.

By Laura Weber
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Print Journalism: Now, it’s in my breadth of experience that men will say or do just about anything to impress a woman – splaying their colorful tail feathers with brains, brawn and the ever-important sense of humor. But never in my encounters have I come across a man who used sports as a tactic.

Continue reading "Must Love Sports" »

By Adriana Padilla
M.A., Broadcast Journalism

Broadcast Journalism: The punching, the fractures, and the blood make boxing a male-dominated sport. Only 2200 amateur female boxers exist in the country. But two young ladies are determined to keep fighting their way into the big leagues.

By Debra Greene
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Broadcast Journalism: In a corner of Skid Row, inner-city children from Los Angeles discover music, dance and drama through Inner-City Arts. The children don't just learn dance moves. They get a lesson in creativity.

By Camille Garcia
M.A. Candidate, Broadcast Journalism, 2008

Online Journalism: In a guide to Mexican food in Los Angeles, "Today’s Special" highlights Mama’s Hot Tamales Café, located near MacArthur Park. Along with its acclaimed tamales, it's a place where street vendors can get the training they need to launch their own businesses.

By Nick Street
M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: Combat veterans try meditation to soothe inner pain from the war in Iraq.

Continue reading "Full Metal Lotus: Breathing Away the Wounds of War" »

By Eric Berkowitz
M.A., Print Journalism, 2006

Print Journalism: Judges are leaving the bench for $600-an-hour fees in private arbitration. As a result, a large number of cases are being decided out of public view. The exodus has also drained an overloaded court system of its most experienced jurists.

Continue reading "Justice, For a Price" »

By Lindsay Watts
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Broadcast Journalism: The scene inside the club is familiar enough -- loud music, dry ice, wandering eyes. The men are fairly average looking, but the ladies are different. Many look like Amazon women and are tall, beautiful and expertly made-up. But none of these ladies were born female.

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By Syantani Chatterjee
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Sunlight dances around the tiny bone fragments embedded in a diamond-shaped glass prism resting on a high wooden table in sculptor Maria Munroe’s home. The prism is made from the cremains—cremated remains--of musician Howard Wells, who composed the score for the 1962 film “Out of the Tiger’s Mouth.”

Continue reading "From Ashes To Art" »

By Rocio Zamora, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007
and Alison Brody, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Online Journalism: Many Latinos still visit botanicas when looking to solve the problems of everyday life. In these modest storefronts, people find the candles, colognes, incense and soaps needed for spiritual rituals rooted in Folk Catholicism. But behind the humble storefronts lies a booming business.

Rocio Zamora wrote a feature for News21 and Alison Brody produced a radio report. Brody also produced two audio slideshows: one on a factory and one on a botanica shop.

By Dan Abendschein
M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: Jacob Rivera is having his fun while it lasts. As he drives his hefty Ford F-350 through stream crossings, pot holes and a steep pile of dirt, he knows that many off-roaders feel like the future of their sport is precarious.

Continue reading "Losing Terrain, Off-Roaders Hang On" »

By Shirley Shin, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
Lindsay Watts, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
and Rocio Zamora, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Online Journalism: Followers of the Indigo Children movement, which started in the 1970s, say a new generation of highly sensitive and spiritually gifted kids are here to save the world. They claim many of these kids are exceptionally smart, self-motivated and sometimes able to read minds. But some doctors say these so-called Indigo Children exhibit characteristics of bipolar and attention deficit disorders. Shin, Watts and Zamora have the story, complete with photos and video interviews.

Shin also produced a radio report profiling the Wertz family and supporters and detractors of the Indigo Children movement.

By Haley Poland
M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: In 2002, six blind individuals arrived in Los Angeles from all across the country to undergo a groundbreaking surgery. They hoped for — but dared not expect — a miraculous result. They wanted to see again.

Continue reading "A Doctor's Vision for Restoring Sight" »

By Alex Delanian
B.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: As a member of the USC women's basketball practice squad, there's no glory. You show up, you get beat up, you go home - but at least you get some killer warm-ups, at the expense of some friendly teasing for playing against girls. But I'm a better man for it.

Continue reading "Boy Meets Girl's Basketball Team" »

By Shirley Shin, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
Chantal Allan, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
and Allison Louie, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Online Journalism: People pay for therapy all the time, but would you pay money for a session with someone you never meet, never see and never hear? Michael Mohoric of Laguna Niguel, Calif. operates a Web site that offers distant energy healing for $99 a month. Clients are told to lie in bed or sit in a chair for an hour every Wednesday evening and receive the healing energy Mohoric says he sends throughout the world. Is this real or just a placebo? It depends on who you ask. Shin, Allan, and Louie produced a segment for News21.

Shin shared her thoughts on the story in a blog entry.

