US News: Hearts, Minds, and Dollars
According to an article in the 4/25 edition of US News, the White House is preparing a massive public diplomacy and campaign to shape the future of Islam.
From military psychological-operations teams and CIA covert operatives to openly funded media and think tanks, Washington is plowing tens of millions of dollars into a campaign to influence not only Muslim societies but Islam itself. The previously undisclosed effort was identified in the course of a four-month U.S. News investigation, based on more than 100 interviews and a review of a dozen internal reports and memorandums. Although U.S. officials say they are wary of being drawn into a theological battle, many have concluded that America can no longer sit on the sidelines as radicals and moderates fight over the future of a politicized religion with over a billion followers. The result has been an extraordinary--and growing--effort to influence what officials describe as an Islamic reformation.
Posted by Matthew Burton on April 25, 2005 at 09:48 PM in Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (136)
U.S. Planning Arab-Language TV Broadcasts to Europe (Alhurra)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration plans to begin Arab-language satellite-television broadcasts to Europe later this year in a new escalation of its information war against Islamic extremism, officials say.
Three-and-a-half years after Islamic militants based in Germany helped mount the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, U.S.-backed TV channel Alhurra expects to transmit 24-hour programing to European Muslim communities seen as potential breeding grounds of extremism. More
Posted by Matthew Burton on March 1, 2005 at 11:31 PM in Alhurra, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (131)
Spirit of America to blog election
Spirit of America, which we first mentioned last April during their campaign to raise money for Marines to buy broadcasting equipment, will be watching the election from DC using information sent in through their own Arabic blogging tool.
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 17, 2005 at 12:02 AM in Elections, Internet, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (280)
Rebuilding Iraqi Television: A Personal Account
Gordon Robison, who blogs on Middle East media at USC Annenberg's Center for Public Diplomacy, sent this to us. "The article is a reflection on
Al-Iraqiyah from my perspective as a consultant overseeing the channel's
news department for four months in 2003-04." (A PDF version of this article is also available.)
------------
October 27, 2003 was the first day of Ramadan. It was also my first day at a new job as a contractor with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American-led administration in Occupied Iraq. I had been hired to oversee the news department at Iraqi television.
Continue reading "Rebuilding Iraqi Television: A Personal Account"
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 15, 2005 at 03:50 PM in Al-Iraqiya/Iraqi Media Network, Public diplomacy, SAIC | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (239)
Orlando Biz Journal: How Harris Corp. became a media player -- in Iraq
MELBOURNE -- With little fanfare, Harris Corp., the giant government information technology and defense contractor, has developed a new niche -- media -- in a place many view as a bit odd: Iraq. More
Posted by Matthew Burton on December 10, 2004 at 09:46 AM in Al-Iraqiya/Iraqi Media Network, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (116)
Washington Post on Alhurra
Va.-Based, U.S.-Financed Arabic Channel Finds Its Voice
"...Alhurra, a network with 150 reporters based in Springfield, is the U.S. government's largest and most expensive effort to sway foreign opinion over the airwaves since the creation of Voice of America in 1942." More
Posted by Matthew Burton on October 15, 2004 at 05:52 PM in Alhurra, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (117)
Outside View: The voice of America?
Teens in the Middle East may be rocking to an American beat, but the news employees at the Voice of America insist that they and their broadcast network with its proud history are getting rolled.
More than 450 VOA employees have signed a petition calling on Congress to investigate the actions taken by the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees the VOA. More
Posted by Matthew Burton on August 30, 2004 at 11:52 AM in Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (542)
BBC set to launch Arabic channel - Chris Tryhorn
The BBC is in talks about launching a 24-hour news channel broadcasting in Arabic across the UK, Europe and the Arab world.
Click here for the full article from Media Guardian.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 25, 2004 at 11:22 AM in New television, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (127)
BBC warned Arabic TV channel will be derided as propaganda - By Ian Burrell, Media Editor, The Independent
The BBC was warned last night that its plans to launch an Arabic television station would be met with suspicion by many in the Arab world.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 25, 2004 at 11:11 AM in Middle East media, New television, Public broadcasting, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (116)
Voice of Iraq soothes tense nation - By Christiane Amanpour CNN Chief International Correspondent
She is the voice of Iraq -- and about as close as you can get to the pulse of the Iraqi people.
Two generations of Iraqis have grown to love broadcaster Amel al-Mudarress. Now, as they approach the handover of political power to an interim Iraqi government, they need her soothing tone more than ever.
A day after the latest car bomb that killed 13 and wounded scores more, security is again topic No. 1 for callers to her Studio 10 radio show.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 16, 2004 at 04:38 PM in Public broadcasting, Public diplomacy, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (103)
Voice of Iraq soothes tense nation - By Christiane Amanpour CNN Chief International Correspondent
She is the voice of Iraq -- and about as close as you can get to the pulse of the Iraqi people.
Two generations of Iraqis have grown to love broadcaster Amel al-Mudarress. Now, as they approach the handover of political power to an interim Iraqi government, they need her soothing tone more than ever.
A day after the latest car bomb that killed 13 and wounded scores more, security is again topic No. 1 for callers to her Studio 10 radio show.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 16, 2004 at 04:38 PM in Public broadcasting, Public diplomacy, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (103)
Arabs are watching US TV channel Alhurra--survey Reuters
WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - The controversial U.S. Arabic-language TV channel Alhurra is winning viewers as a news source in the Arab world despite rising anti-American attitudes in the region, according to a U.S.-financed poll released on Thursday.
Continue reading "Arabs are watching US TV channel Alhurra--survey Reuters"
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on April 29, 2004 at 02:19 PM in Alhurra, Middle East media, New television, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (408)
Berkowitz on Henninger on Spirit of America
Henninger suggests that Americans who support President Bush write out their checks so Hake can buy the equipment in the U.S. and ship it to Iraq "and get Iraqi-run TV on the air before the June 30 handover."
It boggles the mind that the Bush Administration can't come up with the $100,000 for equipment, considering the millions that have already been tossed at U.S.-sponsored media efforts. And, whether getting these television stations up and running will convince the Iraqi people the U.S. occupation is just is certainly a dubious proposition at best. More
Posted by Matthew Burton on April 23, 2004 at 11:51 PM in Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (35)
A new look to Arab news by Muafac Harb (news director, Alhurra and Radio Sawa)
There is something very important to be said about competition, especially within the media. With the onslaught of cable and satellite networks in the United States, Americans can easily watch a news story on four or five different channels, to ensure they get a balanced and accurate idea of what is going on in the world and filter through any biases, whether real or imagined.
That is essentially the idea behind Alhurra (Arabic for "Free One"), the latest Arabic-language news and information channel to come to the Middle East: to present factual and accurate reporting to viewers in the 22 Arab countries we reach, thereby providing them with a fresh perspective of the news that affects them. Once people have a better understanding of the world around them, they become part of the global debate.
Click here to read more.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on April 22, 2004 at 02:33 PM in Alhurra, Middle East media, Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (131)
Henninger on Spirit of America
The First Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Army in Iraq want to equip and upgrade seven defunct Iraqi-owned TV stations in Al Anbar province--west of Baghdad--so that average Iraqis have better televised information than the propaganda they get from the notorious Al-Jazeera. If Jim Hake can raise $100,000, his Spirit of America will buy the equipment in the U.S., ship it to the Marines in Iraq and get Iraqi-run TV on the air before the June 30 handover.
Now we are getting somewhere. Since day one, the Coalition Provisional Authority's weakest suit has been the war of ideas, images and public relations. More
Posted by Matthew Burton on April 16, 2004 at 11:48 PM in Public diplomacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (169)
