"Using Entman’s work on mediated public diplomacy, the authors conducted an Arabic-language online survey of news consumers on Arab websites, including one US-funded media outlet. They examined factors leading to gaps in exposure and perceptions of credibility for three Arab news outlets. Specific
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ally, they examined variables that differentiated between exposure to and perceived credibility regarding the three satellite news media – al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and al-Hurra. Results showed that issue importance and attitudes toward the United States were significant predictors of exposure gaps between the US-funded network and other Arab media. Exposure gaps were also powerful predictors of perceived credibility." (Abstract)
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"Government-sponsored international radio broadcasting has been an important public diplomacy tool since shortwave frequencies were first used in the 1920s. This chapter defines international radio broadcasting as "the purposeful attempts on the part of stations in one country to reach listeners in
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other countries" [...] Governments have used these stations to promote a country's messages, whether propagandistic or informational [...] This chapter focuses on how governments around the world have used international broadcasting to reach global audiences, and how changes in technology have influenced these broadcasts. Before examining the current state of international radio broadcasting it is important to take a historical perspective to understand how government sponsored international radio broadcasting has developed." (Page 3)
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"In order to maintain competitive edge over both domestic rivals and international competition, Chinese television companies have been looking abroad for ideas. A number of political and commercial concerns have come together to inform a sudden interest by Chinese media companies in creativity and i
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nnovation. Hunan TV has been at the forefront, carefully deciding on the United Kingdom and selecting partners with which to work. In the course of its explorations abroad, Hunan has changed its objectives from narrowly technical and managerial ones to strategic ones. It now buys foreign formats, develops its own ideas, and looks forward to exporting those ideas and perhaps formats abroad, a hitherto inconceivable ambition that reflects urgent Chinese government concerns about the country's need to expand its international 'soft power'. Meanwhile, Hunan TV's initiatives have not gone unnoticed elsewhere in China, and other television companies are following suit. This article describes how this came about and what measures are being undertaken as a result of it, and discusses the implications of such ambitions." (Abstract)
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"Mit dem Begriff der transnationalen Kommunikation nimmt dieser Band Formen medienvermittelter öffentlicher Kommunikation in den Blick, die sich jenseits von und quer zu nationalstaatlichen Grenzen entwickeln. Doch transnationale Kommunikation kann nur verstehen, wer zugleich die Beharrungskräfte
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nationaler Kommunikation im Auge behält. Das Buch zeigt zunächst auf, wie die Forschungsstrategie des internationalen Vergleichs in Zeiten der zunehmenden grenzüberschreitenden Verflechtung erweitert und ergänzt werden muss. Sodann erschließt der Band das Feld der transnationalen Kommunikation, in dem er die diskursive, rituelle und strategische Dimension von Kommunikation unterscheidet. Er führt dabei ausführlich und leicht verständlich in die Forschung zu transnationalen Öffentlichkeiten, transnationalen Medienevents, Mediated Public Diplomacy sowie zur Rolle von neuen und alten Medien in transnationalisierten Revolutionen ein." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This paper examines the relationship between a broadcaster’s research methods and aspects of the environment in which it operates, specifically its accountability to its funders and the growth of interactivity by its users. It is concerned with (1) how the BBC World Service’s funding by the UK
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government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) means that it has to account for its activities to some extent in terms of the global conversation which it fosters; and (2) how the recent growth of interactive and social media enhances possibilities for worldwide engagement and conversation, but also increases the complexities of measurement. This is because users are dispersed across the globe (they are no longer confined to a geographical area of radio reception) and they are interactive: instead of merely listening or viewing, they talk back to the BBC, and they talk with one another. New tools and techniques are needed to measure these new flows and forms of interaction (and they also beg new professional and organisational practices). In a case study of the BBC’s Chinese service, the paper explores what the BBC knows of its audience or users; and, in a content analysis of online forums, it explores some of the issues and possibilities that arise in researching online interaction, the sort of research data and analysis that might be seen as necessary in the context of organisational accountability and the emerging interactive media environment." (Summary)
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"The book provides a glimpse into how China has tried to tell its story to the world. The introduction chapter outlines the broader context for the examination of Chinese public diplomacy. It discusses some of the emerging themes concerning the spirit and practice of the country’s image-building e
