More than seven decades ago, fascism was in its death throes. Nearly three decades ago, the Berlin Wall fell, setting in motion the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. In this century, however, those world-shaking events seem to be “history” as our nation faces an array of grave new…
Here is the first of a series of factual updates about United States public diplomacy and broadcasting. A link to each will be posted on our Advocacy page. GUTS: USG Broadcasting Fiscal Year 2018 spending level: $793,808,000 including capital improvements 2018 audience: 278,000,000 unduplicated users a week (TV, radio and internet) Since the end of…
“WHEN THE DOOR IS OPEN, GO IN… IT’S THE LAST THREE FEET THAT MATTERS” That’s the motto of the late Leo Sarkisian, the legendary music show host and master portrait artist of the Voice of America Africa Division for more than a half century. Leo, 97, passed away at his home near Boston June 8…
Noted columnist David Brooks recently asserted that what he termed “an American renaissance is already happening.” He noted that as the national government appears to be divided and polarized, cities far from Washington’s corridors of power are working to transform their communities — large and small. I recently experienced this firsthand in Houston, Texas, America’s fourth…
Next Thursday, May 3rd, the world will celebrate Press Freedom Day. For America’s publicly-funded international broadcasters, the challenges have never been more formidable. Both Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House recently issued annual reports citing steady overall declines in press freedom globally in the past dozen years, with the Middle East and Eurasia registering the…
The name of the American poet and short story writer Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) should be known to all Public Diplomacy practitioners. When war came, he tirelessly applied his gifts to the American cause, so ardently that he died from overwork in 1943. A giant in American letters in the late 1920s and the…
“Words are sacred,” British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard once wrote. “They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world.” Or, in the words of George Washington: “The truth will ultimately prevail, when there are pains to bring it to light.” Solid bits of advice spanning three centuries. They are clearly…
This article first appeared in the latest issue of Claremont Review of Books Have you heard the latest? Hollywood’s hottest romance may be breaking up. You won’t find the details in the tabloids or People magazine. Instead, you must look in the business section of the few newspapers that cover events outside the United States. This is because…
“A lie can travel halfway around the world,” Mark Twain once wrote, “while the truth is putting its shoes on.” In this new media age, one wonders what the famed author might have thought about the truth’s instantaneous global, multimedia reach during the recent ten-day eruption of anti-government protests in Iran. The latest…
“The last three feet,” according to the late famed journalist and USIA Director Edward R. Murrow, is a classic catchword in public diplomacy statecraft. A common misperception is that U.S.-funded international broadcasters transmit signals from thousands of miles away and are largely removed from their listeners, viewers and online users. Virtually unknown: the extraordinary reach…