Police forces across Australia are acting as their own media organisations: producing video and photos, and engaging with the public via social media. However, with traditional outlets increasingly reliant on multimedia produced by the police, can the public be sure they're getting the full picture?

Internet, its online media sources and numerous digital services have become an essential part of international data exchange as well as a powerful instrument to influence public opinion worldwide. What countries are the most advanced users of the new digital tools? A research project conducted at Tel Aviv University's Department of Communications into the practice of "digital diplomacy" yielded rather unexpected results.
 

With only two candidates, and a very likely winner, Egypt’s upcoming presidential election may not be the hottest of electoral races around.  But social media has found a way to spice things up by bringing a Hollywood star into the limelight.  Kevin Spacey has become the pick of many Twitter and Facebook users to become Egypt’s next president in a trending spoof campaign.

It's such a great, simple idea: Young Brazilians want to learn English. Elderly Americans living in retirement homes just want someone to talk to. Why not connect them?  FCB Brazil did just that with its "Speaking Exchange" project for CNA language schools.

An international uproar mounted Tuesday over the fate of hundreds of Ni­ger­ian schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants in mid-April, with the Obama administration preparing to send a team of specialists to Nigeria to help recover the missing girls and U.N. officials warning that the kidnappers could face arrest, prosecution and prison under international law.  A social-media campaign called Bring Back Our Girls has gained rapid traction on Facebook and other sites over the past several days.

Vietnam has arrested two democracy activists for posting articles critical of the government on the Internet, signalling a continued crackdown on dissent despite the early release of three dissidents last month.

Celebrities and world leaders are drawing attention to the plight of 300 Nigerian school girls kidnapped a month ago by Nigerian terrorists by using the social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Ardaiolo of the Public Diplomat, a podcast and website produced by students and scholars at Syracuse University’s public diplomacy program. I speak about my research into how digital platforms have been incorporated into US public diplomacy, and how this reflects broader institutional shifts in the practice and discourse of PD.