"The Empire has confiscated narrative."
--Christian Salmon, Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind (2010), p. 12; image from
IMAGES
Propaganda Tales: Norman Rockwell and North Korea
BLAST FROM THE PAST
What? No senior Department of State officer resigned in protest? - Domani Spero, DiploPundit: On three Foreign Service officers leaving the State Department in opposition to war plans against Iraq; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Public Diplomacy and “Rethinking” National Security - Harry C. Blaney III, Rethinking National Security: "Experts have talked about winning the 'hearts and minds' of populations around the glove for decades. Yet today after continued application of this theory, America and it allies have won neither the trust nor the support from many of the world’s most disaffected peoples. Indeed many feel great distrust. Resentment towards the United States has grown rather than diminished in the case of those who say they support 'terrorists' emotionally if not via actual participation. This opinion briefly swung in the opposite direction when Obama became president but soon afterwards it regressed. Clearly the problem is not just about perception but results from specific actions and policies undertaken by the U.S. and its allies. That we are losing the public relations 'war' is clear. It is also a factor that deep poverty, exacerbated by the global economic crisis has left many at the bottom of the economic ladder to experience extreme desperation and anger. The rich countries not meeting their Millennium Development goals, only exacerbates the problem. But America still has not found its ‘better voice' in speaking to the peoples beyond out border. I would contend that one fact was the abolition of the semi-independent United States Information Agency and its misconceived 'integration' into the Department of State.
Few would argue that this 'integration' enhanced our public diplomacy programs or added support for the public diplomacy professionals. We have failed to provide resources or even imagination in telling 'our story' to gain the respect of audiences abroad by broadcasting honest and unbiased programs to existing radio and TV outreach programs. The question then is how do we re-structure our public diplomacy to function as a preventative diplomatic institution, so our efforts are the best that America can offer in terms of culture, information, and person-to-person exchanges? We need to change our micro and macro diplomatic strategies." Image from
US envoy reaches out to Koreans through sports - Lee Byung-jong, Yonhap News: "As she goes about her official work in South Korea, U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens is hardly one to break a sweat. But she actually pumps a lot of sweat through her energetic sports outreach to the South Korean public. Sports are making the well-known ambassador, who often goes by her Korean name, Shim Eun-kyung, even more popular among Koreans.
She regularly plays tennis, for example, with Korean friends at her residence behind downtown Seoul's Deoksu Palace. ... While Stephens and her staff still engage in the traditional diplomacy of meeting fellow diplomats and foreign ministry officials for serious discussions, they also view 'public diplomacy' -- reaching out to ordinary people -- as an important aspect of state relations today. Stephens spends much of her time engaging with regular folks with diverse backgrounds -- students, scholars, journalists, business leaders and professionals. She travels to remote parts of Korea to listen to different voices nationwide." Image from article: U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens (R) warms up with her tennis partner Rep. Chung Mong-joon before a match at her residence in Seoul.
A Different Kind of P2P: The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad -Linda Constant, Huffington Post: "Produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center in partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, The Rhythm Road developed from the U.S. State Department's Jazz Ambassadors program, a cultural initiative originally established in 1955 dedicated to sending America's robust jazz musicians throughout a planet chilled by the Cold War. ... When it comes to a country's image, cultural diplomacy often offers alternative insight to the usual political, religious or linguistic barriers that may prevent deeper discourse and understanding between citizens of countries. ... [J]azz is not the only genre that The Rhythm Road welcomes. While still evoking the earlier fundamental goals of Cold War diplomacy, today's program has filtered its diplomatic mission through the reality of the 21st century. Hip-hop, cajun, zydeco, folk, blues, bluegrass, country and gospel bands are all encouraged to audition. ... [D]espite being supported by the government, The Rhythm Road's participants do not have to agree with every single policy by the administration."
