The Czech Republic is preparing to mark the 60th birthday of the launch of Radio Free Europe broadcasts in Czech across the Iron Curtain to Czechoslovakia. The broadcasts were a key factor in telling people under communism not only what was really happening in their own country but also keeping them up to date about events in the West.

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) has expressed its concern at the continuing disruption to transmissions of a number of its members. Deliberate, harmful Interference has been noted to the satellite transmissions of Alhurra, Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle since unrest began in a number of North African and Middle Eastern countries.

For nearly 90 years, the BBC World Service has spoken to the world from its headquarters in Bush House on The Strand in London, but an air of despondency now fills its corridors. In that time, the World Service has given the UK a unique form of “soft power”, where the station’s “This is London” opening introduction to news bulletins has been regarded as a byword for accuracy and impartiality.

Following a year marked by a number of diplomatic strains with its neighbours, China will look to boost its public diplomacy initiatives in coming months to address concerns about its rise, officials said this week.

"New media and old media converge to become now media." That maxim, so persuasively articulated by 21st century public diplomacy guru Matt Armstrong, has now become real in a Voice of America Persian language television program called Parazit.

The voanews.com website was back to normal when I checked. Using Google cache, I found the hacked version, work of the "Iranian Cyber Army," which apparently went after all VOA sites.

On numerous levels, the United States continues to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. This is yet another indication that for all its protestations about its commitment to reach out to foreign publics, the U.S. government is unwilling to commit the resources needed to do so effectively.

On numerous levels, the United States continues to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. This is yet another indication that for all its protestations about its commitment to reach out to foreign publics, the U.S. government is unwilling to commit the resources needed to do so effectively.