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.
Alhurra Locates the “Arab Street”
The much maligned Alhurra, the U.S. government's Arabic TV service, is now a "go-to" news channel in Iraq, one of the largest TV markets in the Middle East of more than 28 million population. Because of its growing number of viewers in Iraq, Alhurra can now lay claim to its legitimate connection with the mythical "Arab Street,' a term which writer Amir Hamzaway says elites use "in the absence of independent public opinion surveys, in representing their own quite ideological views as those of the Iraqi majority and as those of Arabs generally."
FO Launches Public Diplomacy Initiative
A British parliamentary delegation will visit Islamabad this week as part of the wide-ranging public diplomacy efforts being initiated by Pakistan’s Ambassador at Large, Javed Malik through the Foreign Office. The initiative is an effort to create opportunities for people to people contacts and foster diplomatic support for Pakistan across the globe.
Radio Silence
Zima’s TV-1 is one of dozens of broadcasters that have fallen afoul of authorities in Russia and Central Asia recently and that happen to air RFE/RL programming. Three years ago, the broadcaster’s offerings could be found on 30 stations in Russia. The number of regional partners is down to two, according to Maria Klein, director of the RFE/RL Russian Service. The crackdown has been focused on regions outside Moscow.
Azerbaijan Bars Foreigners From Use of Its FM Band
Azerbaijan has begun to enforce a law that bans foreign companies from broadcasting on national frequencies, effectively closing its airwaves to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and the BBC.
Fine Tuning Broadcast Public Diplomacy
There would be nothing wrong with a 24-hour channel devoted to public diplomacy, consisting of the advocacy and official representation of U.S. policies abroad. It must, however, not attempt to disguise its content as news. If it does, it might be confused for Voice of America or other U.S. international broadcasting services that actually do news.
For Israeli Blogger, Conflict Spurs Mixed Emotions
David Saranga, Israel's consul for media and public affairs in New York, says his government started using the Internet and social media well before the conflict in Gaza. "Public diplomacy means you have to reach the public — and if the public is changing its pattern of gathering news, we have to change the way we deliver our message," he says. Saranga says Twitter is well-suited to convey the Israeli government's message on Gaza to a new audience.
Israel Puts Media Clamp on Gaza
Like all wars, this one is partly about public relations. But unlike any war in Israel’s history, in this one the government is seeking to entirely control the message and narrative for reasons both of politics and military strategy...Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office, said, “Any journalist who enters Gaza becomes a fig leaf and front for the Hamas terror organization, and I see no reason why we should help that.”
Photographic Exhibition of America’s Jazz Ambassadors on Display in Russell Senate Office Building
Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World, a groundbreaking photographic exhibition organized and circulated by Meridian International Center in Washington, DC, will be on display in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building between Tuesday, January 6 and Friday, January 23, 2009.
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