Frohman puts face on diplomacy in China - Bertrand Teo, dailyme.com: "Ben Frohman, a recent graduate of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Affairs, is a student ambassador for the USA pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
He interacts with more than 45,000 Chinese visitors on a daily basis in Mandarin, guiding them through the pavilion's four-part show. With relations between both states at a low, Frohman sees the U.S.'s presence at the expo as 'an amazing platform for public diplomacy for both countries" to improve ties.'" Image from
Radio/TV Martí fires sports anchor and union VP - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
VOA stringer in Uzbekistan expresses "little hope" as his court trial begins - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
10 Reasons Conservatives Must Support Aid Reform - Mark Green, modernizingforeignassistance.org: "Rep. Green, who also served as Ambassador to Tanzania under President George W. Bush, gives 10 reasons
Conservatives should support more effective U.S. foreign assistance. ... Click on the link to read the full piece on each reason. ... Reason 5: The combination of fragmented authorities and overlapping bureaucracies in our current assistance framework is watering down public diplomacy efforts." Image from
NATO Responds to atlantic-community.org's Memo - Jiri Sedivy, atlantic-community.org:
"NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning comments on our recommendations for the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept. He very much appreciates not only the memorandum, but also — and at least as much as it — the process, the work behind the final paper. This has been a really open and participatory deliberation. ... As for the memorandum's public diplomacy recommendation, I [Sedivy] can only agree on the importance of strategic communication. While we often achieve remarkable success in the field, we are not always able to communicate it effectively. On the other hand, launching 'broad public diplomacy initiatives to make the case for NATO's existence' as the memorandum recommends is a bit beyond the scope and capacity of our public diplomacy, not least due to the shrinking budgets on one hand and growth of demands on NATO on the other. Last but not least, it should be the governments of NATO Allies above all who should address their citizens in this respect more intensively and convincingly." Sedivy image from article
China is Vulnerable to 4GW and 5GW - zenpundit.com: "The Chinese government’s hamfisted and Brezhnevian reaction to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned political dissident Liu Xiaobo, which included a tantrum by the Chinese official media, empty threats against the Norwegian government and the bullying arrest of Liu’s hapless wife have served primarily to telegraph the deep insecurity and paranoia of the CCP oligarchy. Not only was the move reminiscient of how the Soviet leadership bungled handling the cases of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov, but coming on the heels of China’s worst year for public diplomacy since the end of the Cultural Revolution, it leaves me wondering if China’s leadership have corrupted their OODA Loop through self-imposed intellectual isolation and an unrealistic assessment of Chinese power?" Below image from
Projecting Taiwan - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Here is my report for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy on Taiwan's Public Diplomacy. I am still tinkering with it as it will need some editing to go from a report to a journal article, but it is an interesting examination of Taiwan's public diplomacy and soft power projection."
Sky News partners with CNN - The Spy Report: "Sky News Australia has today announced a new four-year partnership with CNN International. ... Meanwhile, the move has intensified the tension between Sky News and the ABC, as the news network attempts to force a tender for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) contract to run the Australia Network, the international television service currently operated by the public broadcaster. According to The Australian, the ABC's carriage of the service expires next year, worth $90 million over five years. The ABC's managing director, Mark Scott, is lobbying to retain the channel and not to proceed with a tender. Back in August, he said research into ten international broadcasting services conducted by the Lowy Institute found none was 'outsourced by their government', saying the 'soft power' or 'public diplomacy' propagated through Australia Network 'helps achieve foreign policy and trade objectives'."
New Security Council stint for SA - Loyiso Langeni, Business Day: "SA IS all but certain to be elected for a second two- year term as a nonpermanent member of the powerful United Nations (UN) Security Council. ... SA’s tenure during its first stint (2007-08) resulted in the country losing important allies in the human rights field because of its controversial decisions to prevent autocratic regimes from being censured by Security Council resolutions. ... Siphamandla Zondi, a foreign policy expert and executive director of the Institute for Global Dialogue, blames the Department of International Relations and Co- operation’s communication officials for failing to adequately explain the reasons for SA voting against the draft resolutions.
