Welfare Watch - Press Release

["Kimberley La Farge Osborn, MSW" <kosborn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Welfare Watch
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
3502 Watt Way
Los Angeles, California 90089-0281
Voice: 213-740-3722
Fax: 213-740-3772
http://www.welfarewatch.org/
watch@welfarewatch.org

For Immediate Release:
USC Launches Welfare Watch Web Site

Is welfare reform the roaring success that the President claims? Welfare
rolls are shrinking, but are former recipients finding jobs or sinking
deeper into poverty? The answer to these and other questions about
poverty in America can no longer be supplied by Washington. Like it or
not, welfare reform has scattered responsibility for the poor to 50
state experiments with varying rates of success and failure.

To help sift through the complexities of welfare reform and report on
how it is being covered by the media, the USC Annenberg School for
Communication has created Welfare Watch, a media monitoring research
project which officially launched its web site at
http://www.welfarewatch.org/ on November 25.

ãWashington doesnât hold the power it used to and welfare isnât
centralized any more. The success or failure of welfare reform is being
determined on a state by state basis. The media has a unique
responsibility to report this very complex story,ä says Welfare Watchâs
executive director, Robert Scheer. ãWe aim to help people understand
what is going on around the country and how it is being covered. Our web
page is a vital bookmark for anyone who wants to know.ä

Welfarewatch.org includes information on recent articles in the print
media, government reports, think tanks and a forum for opinions.
Published information from over 30 newspapers, 60 think tanks and all
federal agencies are summarized and catalogued in a searchable
database.  The ãHot Off the Pressesä feature presents original articles
from the research staff and advisory board.

Welfare Watch is administered by a non-partisan Board of Advisers
including Geoffrey Cowan, Peter Edelman, Arianna Huffington, Michael D.
Johnson, Matthew Miller, and Sergio Munoz. Please call (213) 740-3722 or
visit the site for more information.