USC Annenberg's centers and programs focus on specific fields of research, conducting studies and producing projects that cover topics ranging from economics to the arts. See a recent list of those centers here. Each of these enterprises are constantly producing, publishing and distributing work. One initiative branched out further into social media last week. Here's a select rundown of just a small part about what's new with some of them: M{2e}: USC Annenberg's Media, Economics and Entrepreneurship: At their blog, M{2e} posted a piece about "The Fragility of Data," which discusses how study results are affected by what is reported to those participating in the study. Reg Chua writes, "All data has bias, of course – in terms of what it’s intended to measure, how it was collected and categorized, what it does and doesn’t cover, and so on. And good journalists recognize that, and adjust for it, in the same way that good journalists understand the biases of their sources and adjust for those, too." USC Annenberg Innovation Lab: The Innovation Lab hosted a CRUNCH Lunch, welcoming Global advisor in social technology, business and media innovation Gunther Sonnenfeld for a discussion of how to use data and the stories behind the data to build intelligence and sustain markets: MDSC Initiative: The USC Annenberg Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative: The MDSC Initiative joined Twitter on Sept. 30. Follow them for updates on their data-driven studies of demographics in popular culture that seek to change the media landscape.

Please welcome @MDSCInitiative, the USC Annenberg Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative, to Twitter #mondayfollow #ascj — USC Annenberg (@USCAnnenberg) September 30, 2013

The Knight Digital Media Center: The Knight Digital Media Center posted a blog last week about the possible effects of a proposed shield law. Amy Gahran writes, "The proposed federal shield law would protect anyone engaged in the 'gathering, preparation, collection, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or publishing' of news or information 'concerning local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest,' and 'with the primary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate [that information] to the public.' This goes far beyond most existing shield laws, which typically only cover employees or contractors for established print or broadcast news outlets."