"I remember when I showed up at the White House, one of the long-serving butlers said to me, 'Well, presidents and first ladies come and go, but butlers stay forever.' (Laughter.) And I know many of you will be serving with distinction long after I’m gone, and long after President Obama’s second term is gone."--Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing US State Department overseas Embassy Chiefs of Mission at a Washington confernece; image from
VIDEO
Supreme in everything: Mary Wilson talks to RT about her life and music [also her performance at Spaso House, the US Ambassador's residence in Moscow]; via TL on facebook; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACYEgypt and the Velvet Revolutions - George Packer, New Yorker: "From the start, the Administration has been reacting to rather than anticipating events
in Egypt, always a step behind. And yet Obama’s public words, and what we can surmise about his non-public diplomacy, have seemed right to me, if a day late. He understands the limits of American leverage over Mubarak and the pitfalls of American heavy-handedness in the region. What Obama can be faulted for is not his 'handling' of the current crisis, but his mistaken belief, upon taking office, that Muslims in places like Egypt wanted American respect first and last. His Cairo speech, in June 2009, was the fullest expression of that belief. It was long on understanding and dialogue, and short on human rights and democracy. As I wrote last year, when Obama finally got around to these topics, his first rhetorical move was to condemn American meddling. But his Cairo audience was already applauding the word 'democracy,' which caused Obama to stumble over his speech. He and they were in different places, and in a sense, the U.S. has been stumbling to catch up ever since. In reaching out to the Islamic world, Obama never made the crucial distinction between the people and the regimes that rule them. Administration policy in Egypt has allowed Mubarak to crush the few remaining pockets of breathing space for civil society and the political opposition. It’s a policy that goes back decades, one that neither Obama nor George W. Bush did much to change. The dramatic events of the past week have shown it to be an utter failure." Image from
Obama's Too Conservative Re: Egypt - John R. Guardiano, BBC News: "Pro-Mubarak thugs, with Molotov cocktails and a thirst for autocratic revenge, have been unleashed into the streets of Cairo. This is unacceptable. Obama last night said that violence must be averted; however, he did not call for the man who precipitated this violence, Hosni Mubarak, to step down now. Yet public diplomacy in this media age is a crucial and integral aspect of American foreign policy."
Many Against Mubarak Aren't Also Against US - Eric Trager, Forward: "In my interviews with protesters before the street demonstrations became violent, they took every opportunity to try a little public diplomacy of their own. They converged on any American they could find, and insisted that they have no intention of changing Egyptian foreign policy. Their fight is entirely about domestic issues,
they said, and their priority is instituting democratic governance and ending corruption. ... To the extent that the protesters routinely tout American democracy as something to which they aspire, the United States can insist that Egyptian reform extend beyond merely holding fair and free elections." Image from
The internet is destroying the idea of the nation - Philip Weiss, mondoweiss.net: "Two big surprises of the Egyptian revolution so far are: its speed and Mubarak's failure to act like Stalin. Forget about the thugs for a moment; he could have murdered thousands to put this down at the start; he didn't. ... This revolution and its counter-revolution are transparent in a way that none before it were. The other night Chris Matthews said that we are seeing public diplomacy before our eyes with the Obama statements, and the Mubarak speech. He's right; television is not far from the chambers of power, we see every twist in strategy, even if we are not inside the chamber. I am saying that just as Facebook has famously destroyed the traditional idea of personal privacy, the internet is rupturing the boundaries of the nation state. Both these things -- personal privacy and nation -- are human conceptions, after all, and both are subject to change. Young people are growing up with far greater transparency about matters (sexual, emotional, authority-related) that my generation grew up regarding as None of our business. These transformational ideas about authority are sweeping Cairo as well; I see it in the beautiful young faces of the revolution, the young people who are more wired than I am and far hipper than me too."
Will Egyptians Ever Like Us? J.D. Gordon, aolnews.com - "[T]he U.S. must do a better job of public diplomacy in working with Egypt's government and media outlets to challenge deeply flawed portrayals of the country and correct the record at every opportunity.
