Thanks to the rise of social media, news is no longer gathered exclusively by reporters and turned into a story but emerges from an ecosystem in which journalists, sources, readers and viewers exchange information. Journalists are becoming more inclined to see blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media as a valuable adjunct to traditional media.

It is the most popular subject on China's Internet that no one is allowed to talk about. After overseas media reported the death of former president Jiang Zemin, web-savvy Internet users in China are finding creative ways to jump the Great Firewall, the cloak of Internet security authorities use to disrupt or halt access to things deemed too sensitive for the Internet.

The website is powered by Like For Israel, an online social media initiative formally launched just two weeks ago..A pilot project, Like For Israel is designed to be a tool for pro-Israel activists around the world, regardless of political views...

PD Magazine announces the launch of the Summer 2011 issue: "International Broadcasting." This summer's issue focused on the role of international broadcasting in public diplomacy.

The President isn’t the only one engaging Americans on Twitter. On June 28, the notice went out from the State Department’s spokesman that Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale would field her first “Twitter Q & A” the following morning.

International broadcasting remains an important element of soft power diplomacy. Nations want to tell their story to peoples around the world. Those goals remain the same even as the means of telling those stories has changed dramatically.

The decision by President Obama to participate in Wednesday’s first Twitter town hall meeting, live from the East Room, is a reminder that the White House is eager to exploit whatever technologies will help get out his message, unfiltered.

The broader problem highlighted by the Fox News tweet is that the social media universe has its fair shares of hucksters and malcontents. While social media thrives on its many voices, it also is built on the trust that users aren't deceiving or taking advantage of one another. News outlets in particular cannot afford to lose credibility by treating social media without care.