The House Foreign Affairs Committee came out swinging this morning in its hearing titled “Broadcasting Board of Governors: An Agency ‘Defunct.’” Chairman Ed Royce laid the groundwork in his introductory remarks, offering an overview of the BBG’s legislative origins and the proud history of U.S. government broadcasters that helped the West win the Cold War. The point – much like the hearing’s title – was not subtle, but it was important: The salad days of U.S.

The BBC's aim to broadcast in North Korea for the first time has been curbed by government cuts to its budget, the corporation's director of global news has said. Peter Horrocks said airing programmes in the secretive state is still on his "wish list" but is unlikely to happen in the next year, following the £2.2m annual budget cut announced by William Hague earlier this month.

The Korean Film Archive (KOFA) has signed an “agreement of cooperation” with the newly opened Shanghai Film Museum, the South Korea state-backed body announced. The pact, the first of its kind to be pursued for KOFA since its inception in 1974, means the two organizations will collaborate for film screenings, exhibitions, and restoration projects.

The Governments of Jamaica and Cuba have inked an agreement, which will see Cuban specialists in movie animation and high quality art and craft coming to the island to impart their knowledge to local youths. The ‘Youth and Cultural Exchange’ agreement will be implemented as a pilot before the end of this year.

The local media's failure to provide sufficient and high-quality international news could be a result of their lack of vision, as they focus only on trivial and sensational subjects to maintain high ratings, media insiders said.

The Arab media explosion that recently has culminated in uprisings across the region springs from two interrelated sources: the growth of satellite television and the affordability of the receivers to the Arab masses, and the common language that Arabs share across state boundaries.