Undersecretary Rafael Seguis...said that DFA could not afford to ignore or belittle the role of the media in times of disasters or emergencies.Seguis said that the media are also a vital partner in public diplomacy thru the use of networking sites like Facebook or Twitter or other sites.

The Marshall McLuhan Prize, named after the world-renowned Canadian communication scholar...Launched in 1997, the prize aims to encourage investigative journalism in the Philippines, underlining Canada’s belief that "a strong media is essential to a free democratic society."

The Netherlands... became the first EU member state to enshrine in law the concept of net neutrality, the idea that there should be no hierarchy of information or services in the internet.Net neutrality is one of the hottest global regulatory issues around...

Three members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Dana Perino, Susan McCue, and Michael Meehan, will visit Ethiopia, South Sudan and Nigeria to broaden the Voice of America's reach and impact in Africa. Board members will meet with high-ranking government officials, VOA journalists and broadcasting affiliates to address challenges and opportunities in the region.

Screenwest, Western Australia's screen funding and development agency and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) announced two cross-media projects. The two projects aim to encourage producers in the two territories to co-develop visual narrative concepts for emerging new media channels. These include interactive television, web and mobile devices.

CPD Director Philip Seib will be speaking at the Strategic Communications Conference in Los Angeles, June 23rd to 24th, on social media in the Middle East and its effects on foreign policy.

Dev Patel, the Hollywood star, is to front a £100m advertising campaign promoting Britain to young, Asian tourists ahead of the Queen's diamond jubilee. Actor Rupert Everett and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver also appear in the adverts. Designed to lure more overseas tourists to the UK, the adverts are being complemented by short films from each celebrity, shot in a location of their choice.

While today, one percent of online content is in Arabic, five percent of the world's online population speaks Arabic, and the number of Internet users who speak Arabic increased by an astonishing 2,298 per cent from 2000 to 2009, remarked Karim Sabbagh at Booz & Company for The National.