What does anyone know about the Annenberg Public Policy Center ?

[against all enemies]

I have never been polled before, I usually refuse to participate but I'm so bummed about the election I answered their questions. They wanted to know stuff like what paper do you read, how often, and also which late night comedy show you watched. Jon Stewart got at least one kick.

Then they asked questions about the presidential campaign, like "Did John Kerry earn his war metals?".
And "what percent of your SS tax does Bush want to set aside for private investment?"

Has anyone else been surveyed? Is it real? or am I an idiot.

There was one question I had not heard of. They asked if Kerry had ever voted to outlaw pump shotguns. I thought it was some NRA anti Kerry bullshit and I answered he hadn't. Was I wrong?

[Menshevik]

1. Hmmm

I think they are the guys that run the factcheck.org website (the one Cheney meant to refer to in the debates, but screwed up the address and sent everyone to an anti-shrub site, lol)

[WebeBlue]

2. Aren't they the ones who did that how will the troops vote

poll with it's bogus results of 80% would vote Bush. NOT.. Seriously not. We ought to be able to ask to see how, in fact, the military troops did vote.

I think it was this same name, Annenberg that did the troops poll...again right, polled officers, long termers, not the boots on the ground who would have a quite different opinion and vote.

[distantearlywarning]

3. That's really weird.

I answered an extremely loooong phone survey tonight. I think they said they were from this group! Or at least they had some name that was really similar to this one. Where do you live, IsThereHope?

I didn't get asked any questions about Kerry, though. But they did ask me what seemed like 80,000 questions about every possible paper in my area that I might read, and what I watch on television + some other things like my buying habits. They also asked me about my political persuasion and my internet use and whether I voted in the last election.

It seemed all on the up and up at the time. Should I be paranoid now....?

*putting my tinfoil hat on to shield myself from Annenberg thought rays coming through my telephone*

[against all enemies]

5. They are affiliated with University of Pennsylvania.

I did a search on them and it looks like their kind of research. They didn't ask any consumer questions. It seemed as if they were trying to establish an IQ for election information and compare the rated knowledge with reading and viewing habits. They were interested in which cable news shows were watched and so forth.

I would like to see the poll specifics. It should show how "knowledgeable" Fox viewers are. it should be a laugh.

[KT2000]

4. Isn't that woman on Moyers

from the Annenberg Public Policy Center? They interview her just about every week.

[KT2000]

6. here is a link

it makes sense that they would ask the questions they did:

http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/

[Starlight]

7. They have the factcheck.org site. n/t

[Mandate My Ass]

8. RWer. His name is often mentioned with Hearst, Luce, and Murdoch

David Brock shines some light on his media empire in Blinded by the Right. He once owned several newspapers and TV stations in Philadelphia and used those papers and media to smear his real and perceived enemies.

Nixon appointed him ambassador to G.B. after which he used his bully pulpit to denounce Vietnam protestors.

IIRC, they were one of the only media outlets endorsing and predicting a Bush win.

[jdj]

9. wow. I didn't know this.

if this is the same guy:

Annenberg remained supportive of conservative political causes throughout the years, and his efforts on behalf of Republicans were rewarded with his designation by President Richard Nixon as U. S. Ambassador to Great Britain in 1969. The appointment led Annenberg to sell his newspapers and television stations, but he retained TV Guide and remained active in managing the publication throughout his five-year tenure as Ambassador.

Shortly after the election of his close friend, Ronald Reagan, as President in 1980 (he would endorse Reagan's re-election campaign in 1984 in TV Guide, the only such political endorsement ever to appear in the magazine), Annenberg announced a plan to provide the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with $150 million in funds over a fifteen year period to produce educational television programs through which viewers could obtain college credits. Annenberg's sympathy for educational causes had already been evidenced by his financial support of the Annenberg Schools of Communication at both the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Southern California. His activities in this regard would grow even more pronounced in the years to come, particularly after his sale of TV Guide and Triangle Publications to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1988 for approximately $3 billion--at the time, the largest price ever commanded for a publishing property.

Annenberg continued to make news after his sale of Triangle because of his many substantial donations to educational causes. In addition, Annenberg was also one of the country's foremost collectors of art, and in 1991, he bequeathed his extensive collection--valued at more than $1 billion--to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. His post-Triangle era charitable activities in the areas of education, art, and television served to further assure Annenberg's lasting legacy to a wide spectrum of American culture.


http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/annenbergwa/annenbergwa.htm

founded tv guide and seventeen magazine.

[Leilani]

10. I think they are very well respected

They are on C-Span all the time...also PBS.

Although Annenberg was a Republican, I believe his charitable foundations are very fair.

Also, it's affiliated with Univ of Penn, not exactly a right-wing institution.

There is also an Annenberg School of Communications at Penn, well-regarded.

[Mandate My Ass]

12. very well respected by Dick Cheney

who tried, and failed, to direct people to the public policy center's URL during the VP debates. And we all know Dick Cheney doesn't have a partisan bone in his body.

Just because someone gives to charity does not mean they are non-partisan. Just because someone has a communications school named after them at a major university doesn't the whole university is behind that person's politcal legacy.

[noamnety]

11. I don't fully trust the Annenberg Foundation

Ed Gillespie did an interview with the Washington Journal, 7/12/04, where he said factcheck was an RNC effort, which he later retracted.

Trustees:
Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg
Founder, 1908-2002

Trustees
Leonore Annenberg
President, Chairman and Sole Director

Wallis Annenberg
Vice-President

Lauren Bon
Charles Annenberg Weingarten
Gregory Annenberg Weingarten

http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/about/about_show.htm?doc_id=210597

and who they support: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=PA&last=Annenberg

[brook]

13. FWIW...

Annenberg struggled to overcome his socially unacceptable parentage. His father owned the Daily Racing form (lucrative, but not an entre into high society). When he went to jail for tax evasion. Walter took over, became a billionaire in publishing and climbed the social ladder greased by his money. Very big in Palm Springs 'in the day'.

If I had to guess, I'd say the Foundation leans more to the right than the left...but I have no supporting evidence.