In the summer of 1999 a team of researchers, headed by Visiting Professor Leroy Aarons of Annenberg’s Journalism School and Associate Professor Sheila Murphy of Annenberg’s Communications School, launched two major research projects:

1. "Lesbians and Gays in the Newsroom - 10 Years later," a national survey of gay and lesbian journalists' perceptions of coverage of sexual-orientation issues.
   The complete survey and its press release can be downloaded from this site.

2. A content audit of newspaper coverage in four cities to assess quantity, depth and balance. In addition, focus groups in those cities compared reader perception with actual presence of coverage.
   A draft of this study is available for download on this site.

3. Several papers which represent new student research were completed in December, 2001 by undergraduate students in the J468 course at USC Annenberg, entitled, "The American Press and Issues of Sexual Diversity." These term projects were selected for the SOIN webite for their excellence, depth of research, and relevance to contemporary issues of the kind that could be discussed in journalism classrooms. To view click here. 

4. View survey results of 1,279 priests conducted by researchers at the Catholic University of America, regarding the question of whether a gay subculture exists in their dioceses or religious orders. Click here.