'SA had its fingers badly burnt because of poor communication, resulting in negative publicity on these issues,' Dr Zondi says. 'SA needs to beef up its public diplomacy machinery and proactively engage stakeholders in the country on its positions on the council,' he said." Image from
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation - Michael Grebe, Ethics Complaint - Industry Whistleblower: "In some respects, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation is the successor to the John M. Olin Foundation. Greatly expanded in 1985 with proceeds from the sale of the Allen-Bradley Company to Rockwell International, the foundation’s board recruited Michael Joyce, one of the architects of Olin, to make Bradley 'Olin West.' Beginning with $290 million in assets, the Foundation entered many of the same areas as Olin, supporting conservative think tanks and university programs, as well as public policy initiatives. With twothirds of its grantmaking in the public policy area, Bradley is active in legal reform, public diplomacy, defense policy, and labor and employment law reform, among others. It gives annual operating support to numerous grantees, and sponsors the Bradley Prizes, four $250,000 awards given annually to prominent conservative thinkers and leaders."
This seminar is an image of the previous Paburikkudipuromashi - yasuhitoa.exblog.jp: [Google translation] "Hello! 毎週、月曜日に行われているアネンバーグ・ネットワークセミナーの映像がYou tubeにアップされていました（全部You tubeで見れます。私もたまに映っているかもしれません）。 Every picture of the network seminars are held Monday Annenberg was uploaded to You tube (see it all You tube. May sometimes have appeared to me). その中でもけっこう勉強になった公共外交（Public Diplomacy）のセミナーの回のものをここに転載します。 Public diplomacy in which I learned pretty much, (Public Diplomacy) reprint here what the times of the seminar." [Includes video].
Journalism, Human Rights and Security in Mexico: Current Challenges for U.S. Public Diplomacy - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism: "Monday, October 18, 2010 : 5:00pm ... The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is pleased to welcome Carlos Pascual,
U.S. ambassador to Mexico, for a discussion." Pascual image from article
JOTW 41-2010 - Ned's Job of the Week: "15.) Tenure-Track, Assistant/Associate Professor Position, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY The highly-acclaimed Public Relations Department at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is seeking to fill a full-time, tenure-track position at the assistant/associate professor rank beginning in fall 2011. Professional experience in International Public Relations or Public Diplomacy is preferred and University teaching experience is highly desirable. Experience and/or ability to teach Executive Education courses is desirable. The Department is seeking to add an outstanding professor who can bring national visibility to the School through research and writing whether it is for the academic or professional press. The Department’s Public Diplomacy Dual-Degree Master’s Program is a two-year program that awards master’s degrees in Public Relations from Newhouse and International Relations from Syracuse University’s prestigious Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Graduates of this program enter positions in a wide variety of organizations, including government, public affairs, NGO’s and other settings. Candidates with experience in social media or other digital technologies used in Public Relations are particularly desirable." Below image from
Media Assistant: NATO - OTAN - International Jobs: Responsabilities [sic]: "The incumbent, under the overall direction of the Head, Communications Technologies Section (CTS) and the day-to-day supervision of the Deputy Head of CTS... Cmpetencies: The incumbent must demonstrate: Analytical Thinking, Achievement, Clarity and Accuracy, Conceptual Thinking, Customer Service Orientation Empathy, Impact and Influence, Initiative, Teamwork. ... Organization: NATO - OTAN Unit / department: Public Diplomacy Division Job type: Communication"
RELATED ITEMS
Obama administration relies on diplomacy by timetable - Jackson Diehl, Washington POst: Process is always important to good policy -- and yes, the Bush administration sometimes demonstrated what can go wrong when there are no deadlines. Yet in the Obama administration, the timetable
is becoming an end in itself. It reflects a president who is fixed on disposing of foreign policy problems -- and not so much on solving them. Image from
Social Media- A New World Serving The Right Audience - Tablet, posted at facebooksniper.com
Germany blasts anti-Iran propaganda - presstv.ir: German Ambassador to Tehran Bernd Erbel has denounced Western media propaganda against the Islamic Republic as “unreal”, saying Iran is a unique country in the Middle East. It is necessary to make constant efforts to amend the "incorrect" understanding by Western media of Iran, IRNA quoted Erbel as saying in a meeting with Chairman of the Cultural Commission of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel in Tehran on Sunday.
