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.
Obama Voices Hope for Mideast Peace in Talk With Al-Arabiya TV
President Obama expressed optimism yesterday about the prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but he said a peace accord will take time and require new thinking about the problems of the Middle East as a whole. Obama's comments came during his first formal television interview as president, with a correspondent from al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based satellite network that is one of the largest English-language TV outlets aimed at Arab audiences.
Obama vows to listen to Muslims
Barack Obama on Monday night granted an Arabic-language television channel his first formal interview as president – an unprecedented gesture that appeared aimed at offering the Muslim world a sharp contrast with his predecessor, George W. Bush...“Now, my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect,” he told the Saudi-owned station. “I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries.”
Obama on Al Arabiya
President Barack Obama presented a humble and conciliatory face of America to the Islamic world Monday in the first formal interview since he assumed office, stressing his own Muslim ties and shying away from any hint of belligerence even when asked if he could “live with” an Iranian nuclear weapon. The interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Network was a dramatic piece of public diplomacy aimed at capitalizing on the new American president’s international popularity.
Who are the brand ambassadors?
And some administration officials, such as Colleen Graffy, departing deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, have bravely taken the plunge with text microblogging tools, such as Twitter. Through social software, these brand ambassadors have the potential to promote messages through what I call indirect, intimate influence. Brand ambassadors ideally listen and learn from ongoing conversations and then engage in them, forming bidirectional interactions. Ideally, they also talk about more than just their brands on social networks.
More VOA Broadcasting to Pakistan’s Norhtwest Frontier Province
Starting today, people in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, as well as the rest of the country, can listen to a six-hour radio program of news and information in Pashto, Urdu and English on FM, AM, shortwave and the Internet. The trilingual program will feature news packages, talk shows and in-depth analysis of events in the United States and Pakistan. It will be broadcast across Pakistan, with a focus on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, from 12 a.m. until 6 a.m. The format replaces an existing program that was exclusively on music.
New National Logo Reveals Oman’s Diversity, Culture
Sayyid Haitham unveiled the new image, that brings together the country’s diversity, people and culture and the result of two years of painstaking work by the Oman Brand Management Unit (OBMU), in the presence of a large gathering of VVIPs including royal family members, ministers and key public and private sector officials...He said OBMU had already introduced a Brand Ambassador Programme.
Saatchi & Saatchi Hired to Improve Kosovo’s Image
Kosovo Government announced BBR Saatchi & Saatchi as the winner of "Execution of Nation Branding and International Media Campaign for the Republic of Kosovo" internationa tender. The intention to involve in a nation branding campaign was announced for the first time in September after criticism that Kosovo Government was not doing enough to promote the newborn country and secure political recognitions. The tender is worth €5.7 million, the highest of ten bids received.
Clinton Names Climate Envoy
Citing the “complex, urgent and global threat of climate change,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today appointed a special envoy for climate change, who will lead the United States in international climate negotiations. Todd Stern, a climate negotiator during Bill Clinton’s presidency and more recently a fellow at the Center for American Progress, will assume the role.
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