So before U.S. leaders rush to force elections in Egypt, they might want to look across the border in Gaza -- a place where they backed historic elections just five years ago. And the result? Palestinians overwhelmingly elected Hamas, which then wasted little time before firing rockets into Israel. Would a newly 'democratic' Egypt follow suit?" Gordon image from article
Seib: US public diplomacy should use the media Arabs rely on -- Al Jazeera, not Alhurra - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Huffington Post, 1 Feb 2011, Philip Seib: "'Lessons abound for the future of U.S. public diplomacy. As the speed of global news flows -- through social media as well as conventional news organizations -- public diplomacy must move apace. Outreach to people in the streets must be simultaneous with, not trailing, the conventional diplomatic minuet in which governments engage. In Egypt, this needed to happen quickly, before the government shut down the Internet and mobile telephone service. Further, there must be more sophisticated appreciation and use of the media that people rely on. In today's Arab world, that means Al Jazeera, not the U.S. government's Al Hurra; it means Twitter as well as official White House briefings.' [Elliott comment:] -- If Professor Seib means that US officials should seek interviews on Al Jazeera rather than Alhurra, that makes sense, given that Al Jazeera has the much larger audience. If he means the US government should not fund an Arabic-language television channel, surveys of Middle Eastern media behavior during this crisis will determine if Alhurra played a substantial role. It is unrealistic
to expect Alhurra or any non-Arab channel to match the audience size of Al Jazeera or Al Arabiya. But how well is Alhurra doing versus the other Arabic channels from non-Arab countries? Is Alhurra achieving a sizeable fraction of the Al Jazeera audience. Is it compensating in quality what it might lack in quantity of audience?" Image from
Ellison steps forward, tweets for the Egyptian 'Ppl' - Kevin Diaz, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "As Egyptians battle in the streets of Cairo, it remains uncertain whether Ellison's [Rep. Keith Ellison] vocal criticism of the Mubarak regime will help or hinder the White House's behind-the-scenes efforts to navigate the rapidly unfolding crisis.
One thing is certain: His public diplomacy remains a step ahead of the official Washington foreign policy establishment." Ellison image from article
American Universities and the Fate of the Middle East - Big Think: "As governments teeter throughout the Middle East, the political outcomes of the populist Arab revolts—Western style democracy, Islamist theocracy, or something in the middle—are largely out of the West's control. But international relations expert Parag Khanna suggests that a choice made ten years ago—not by the State department, but by American universities—could have the greatest impact. ... This decision to set up satellite campuses across the Middle East was 'the most positive act of public diplomacy that the U.S. could have taken in the last 10 years,' says Khanna."
Global Chiefs of Mission Conference - press release: Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Cheryl Mills Counselor Dean Acheson Auditorium Washington, DC February 2, 2011, U.S. Department of State: Clinton: "[Y]ou have not only the opportunity, but also the responsibility to rethink and reimagine your strategy, to advise us about where to invest in programs that work and end efforts that don’t, and to align your funding priorities with what is actually happening on the ground. You’ll hear from Judith McHale and our public diplomacy team, and some of you know from firsthand experience they have been working very hard to shift resources and positions out of countries where they are no longer needed to places where they are desperately required. I really know this is hard, but we have to do it. When I became Secretary of State and we looked at what was going on in Pakistan, we did not have enough voices to be able to push back on every kind of outlandish, outrageous accusation that was made against the United States by the Pakistani media on an almost daily basis. In looking across the world, we saw countries that we’ve been at peace with for decades who had far more resources in a far easier, more permissive environment. And I want to commend the chiefs of mission who are here who worked with us to basically cut your own resource base. Because you understood that it wasn’t just better organizing and focusing what you were doing inside your own country of responsibility, but what we needed to do across the world to promote American values and interests."
