The Annenberg School for Communication was established as a graduate program at USC in the early 1970s through the generosity of the Honorable Walter H. Annenberg. On July 1, 1994, the Annenberg School expanded to incorporate two related units from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences and the School of Journalism. It currently offers undergraduate and graduate dregees through its School of Communication and its School of Journalism.
Annenberg students acquire both a theoretical and a practical understanding of the nature of human communication. Graduates are prepared to undertake careers and to conduct original research in a wide range of communication and journalism contexts. Alumni fill top posts in all of the communication/media industries - television, radio, newspapers, telephony, multimedia, advertising, public relations, publishing, and others - as well as in government, education and nonprofit agencies throughout the world.
Communication students examine the content and techniques, the processes and effects, of discourse occurring in interpersonal, cross-cultural, public, organizational and mass media contexts. Journalism students learn to analyze and evaluate information, to reason logically from a sound historical perspective, to prepare effective visual and audio messages, to understand media law, and to value media's social responsibility. All students become familiar with the technologies facilitating communication through use of the Los Angeles Times electronic newsroom, the AT&T computing laboratory, and the broadcast studio and its editing rooms.
Annenberg School faculty are distinguished by their multidisciplinary academic backgrounds and by their breadth of practical experience, as well as by their teaching ability and commitment. Communication faculty are internationally renowned researchers and scholars who have had a major impact on both theory and practice in the field, while journalism professors are recognized, award-winning journalism professionals who bring a broad-based perspective to the classroom.