The Annenberg Public Policy Center in Philadelphia, PA | Society and Culture | Pennsylvania Catalog

The Annenberg Public Policy Center

The Center’s researchers have drafted materials that helped policy-makers, journalists, scholars, constituent groups and the general public better understand the role that media play in their lives and the life of the nation. The Policy Center maintains offices in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
APPC's work has informed the policy debates around campaign finance, children's television, internet privacy, tobacco advertising and the tone of discourse in Washington. Scholars at the Policy Center have offered guidance to journalists covering difficult stories, including terrorist threats, suicide and mental health. The Center's discussions of key public policy issues have brought together industry representatives, advocates, government officials and the scholarly community. Its research has examined what messages work best to reduce the spread of HIV and drug use, how to improve candidate discourse and specific strategies for parents to use to monitor their children's media exposure. APPC has developed materials to help educators and schools do a better job of teaching youth about civic responsibility, democracy and the Constitution.
To further our mission, we are launching this new web site. It is designed to give scholars, the media and the general public expanded access to the work that we began in 1993. We intend to make that complete body of research, including extensive data sets and topline surveys, available as quickly as possible.
Center History
When the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) was established in 1993, its founders, Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg, sought to increase the impact of the scholarship produced at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, the Policy Center’s home. It was their hope that the APPC would apply its knowledge about communication to improve the well-being of those in the U.S. and throughout the globe. In the subsequent years, APPC research has been put to use in studies of adolescent health, HIV and AIDS, media content analysis and political civility.
Funding for APPC comes through an endowment established by the Annenberg Foundation, as well as the generous support of federal agencies and foundations.
APPC projects are overseen by a staff of 54 people.
Political Communication
Since 1993 the Annenberg Public Policy Center has studied Americans’ political knowledge, discourse, media use and opinions about candidates and issues. Among our projects is the National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES).
Information and Society
The Annenberg Public Policy Center examines the public policy implications of changes in technology and communication. It conducts research on issues of technology and policy, privacy, equity, international communications and infrastructure.
The Center has studied the changing role of the Internet, in particular the Internet and privacy. Its researchers have examined the role of television in shaping health policy, the portrayal of the medical profession on television and the role of women leaders in emerging communication fields. The Center has co-sponsored conferences on risk assessment, the use of new technologies to provide wider access to health information, online journalism and hyperlinks and society.