Iran War Propaganda on NY Local News - Ali Gharib, lobelog.com
Another Propaganda Set Up And Hoax In Israel…..Israeli Car Hits Arab “Children” - posted by Ruth King, ruthfullyyours.com
How to brand a disease -- and sell a cure - Carl Elliott, CNN: If you want to understand the way prescription drugs are marketed today, have a look at the 1928 book, "Propaganda," by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations in America. For Bernays, the public relations business was less about selling things than about creating the conditions for things to sell themselves. When Bernays was working as a salesman for Mozart pianos, for example, he did not simply place advertisements for pianos in newspapers. That would have been too obvious. Instead, Bernays persuaded reporters to write about a new trend: Sophisticated people were putting aside a special room in the home for playing music. Once a person had a music room, Bernays believed, he would naturally think of buying a piano. As Bernays wrote, "It will come to him as his own idea."
Just as Bernays sold pianos by selling the music room, pharmaceutical marketers now sell drugs by selling the diseases that they treat. The buzzword is "disease branding." To brand a disease is to shape its public perception in order to make it more palatable to potential patients. Panic disorder, reflux disease, erectile dysfunction, restless legs syndrome, bipolar disorder, overactive bladder, ADHD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, even clinical depression: All these conditions were once regarded as rare until a marketing campaign transformed the brand. Image from
Noam Chomsky: Propaganda and Controlling the Public Mind (1996) - dandelionsalad.wordpress.com. Includes videos.
Hitler's Nazi secrets - croatiantimes.com: Nazi monster Adolf Hitler kept his German followers under his spell with bizarre Top Trumps-style trading cards, a new exhibition on the fascist fuhrer has revealed.
The exhibition - at Berlin's German Historical Museum - is believed to be the largest ever collection of Nazi propaganda tricks used to bolster the dictator's popular appeal in his country. Packs of cards - showing the Nazi party's top leaders - were a favourite with youngsters who collected them and swapped them just like modern teenagers do. Others included special Brown Shirt brand 'Trommel' - or 'Drum' - cigarettes and even Chinese lanterns for Christmas celebrations that came plastered with Nazi swastikas. Image from article
World War I food propaganda claimed Germans subsisted on glue soup - io9.com: During World War I, the British naval blockade prevented the entrance of food into Germany. To convince British citizens that the blockade was crushing German morale, the British government ran illustrations like this, which claimed that Germans were eating quartz-bread.
This home-front-inspiring chart ran in The Illustrated London News on March 23, 1918. It was designed to portray the Germans as desperate (which they admittedly were) and the Allies as the denizens of a land of plenty. Notice how the wine and beer are labelled with an ominous question mark. Image from article.
"Propaganda 101: How Do You Manufacture Consent" by Mark Crispin Miller (30 minute--highly recommended introduction) - Posted by Thivai Abhor, dialogic.blogspot.com History Counts: Mark Crispin Miller, professor of culture and communications at New York University, discusses modern propaganda techniques from their origins during World War I. Professor Miller considers the seminal work on propaganda of George Creel, who ran the U.S. Committee on Public Information during World War I; Edward Bernays, public relations genius and consultant on government covert ops, and Walter Lippmann renowned journalist who called for the "manufacture of the consent" of the people to government policy. A prolific author, Mark Crispin Miller's most recent book is Loser Take All: Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000 - 2008. He has, also, been featured in the documentary films, "Stealing America: Vote by Vote" about the 2004 Presidential election and "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" about corporate control of media. To Listen to the Episode, click
MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY
"Every metric in mobile is growing."
--Mark Haviland, marketing director of CNN International; via
"Clearly, poems and novels and paintings were not produced as objects for future academic study; there is no a priori reason to think that they could be suitable objects of 'research.' By and large they were produced for the pleasure and enlightenment of those who enjoyed them."
--Professor Robert Pippin
