For the first time, a Taiwanese TV drama will be aired in the Latin American region in an effort to promote bilateral exchanges in the field of pop culture, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. The idol drama, The Fierce Wife, will soon be broadcast on a total of 10 TV channels in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay — five of Taiwan's 22 diplomatic allies — and in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador, the ministry said.

The ABC has partnered with a Chinese media company to open a web portal for Australian content in that country, becoming the first mainstream media organisation to launch a registered web portal in China. The managing director of the ABC, Mark Scott, and its chairman, Jim Spigelman, opened the portal in China on Wednesday and were congratulated by Tony Abbottfor strengthening Australia’s ties with China.

David Ensor, who as director of the Voice of America has presided over significant growth in the news agency’s audience despite budget cuts, announced Tuesday that he was stepping down. Mr. Ensor, who joined the Voice of America in June 2011, said he would leave the government-funded broadcaster at the end of next month. He did not explain his decision or discuss his plans.

For years, the United States and other nations have reached out to this population through broadcasting and online venues, but this process should be immediately expanded. Exchange programs – academic and cultural – are effective in breaking down stereotypes, and existing efforts should be accelerated.

Voice of America said Tuesday its director David Ensor is stepping gown after nearly four years of leading the government-funded broadcast and digital news operation.

When it comes to a few important journalistic new media skills, such as speed of posting information online and use of social media, U.S. State Department's public diplomacy is leagues ahead of U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA).

In the past, the biggest problem was: How do we get information to these people who either have none, or few ways to access it? Now, as the BBC report notes, the main problem isn’t scarcity of information, it’s a scarcity of reliable information.