Clinton to ambassadors: We are all in uncharted territory - Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy: "State Department Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills also addressed the ambassadors, who were scheduled on Wednesday to also hear from Joints Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer, and Special Representative for Global Partnerships Kris Balderston. Special Advisor Alec Ross and Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale will meet with the group later this week." Above image from article. See also
Thursday, February 3, 2011 - Rush Limbaugh Report: "US FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS JUDITH MCHALE Under Secretary McHale participates in breakout sessions at the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE) 4:30 p.m. Under Secretary McHale participates in a Town Hall Meeting for the Global Chiefs of Missions Conference, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)"
Jane Fonda Public Diplomacy - Alvin Snyder, Newswire – CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "As director of the USIA's TV and Film Service I traveled to Hollywood with Agency Director Charles Z. Wick to initiate a pro-bono program acquisition committee that would access film and video programs for distribution on our new satellite
TV network, Worldnet. ... Perhaps the Broadcasting Board of Governors ought to consider enlisting a pro-bono Hollywood agent and a power program acquisitions committee as part of its strategic review of government-sponsored broadcasts abroad, to supplement on-going efforts." Fonda image from
BBG condemns "threats of violence" against Alhurra journalists in Egypt - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
This American was more impressed by the US pavilion at the Shanghai Expo than by the "stern lectures" of VOA - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
In rare display of USIB synergy, RFE/RL mentions Alhurra and VOA reports on Egypt (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
Strengthening U.S. Statecraft Through Public Diplomacy - Katherine Brown and Tom Glaisyer, fletcher.tufts.edu: "Conclusion[:] We inhabit an increasingly interdependent and democratic world in which global public opinion matters. We need to maintain favorable standing with foreign publics not just to effectively counter violent extremism but also to advance a host of specific policy objectives, such as preventing food shortages, curbing climate change, and strengthening the global economy. To meet our responsibilities, we must adopt a field-focused and iterative approach to public diplomacy and continue to transform the contents of our technological toolkit. This requires that more civilian public diplomacy officers acquire the skills to engage with traditional and social media. It also requires officers to leave capital cities and engage in the field so they can readily and innovatively respond to ground-based realities. Dialogue through technological platforms should be intensified, but these platforms should never replace person-to-person contact, which can often leave a more lasting and accurate impression on foreign citizens. Immediately after September 11, 2001, public diplomacy was falsely perceived as being about messaging and finding a better way to 'explain U.S. foreign policy.' [footnote] 39 [:] [Nicholas Kralev, 'Bush Taps Hughes for State Post,' Washington Times, March 15, 2005, A11; 'Karen Hughes Nominated to Head State Department’s Public Diplomacy Effort,' BBC Monitoring World Media, March 15, 2005; Jim VandeHei, 'Cheney Defends Bush Appointments: Vice President Says Loyalists in Diplomatic Posts will Strengthen U.S. Position,' Washington Post, March 23, 2005, A01]. Today, public diplomacy’s focus is on action and on building trust through both virtual and in-person engagement. There is no quick fix to reversing anti-American sentiment and behavior. To produce goodwill, public diplomacy will take decades of sustained effort, continuous innovation, and an institutionalized conviction of its importance to national security. Looking at the long term, we must move public diplomacy away from the periphery and into the center of twenty-first-century statecraft."
The Fallacy of Facebook Diplomacy: Why "21st Century Statecraft"—the idea that America can use the Internet to influence global events—is more dream than reality - Brendan Greeley, businessweek.com: "The Internet is American in origin and spirit; it is one of the best expressions of what the nation's economy—and, yes, its government—can accomplish.
But events in other countries, online or off, are largely beyond U.S. control. Evgeny Morozov, a Belarussian academic, had the bad timing to publish a book this month on the futility of Web-based protest. In The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, he lays out America's obsession with Radio Free Europe and samizdat—information that, we would like to believe, led to revolution. This dream, like 21st Century Statecraft, springs from the fond belief that Americans can be the authors of world history." See also. Image from
Tanzania Dairy Development Program - Rachel in TZ: Pictures, narratives, and musings from my time in Tanzania: "Although I'm here with USAID, the fact that I'm on loan from (and still an employee of) USDA has come in handy a couple of times since being here. Take last week for instance. ... The regional agricultural attache based in Nairobi was unable to come down to Dar for the launch of an $8 million dollar USDA funded dairy development program through Food for Progress. And so representation for the U.S. government and USDA fell to me. It was an excellent experience, and I got to present a speech alongside the Deputy Minister of Livestock and Fisheries (pictured here),
as well as other prominent leaders in the public and private sector. It was just one small little gesture of public diplomacy and good will, but I hope and I think that it meant something to all of the Tanzanians in the audience." Image from article
Ferment in North Africa: A Guerrilla Diplomacy Take - "Conventional, state-to state representational mechanisms can be used to help ease former friends from office and into exile. Public diplomacy may be used to support peace and progress, and to communicate the views of concerned governments directly to foreign populations.