By Jessica Roberts, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007
and Shirley Shin, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Online Journalism: Jessica Roberts produced a segment for News21 about a set of rings that people swing on for meditation, exercise and spirituality. "This is my Sunday activity," one ring enthusiast said. "This is my religion, pretty much."

Roberts also wrote a blog entry about her first experience on the rings, and Shirley Shin created a photo slideshow of the rings and some of the people who use them.

By Chiara Canzi
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Print Journalism: I think I am in love with a robot. His name is Mojo. He lives in San Pedro. Me, a 5-foot-10, Italian-born human in love with a pile of metal? After all, that is how we humans still think of them. But they are so much more.

Continue reading "She Has Her Mojo Working" »

By Amy Tenowich
M.A. Candidate, Broadcast Journalism, 2008

Broadcast Journalism: Just blocks from Skid Row is a series of kennels for dogs that have reached the end of the line. Lori Weise, the so-called "Dog Lady,” rescues dogs from kennels and dogs that belong to the homeless in hopes that even the most aggressive animals will find homes.

By Laura Sanders
Ph.D. Candidate, Molecular and Computational Biology, 2008

Print Journalism: Biofilms are everywhere, and now, thanks to Bill Costerton, everyone knows it.

Continue reading "That Lawn Between Your Teeth" »

By Noah Barron
M.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, 2008

Online Journalism: On the first Friday of every month, hackers meet to discuss how to modify their computers and explore the networks that connect them. On the first Saturdays, scooterists ride their motorized Shetland ponies in a mad pack, in search of traffic-free roads, the destination irrelevant. Members of these groups get something from each other’s company that they say they can’t get anywhere else. It’s a sense of community, a curiosity about their machines, and an understanding that doing something that doesn’t make much sense to outsiders is what draws them together.

Barron also produced a short video segment on the South Bay Scooter Club.

Continue reading "L.A. Fringe Clubs Compute And Scoot" »

By Thomas Kelley
M.A., Print Journalism, 2006

Broadcast Journalism: With the advent of digital downloads, C.D. burning and iPods, will the classic vinyl record become extinct?

By Syantani Chatterjee
M.A. Candidate, Broadcast Journalism, 2008

Print Journalism: It is the super glue binding doctors, grocers, engineers, artists and professors. For Indian Americans, it is the potion dissolving the compartmentalized bubbles where South Asian immigrants often find themselves.

It can be summed up in one word and a multitude of possibilities -- Bollywood.

Continue reading "A Surrealistic Escape for South Asian Immigrants" »

By Lindsay Watts, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
Heather Downie, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007
Jessica Roberts, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007
Amy Tenowich, M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007
and Rocio Zamora, M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Online Journalism: Spiritual and religious tourism is the fastest growing travel segment, according to the World Travel Organization. About 300 million seekers hit the road every year, but many aren't taking your typical trip to the Holy Land. They're tapping the spiritual aspects of places such as Mt. Shasta and Sedona, Ariz.

Lindsay Watts and other News21 fellows produced a video piece. Heather Downie produced a radio report on new-age tourism in Sedona.

By Chantal Allan
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Broadcast Journalism: Investors in Minnesota's first ethanol plants discover that money doesn't grow on trees. It grows on corn.

By Melanie Herschorn
M.A. Candidate, Broadcast Journalism, 2008

Print Journalism: Los Angeles restaurant Wok on Fire’s health inspection grades have bounced between “C” and “B” this year, and the place was once ordered closed. Despite that inspection record, the Chinese food and sushi restaurant does not lack patrons.

Continue reading "Shedding Light On Wok's Fire" »

By Amy Tenowich
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: It’s a Latin dance, but it draws a diverse mix of folks all wearing the glow of having kissed their woes adios. It reminds us that by working with partners who seem totally different from ourselves, and may even speak another language, we can create something beautiful while having fun.

Continue reading "Salseros Are Hip To The Mix" »

By Haley Poland
M.A., Print Journalism, 2007

Print Journalism: It’s difficult to envision a world without eggs, the basis for so many modern foods. Most baked goods couldn’t exist, glued together, as they are, by the cooked protein mesh, which holds fixed the various components of a muffin or quiche. No Hollandaise, often referred to as 'the mother sauce,' would drape our roasts or Eggs Benedict. The key to the egg’s metamorphosis in a frying pan, and its versatility in countless culinary delights, is the collection of floating proteins in the albumen.

Continue reading "Egg-straordinary Secrets Revealed" »

By Alison Brody
M.A., Broadcast Journalism, 2007

Broadcast Journalism: So Josh is a celebrity. But his fame has not made him rich. In fact, he has earned about 9,000 U.S. dollars from his record sales, all of which has gone to an education development project he started for children in Nepal. However, his popularity has brought some of the familiar trappings of fame.

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