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John Brown aggregates all the most recent public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.

PDPR FOR DECEMBER 3-5
by John Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 3-5 QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY “WHY LIE WHEN YOU CAN SPIN?” —Columnist Clarence Page, regarding Pentagon paid-for news; “When Press Is Paid to Lie, the Truth Always Comes out” (Chicago Tribune, December 4; see below item 23) LINK “THE U.S. MILITARY IS BEING ACCUSED OF PAYING IRAQI NEWSPAPERS TO PUBLISH FAKE ARTICLES THAT SUPPORT PRESIDENT BUSH. WHEN HE HEARD ABOUT IT, PRESIDENT BUSH WAS FURIOUS AND SAID, ‘WHY AREN’T THEY DOING THAT IN AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS?’” —Talk show host Conan O’Brien; cited in “Laugh Lines: Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien” (New York Times, December 4) LINK REFERENCE On Karen P. Hughes in SourceWatch LINK PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 1. US SAID TO USE A LITMUS TEST TO BLOCK AMERICAN SPEAKERS: IRAQ POLICY CRITICS CONSIDERED TARGETS - WARREN P. STROBEL AND JONATHAN S. LANDAY (BOSTON GLOBE, DECEMBER 4): The State Department has been using political litmus tests to screen private American citizens before they can be sent overseas to represent the United States, weeding out critics of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, according to department officials and internal e-mails. The “US Speakers/Specialist Program” is part of a public diplomacy effort to change negative foreign opinions of the United States. It’s overseen by Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, although the questionable practices reportedly began before she took up her post in September. LINK 2. CLUELESS AT THE PENTAGON? MAYBE, BUT DON’T COUNT ON IT – PATRICIA KUSHLIS (WHIRLED VIEW, DECEMBER 3): If I—a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer—living in the middle of a New Mexico desert had learned months ago from the Washington Post on June 11 that the Lincoln Group, SAIC and SY Coleman were in line for several million dollar contracts from the Pentagon to conduct psychological operations in Iraq—euphemistically sold as public diplomacy to the unsuspecting—then why is the story now a surprise to senior Pentagon officials? LINK 3. HAS ‘WAR’ BECOME A LEADING BRAND FOR UNITED STATES? HOW BUSH’S IMPERIAL POLICIES ARE BEING LINKED TO ECONOMIC WOES AND CEO ANGST IN AMERICA - MARK ENGLER (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, DECEMBER 4): Compared with the adverse impacts of Bush’s imperial globalization, the administration’s efforts at Karen Hughes-style brand rehabilitation are laughable, and Business for Diplomatic Action knows it. Taking diplomatic matters into their own hands, spokesmen for the group flatly state, “Right now, the U.S. government is not a credible messenger.” LINK 4. WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD - BY ANNE GEARAN (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, DECEMBER 2): “I think that we are, in our public diplomacy efforts, very sensitive to the concerns of foreign publics,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. “There have been examples where we’ve not done as good a job as we might have, but we have ... certainly tried to learn from those past examples.” LINK 5. DON’T PAY A FREE PRESS – EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, DECEMBER 3): The State Department trains Iraqi journalists how to be independent and fair; at the same time, the Defense Department contracts with…... FULL TEXT
 
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