A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.

Oscar Awards: Nollywood is Standing Tall without Nominations

Nigeria’s Nollywood is the third largest film industry worldwide...Nollywood has not even recognized how powerful she is becoming, for Nollywood poses a business threat to Hollywood especially in Africa and developing nations. What Nollywood did in Africa and beyond was to displace Hollywood by telling the stories average Africans can identify with and not some tinseltown stories that are quite far away from African experience and cultural make-up.

Tags: soft power, public diplomacy, africa, film diplomacy

Frank Fredericks And Sport Diplomacy

It is no small measure that cultural and sport diplomacy combined could be a very powerful tool for Namibia. Currently, there is no integrated tourism strategy looking at all aspects of marketing Namibia as a destination of choice - except the usual rhetoric around dunes, wildlife and pristine environment.

Tags: soft power, Cultural Diplomacy, public diplomacy, africa, sports diplomacy

China-France language and cultural exchange celebrated

Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping told the closing ceremony of "Chinese Language Year" on Thursday that the 19-month-long program had played an important role in strengthening the ties between China and France. He hoped efforts would be maintained and he encouraged more student exchanges in the future.

Tags: china, Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, public diplomacy, france

Interview with Temel Kotil, CEO, Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines has become the world's fastest growing airline company. Its CEO, Temel Kotil, explained toEuropolitics why Istanbul is Europe's natural hub for passengers heading to Asia and Africa. The tender for the construction of the city's huge third airport was published on 24 January in theOfficial Gazette of the Republic of Turkey .

Tags: soft power, Cultural Diplomacy, middle east, public opinion, europe, turkey, travel, airlines, airports

Chinese media expands Africa presence

The launch of Africa Weekly by the China Daily in December is the latest move by a Chinese state media company to expand on the continent. In April 2011, the Xinhua news agency partnered with a Kenyan network operator to provide news for mobile phones. That was followed nine months later by CCTV Africa in Nairobi, the first broadcast hub to be established by China Central Television (CCTV) outside Beijing.

Tags: china, international broadcasting, nation branding, government pd, public diplomacy, xinhua news agency

“Cloud Atlas” cut by 38 minutes for China audience

Nearly 40 minutes have been chopped from the Hollywood film "Cloud Atlas" for Chinese audiences, deleting both gay and straight love scenes to satisfy local censors despite a movie-going public that increasingly chafes at censorship.

Tags: china, united states, film diplomacy, hollywood, censorship, film diplomacy in china

Basketball diplomacy in Iran

Tensions between Iran and the US were intensifying in 2008 when American basketball player Kevin Sheppard went to play for the Iranian league. A German filmmaker has brought his unusual story to the cinema.

Tags: united states, iran, sports diplomacy, film diplomacy, celebrity diplomacy, germany, basketball

Yes, Pakistanis Really Do Hate America’s Killer Drones

Humans are typically averse to foreign spy agencies killing their countrymen. Could public diplomacy really rally Pakistanis in favor of drone strikes on their own soil? Could it really disabuse them of the notion that drones bring carnage, given that they do? The authors are absolutely right: the drone program is unpopular only among the people who know about it. Pakistanis who don't know about it don't think about it in unfavorable terms... or at all!

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, pakistan, foreign policy, drones, cia

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