Latest News

‘The Pitt’ Makes an Impact

Our latest research shows The Pitt is sparking real-world action on organ donation and end-of-life planning. Nearly 90% of viewers said it exposes systemic issues like understaffing in healthcare.

We’re heading to Sundance!

Managing Director Johanna Blakley will join the World Bank and Women in Film for a panel on how research and evidence are shaping impact investment in entertainment. She will also share findings from our recent study of HBO Max’s The Pitt and discuss what evaluations of TV and film can reveal about real-world social outcomes.

How a Free Press Can Defend Democracy

The 2025 Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in TV & Digital Media honored leading voices in news and commentary, including Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, Scott Pelley, Peter Alexander, Julio Vaqueiro. The awards recognize journalists whose work exemplifies the essential role of a free and trustworthy press in strengthening democracy and holding power to account.

REEL Bodies on Television

We examined how body size is portrayed on TV, analyzing depictions of fat and non-thin characters and testing the impact of a weight-stigma storyline on future health professionals. While larger-bodied characters are often narrowly framed, exposure to stigma-challenging portrayals was associated with reduced bias and greater intention to provide supportive, care.

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Some Key Projects

Hollywood,
Health & Society

Providing the entertainment industry with accurate and up-to-date information for storylines on health, safety and security. We offer briefings and consultations with experts, case examples, panel discussions and an expanding list of tip sheets written for writers and producers.

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Media
Impact Project

The research and evaluation arm of the Lear Center. We research how entertainment and news influence our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and actions. We work with researchers, the film and TV industry, and nonprofits and share our research with the public.

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The Cronkite Awards for Excellence in TV Political Journalism honors outstanding journalism that debunks disinformation, promotes public health, advocates science, exposes inequities, empowers citizens and serves as a watchdog for voting rights and election fairness and transparency.

The Walter
Cronkite Awards

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Popular Music Project

The Popular Music Project takes popular music seriously as an object of sustained critical inquiry through a mix of research projects, course development, public events, videos, publications and artists’ residencies.

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Everett M.
Rogers Award

Presented since 2007, the Everett M. Rogers Award award honors the late USC Annenberg professor whose Diffusion of Innovations is the second-most cited book in the social sciences.

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Image of the Journalist in Pop Culture

IJPC analyzes the conflicting images of the journalist in film, TV, radio, comics, video games, music, art and other aspects of pop culture to understand their impact on the public's perception of newsgatherers.

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The Norman Lear Center is a nonpartisan research and public policy center that studies the social, political, economic and cultural impact of entertainment. On campus, from its base in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the Lear Center builds bridges between schools and disciplines whose faculty study aspects of entertainment, media and culture. Beyond campus, it helps bridge the gap between the entertainment industry and academia, and between them and the public. Through its scholarship, research and partnerships; its events, publications and outreach to the creative community; and its role in formulating the field of entertainment studies, the Norman Lear Center works to be at the forefront of discussion and practice -- and to illuminate and repair the world.

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