WASHINGTON – David Ensor, Director of the Voice of America, was the lead speaker this week at the first monthly USC public diplomacy lunch forum here on Monday.

Ensor began by discussing U.S. international broadcasters’ coverage of the 2012 election campaign, noting that tonight’s debate will be carried live by several VOA networks.

Al Jazeera has expanded in both Arabic and English; on TV and online. But now it’s facing financial pressure, and trying to figure out where growth is most likely. On the news side, it’s recently scaled back some operations, like having one anchor in Qatar as opposed to four around the world. But it’s also expanding into the world of sport.

During the recent crisis in Libya and the events surrounding the online dissemination of a hateful video, many asked: what tools does the State Department have to respond to audiences and engage people around the world in real time?

Fox International Channels (FIC) plans to launch a cloud service for its subscribers in Taiwan by early next year that will allow users to watch FIC shows at their convenience. The cloud service, called “Fox Play,” will store movies, documentaries and television series broadcast by FIC for up to one month so that subscribers can download the shows via apps on their laptops, cellphones or other electronic devices..."

Iran, which already has a firewall blocking many Western websites, says it's restricting access to Google's email service and search engine. A government deputy minister announced the ban Sunday on state television, the BBC reported. The restriction follow protests in the Muslim world, including some in Iran, against an anti-Islamic film posted on Google's video-sharing site YouTube.

The Japanese media showed images of huge crowds throwing bottles and eggs at the Japanese embassy in Beijing as they chanted nationalistic slogans. Television stations also carried lengthy reports from inside a Japanese-owned mall -- elsewhere in China -- which was slowly being surrounded by increasingly violent demonstrators. Though life has continued as normal across Japan, many Japanese people are increasingly troubled by the dispute.

Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein told students and young professionals not to blame reporters for Israel’s poor image at a conference on media and hasbarah at Ariel University earlier this month...Edelstein also urged citizens to take an active role in Israel’s public diplomacy efforts, stating that, “Citizens, who photograph and share it on social media introduce to the world our human face.”

The family of the late ambassador had requested that CNN not issue any reports based on the journal — or even reference its existence — before the family consented. CNN agreed to abide by the family’s wishes, according to Philippe Reines, a State Department spokesman who listened in on a conference call between a CNN executive and a representative of the Stevens family.