Guerrilla diplomacy is ideally suited, among other things, to the cultivation of ties with the emerging resistance leaders, and to generating intelligence at the grass roots level. Unfortunately, guerrilla diplomacy remains next to non-existent, and foreign ministries most everywhere, under-funded and struggling to adapt, are ill-equipped to perform." Image from blog
The Failure of Iran's Public Diplomacy in Afghanistan - Ahmad Shuja, Huffington Post: "While it has endeared itself in the hearts of many Muslims around the world as the Muslim country with a backbone, Iran is failing
in the battle of hearts and minds in its own backyard. From its mistreatment of Afghan refugees to blocking the supply of much-needed fuel in the dead of the unforgiving Afghan winter, it is angering Afghans of all stripes. ... [O]rdinary Afghans perceive Iran very differently from many other Muslims around the world. In a world where perceptions matter, Iran's public diplomacy in Afghanistan needs to be overhauled."
Egypt’s pyramid scheme: Like any good pyramid scheme, Mubarak’s weak regime looked sturdy from afar - Ariel Harkham, ynetnews.com: "[I]n the long term, Israel must circumvent shadowy dictatorships and initiate creative public diplomacy that engages the Arab street, the real power in the Middle East. Though this strategy does not provide the flashy photo-ops that can help win domestic elections, it is a strategy rooted in principle and a reliable approach to the growing problem of Arab dictators who are quickly going out of fashion."
Pundits: Egypt Developments Should Put PA Peace on Hold - Hillel Fendel, israelnationalnews.com: "[T]he approach of Manfred Gerstenfeld,
director of the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs [is that] Israel can now 'even less afford to take risks for a doubtful 'peace' with the Palestinians, he writes. 'There are ... clear key messages Israel has to stress in its public diplomacy .. [among them] that the major unrest in Egypt shows that peace treaties with Arab countries are not assured, as they are concluded with non-democratic rulers. Security issues thus become even more important for Israel. In times of great uncertainty in the region, a responsible government should not increase this by adopting agreements with a Palestinian partner who may be overthrown in the near future." Gerstenfeld image from
New ambassadors for Somalia, Israel - waltainfo.com: "Addis Ababa, February 3 (WIC) - Helawe Yosef, appointed ambassador plenipotentiary to Israel, and Abdulaziz Ahmed, appointed ambassador to Somalia, presented their credentials to presidents of the respective countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said. The Public Diplomacy and Communications Directorate of MoFA, in a statement sent to WIC, said that the ambassadors met with the countries’ presidents yesterday and held a discussion about improving the bilateral relations between the countries."
Using J-pop in regional diplomacy - Andrew Stevens, Japan Local Government Centre: "Earlier last month we noted how the Tokyo election board have deployed Japan’s most popular girl band AKB48 to promote voter participation in April’s election for governor of the metropolis. This week it was Fukuoka Prefectural Government which gained media attention for its alignment of global interest in Japanese pop culture with its own city marketing, creating the ‘asianbeat’ website (in English, Chinese and Korean) which brings together both topics. Its World Seifuku Project website also aims to cash in on the interest in the new Evangelion movie by selling themed school uniforms (pictured).
