The publication of a new cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday has drawn criticism from several Muslim countries and Islamic bodies, but support from the U.S. and Australia.

If 9/11 made global viewers of us, the massacre in Paris was the moment when online media was where readers gathered.

While China imposes strict controls on foreign-produced entertainment at home, it is also eager to see its cultural products embraced abroad. And in Africa, Chinese television shows have become immensely popular — at least according to the Chinese state news media.

Governments around the world are using stealthy strategies to manipulate the media.  Censorship is flourishing in the information age. In theory, new technologies make it more difficult, and ultimately impossible, for governments to control the flow of information.

In 2014, New Diplomacy Initiative organized 13 symposiums in Japan and four in the U.S. to discuss issues such as Sino-Japanese relations and Abe’s push to enable the Self-Defense Forces to come to the defense of an ally.

Obama clearly views Hollywood as an expression of American soft power, and its ability to shape the preference and perceptions of other nations.  As for the North Korean regime ... Hollywood movies, in their most surreal forms, constitute a direct assault on political fantasies, which underpin autocracies and their megalomaniac leaders.

Putin’s propaganda machine is fighting a desperate PR battle—at home and abroad—for control of the narrative of its war against Ukraine.  Setbacks make the battle for German public opinion even more crucial, a battle that is now being conducted on the front pages of the German press. 

Officials from Iran and China in a meeting in Beijing agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two Asian nations in the field of media and public diplomacy.