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fforts. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the trends and developments in Chinese public diplomacy, and discusses how China’s authoritarian system has benefits as well as drawbacks for its soft power pursuits. In the next three chapters, we examine some of the major Chinese external propaganda and communication platforms, including Beijing Review, CCTV International (renamed CCTV News in April 2010), and government news conferences and spokespersons [...] Chapter 6 takes on a relatively new topic of the increasing role of Chinese corporations in the process of public diplomacy. It examines the complex interplay between corporate branding and nation branding in the example of a leading Chinese company’s corporate social responsibility engagement in Africa. The ensuing two chapters cover China’s image promotion related to the Beijing Olympics from two different vantage points. Chapter 7 discusses the promotion of the Olympics to the Chinese domestic public, who were expected to be model citizens helping to deliver a positive image of China during the Games. This can be viewed as a case of how “charm offensive” begins on the home front. Chapter 8 sheds light on the role of the ever more active Chinese diaspora in national image management through its mobilization in defense of China’s image during the international leg of the Olympic torch relay. To provide some historical context to the discussion of China’s contemporary endeavor, Chapter 9 examines how the conception of “international propaganda” was formulated and institutionalized in early twentieth century China. It highlights the role of Chinese intellectuals in promoting China’s international communication. Our last essay explores higher education as a site of image-construction. It ref lects on how American college students read and evaluate China based on their perspectives and news sources. It ends with an imaginary dialogue between a Chinese journalist and an American journalist on mutual misperceptions, and possibilities for change, providing an “enjoyable and hopeful” conclusion to the book." (Preface, pages ix-x)
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"Relying heavily on scores of first-hand accounts collected through interviews, the studies examine the practice of public diplomacy largely from the perspective of American practitioners in different countries. The analyses follow the standard field officer approach, asking systematically: what iss
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ues in local public opinion should we be addressing; who should we engage; how can we best engage them; and how well are the programs working? This is an ongoing process at every field post, involving local staff and constant attention to contacts. The studies in this book focus on field operations during one period of time, broadly from the end of the Bush administration to the early Obama administration, so comparisons can be made between them to determine which practices are common and which are unique [...] The first chapters in this book offer analyses of public diplomacy operations in specific countries in Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, and Asia. Four other chapters focus directly on the specific question being asked by practitioners and scholars today: What is the role of the new media in public diplomacy? Two chapters present findings that advance our understanding of the role of the private sector, and the parallel roles of the State Department and the Peace Corps. The final chapter summarizes best practices from recent field experiences." (Preface, page x)
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"This book discusses the question of soft power and public diplomacy challenges in East Asian context. Both concepts originate in the West, and in a sense this book can therefore be seen as an exercise in critically assessing soft power and public diplomacy in a different geographical and cultural s
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etting." (Publisher description)
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"This study examines Voice of America’s (VOA) services in the post-Cold War era within the framework of the information revolution and globalization. The use of new information venues has caused VOA to evolve from a pure propaganda machine to a notion of informational soft power. However, this stu
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dy finds that not only is there a gap between VOA’s target audiences and its actual website visitors but its website attracts more American and western users than users in the societies it intends to influence the most. The role of informational soft power in articulating appealing ideas, values, norms and ethics through all manners of media and new information and communication technology to create the perception that US hegemony is benign poses challenges for the US’s information strategy." (Abstract)
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"As part of an overall strategy to influence public opinion in the Muslim world, the US government implemented two new international broadcasting tools — Radio Sawa and Alhurra (a satellite television network). In the face of declining support of US government policies in the Muslim world, this st
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udy examines the credibility and effectiveness of Radio Sawa in an attempt to understand its effectiveness as a communication tool. The study explores differences in credibility and other dimensions among the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population; surveying both those who use this new medium and those who do not. Results of the study reveal the effectiveness of the US government in reaching its objectives in the region." (Abstract)
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"Mediated public diplomacy plays an important role in achieving foreign policy objectives by trying to influence public opinion in other countries. The Russia-based global TV channel RT serves as a central tool of Russian mediated public diplomacy. Its objective is not only to present the Russian pe
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rspective on different issues but also to propagate it. However, there is not much research on RT in general and none on the strategies RT employs to persuade its viewers of the rightness of the Russian stance. This article explores the use of persuasive strategies in the RT interview show Spotlight. A qualitative content analysis of 15 episodes, which discuss Russian relations to its Baltic neighbours Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, revealed that Spotlight constructed a one-sided pro-Russian reality. Various strategies are employed to hedge this reality against doubts about its trueness as well as to support Russia's position in conflicts with the Baltic States. By this, RT aims to isolate the Baltic States internationally in order to help Russia in achieving its foreign policy objectives." (Abstract)
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"This book has been written to make a contribution to the small but rapidly growing literature on nation branding. It is designed to show not only the ways in which conventional brand management techniques can be applied to nations but also to provide some background depth on the context and nature
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of nation branding. Therefore, the scope of the book encompasses wider issues related to national identity, sustainable development and political awareness, in addition to the more familiar branding themes of brand identity, brand image, brand positioning, brand equity and so on. This approach is intended to ensure that the theory and practice of nation branding is covered in a rich, multi-dimensional manner." (Preface)
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