This activity by a local government may come across as unusual, but it’s another example of how places in Japan like Fukuoka (which for a provincial city enjoys enviable global rankings in attractiveness) are taking the practice of public diplomacy more seriously. Distinctiveness of place, including the use of ‘bizarre’ local mascots, is also considered at length in the Asahi Shimbun this week in its series on how the government-sponsored ‘Cool Japan’ strategy is turning the idea of 'Galapagos syndrome' on its head and into a positive strength for marketing Japanese technology globally." Image from article
Witness anonymity and the case of Don and Anita Horton - press release, Robert Halfon, DeHavilland (subscription): From Google entry: "The Foreign Affairs committee is expected to publish the report - FCO Public Diplomacy: The Olympics, this coming Sunday (6 February)."
What is Public Diplomacy? - Ren's Micro Diplomacy: "It’s a little long, but I like Peter van Ham’s definition of public diplomacy because it highlights the connection between PD and statecraft. “By its very nature, public diplomacy is an essentially contested concept.
A general consensus is emerging that it involves activities in the fields of information, education and culture aimed at influencing a foreign government through influencing its citizens. It also aims to clarify (in our case: US) foreign policies by explaining why they are beneficial to other nations and peoples. Public diplomacy is an essential post-modern tool of statecraft, which generates legitimacy and acknowledges that in our globalized world the state has lost its monopoly on the processing and diffusion of information. It recognizes that new communication technologies offer new (and arguably unprecedented) opportunities to interact with a wider public by adopting a network approach and making the most of an increasingly multicentric global, interdependent system.' (pg. 57) Van Ham, Peter. 'Power, Public Diplomacy and the Pax Americana.' The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations. Basingstoke [UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 47-65. Print." Image from
On the Rise- Laura McGinnis, manIC: Google's got a fun new tool called an Ngram viewer, which essentially lets you chart the popularity of a word or phrase over a specific time period. ... So just for fun, today I plugged in the terms 'public diplomacy' and 'soft power' and traced them from 1970 to 2008, the last year for which Ngram has results. See the chart below (and yes, I do realize it's difficult to read. You can see the original here).
And check out the results for diplomacy v. propaganda, over a larger time span:
Event: The New Media Revolution and U.S. Global Engagement - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.com
Q&A: Egypt in chaos - Global Winnipeg: Global News spoke with Professor David B. Dewitt, Professor of Political Science at York University, about the situation in Egypt and how it affects Canada: "Prof. Dewitt obtained a Ph.D. from Stanford University and is an expert in international and regional security, conflict management and resolution, the Middle East and Asia Pacific security politics, Canadian foreign, defence, and security policy. He is currently working on regionalization of political security relations in both the Middle East and in the Asia Pacific regions, Canadian foreign, defence and security policy, the intersection of science and national security policy, and Canadian and comparative public diplomacy."
Johanna Blakley: Social media and the end of gender - Exchange Morning Post: "Blakley has worked across a huge variety of media platforms -- producing for the web on a large scale, conducting gaming research, coordinating events for film festivals and executing consumer research on entertainment and politics. Drawing on this vast body of experience, she also lectures at USC and helped develop their masters program in Public Diplomacy."
Mega Millions Journalist Establishes USC Scholarship Fund - Richard Horgan, mediabistro.com: "Jacki Wells Cisneros (pictured), the NBC 4 employee who won a gigantic Mega Millions jackpot last spring together with her husband, has established a $1 million scholarship program for undergraduate students at her Alma Mater USC.
An initial Annenberg school disbursement will be attached to the 2011-12 school year and will include some mentoring. Per the recent USC news item: Award recipients must demonstrate strong interest in the field of journalism, communication, public relations or public diplomacy."
Information Assistant, FSN-9, Temporary position for six months, FSN-11/2011 - lokerlowongankerja.com: "U.S. Consulate General, Surabaya has a vacancy for Information Assistant, FSN-9* Temporary position for six months, FSN-11/2011 (Rp. 136,615,067 p.a. full performance starting salary) in the Public Affairs Section (PAS). The incumbent works directly with media outlets to get coverage of consulate activities and programs, organizes press conferences, and place press releases. S/He assists Consul General (CG) and other officers in preparing and translating remarks, monitors local media and prepares daily press briefing for CG and
section chiefs. Works closely with Information section in Jakarta to coordinate press releases and provides local stories for inclusion in Jakarta-produced press summaries and travels with PAO and CG to provide support at media events outside Surabaya. The Information Assistant is in charge of social and new media programs as well." Image from
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Egyptian Government Orders Vodafone to Spread Its Propaganda Via Text - jrdeputyaccountant.com: Bloomberg: Vodafone Group Plc was ordered to send mobile-phone text messages by the Egyptian government, urging people to confront “traitors and criminals” as demonstrators demanded the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian authorities can instruct the local mobile network operators, which also include Etisalat and France Telecom SA’s Mobinil service, to send messages under emergency powers provisions, Vodafone said today. The messages were not written by the mobile-phone operators, it said. “The Armed Forces urge Egypt’s loyal men to confront the traitors and the criminals and to protect our families, our honor and our precious Egypt,” said a Feb. 1 text message sent on Vodafone’s network and obtained by Bloomberg News.
Mubarak Agonistes - Roger Cohen, New York Times: The U.S. can no longer advance its regional interests through double standards long apparent to every thinking Arab. Ambivalent U.S. prodding for political opening has produced “nothing, nothing, nothing,” in the words of one frustrated observer. It’s time to be very clear that Mubarak’s time is up.
Watching Thugs With Razors and Clubs at Tahrir Sq. - Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times: Come on, President Obama. You owe the democracy protesters being attacked here, and our own history and values, a much more forceful statement deploring this crackdown.
Have Egypt's rulers thought about the isolation that awaits them? - Robert Kagan, Washington Post: Mubarak and his colleagues aren't thinking that far ahead, caught up as they are in the struggle to hang on, or they may believe that the United States will, in the end, have no choice but to stick by them no matter what they do.
Mubarak must leave to save Egypt - aad Eddin Ibrahim, Washington Post: After supporting him with money and weapons for 30 years, the United States and all democracies must insist that Hosni Mubarak heed the voices of his young citizens who call for him to step down immediately. Image from
Toward a soft landing in Egypt - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post: Mubarak will be gone one way or the other. The key is the military. The United States should say very little in public and do everything behind the scenes to help the military midwife - and then guarantee - what is still something of a long shot: Egyptian democracy.
Egypt through Obama's lens - David Ignatius, Washington Post: Critics have argued that Obama has been too slow to embrace the Egyptian protest movement. But he seems genuinely to believe that change is a matter for Egyptians, not Americans, and that too heavy an American hand would be counterproductive. Obama can identify with the idealistic young rebels in the street, but he also needs to reassure the world that American power is a steadying force at a time of upheaval.
No more free passes for Egypt and other Arab autocracies - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: If the Egyptian regime can be challenged by ordinary citizens demanding freedom and democracy, any regime in the Arab world can be so challenged. The United States will not be able to dictate events, but neither will it be able to stand idly by - not where our non-democratic allies are concerned. When push comes to shove, American officials must uphold American values. We made a bargain whose term has lapsed. Settling final accounts will not be pleasant.
A Quick Mubarak Exit Is Too Risky: It is not often recalled that Hamas is the Gaza branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - Edward N. Luttwak, Wall Street Journal: If Mr. Mubarak
leaves now, the result is likely to be an anarchical or Islamist Egypt, or some of both until another dictatorship emerges. Image from
Crisis in Egypt: in Defense of ‘Quiet’ American Diplomacy - Nicholas Burns, belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu: If the President had engaged in the megaphone diplomacy that some critics have championed, it would surely have backfired on the U.S.
Egypt: U.S., Egyptian officials trade accusations over Cairo unrest - latimes.com: In an interview carried on state-run television, Vice President Omar Suleiman accused the United States of "unacceptable" efforts to influence the political confrontation in Egypt.
Analysis - Arab rebellions puncture Qaeda propaganda - William Maclean, Reuters: Revolts in Egypt and Tunisia have struck a blow against al Qaeda's call to violence as a means of overthrowing autocratic governments, showing "people power" to be a more effective weapon. The adaptable militant group, with strong roots in Egypt, will work hard to exploit any sense of disappointment if the eventual outcome of the uprising there does not deliver better lives for the Arab world's most populous country, analysts say. But for now the group has no easy answer to the evidence presented by the world's television screens -- that ordinary men and women are doing more to weaken the 30-year-old rule of President Hosni Mubarak than years of attacks by armed groups. Nor is there much comfort here for Western strategists who have argued that the West must prop up Arab autocrats or see the region taken over by violent anti-Western Islamist radicals. "It's a huge defeat for al Qaeda in a country of central importance to its image. It has wounded their credibility with potential supporters," said Noman Benotman, a former organiser for an al Qaeda-aligned group in neighbouring Libya.
Fox News commentator calls Al Jazeera "a propaganda outfit" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
$5 million lawsuit targets Jimmy Carter for ‘attacking Israel’ - Sahil Kapur, Raw Story: Former President Jimmy Carter has become the target of a class action lawsuit over ostensibly mean things he said about Israel in his best-selling 2006 book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The lawsuit, filed in New York by an Israeli firm, alleges that the book "contained numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author's agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised."
Egypt's government orders Spontaneous Outpouring of Support for Mubarak - Tod Robberson: "I can't think of a single Arab dictatorship that has ever been good at mastering the propaganda machine. They all fumble through the exercise daily, with government television always leading the news with whatever boring greeting ceremony The Great Leader did today. The government-controlled news service follows up with its own exclusive report, and the government-controlled newspapers do their part the next day. They do it in Jordan. They do it in Saudi Arabia . They do it in Libya. And they used to do it in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. It's pathetic."
In response to the unrest in Egypt, the department has apparently instructed the Chinese media to use only dispatches sent by the official news agency, Xinhua, and either to bury news of events there or play up aspects that show the costs of turmoil. Reporting the travails of stranded Chinese tourists, or the government’s noble attempts to rescue them, is fine, but sympathy with the protesters is taboo. The department’s instructions to the media are, as usual, a secret, but their effect is clear. The party has also been busy trying to control the internet. Twitter has been blocked in China since 2009, but home-grown versions are hugely popular. Image from article
Official Chinese Propaganda: Now Online from the WaPo! - James Fallows, theatlantic.com: Recently the Washington Post has started carrying China Daily's US edition
as a physically separate advertising supplement to the printed paper. Image from article
China's reaction: Build a wall - The Economist: Chinese Communist Party’s Publicity Department (or Propaganda Department, a closer rendering of the Chinese) is adept at controlling news from abroad that might inflame sentiment at home. As communism collapsed in Eastern Europe 20 years ago, it kept all but the barest news out of the domestic media, jammed foreign broadcasts and ordered vigilance over fax machines.
President Carter named in $5 million lawsuit over his "Palestine" book - Stephen Lowman, Washington Post: More than four years after its publication, five disgruntled readers have filed a class-action lawsuit against President Jimmy Carter and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, alleging that his 2006 book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” contained “numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author's agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised.”
The five plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are seeking at least $5 million in compensation. The hard cover edition cost $27. Image from article
Facebook Used As Propaganda Tool: Gen - kashmirobserver.net: In probably its first publicly voiced concern over the issue, the army on Wednesday said that the popular social networking site Facebook was being used by anti-national elements tarnish the image of the security forces deployed in Kashmir. “Facebook and other social networking sites are being used as a tool of propaganda against the Army and other security agencies by elements hell-bent on disturbing peace in the Kashmir Valley,” the commander of the army’s Srinagar-based 15th Corps, Lt Gen S Atta Hasnain, was quoted by the Indian Express as having said.
In praise of snail mail: E-mail, Twitter, Facebook -- they're fine, but nothing can really replace the real deal - Meghan Daum, latimes.com: "I've always loved mail. By that I mean the mail that arrives in a physical mailbox six days a week, not e-mail. Well, I love that too, but it's a cheap thrill. My heart belongs to snail mail."
