PD commentary

America Abroad Media's new Exploring Lebanon resource

Tuesday, May 31st 2011

America Abroad Media is a Washington-based non-governmental non-profit organization that produces high quality radio and TV programming for both the U.S. and markets overseas. It is focusing on such countries as Afghanistan, Yemen and Lebanon. It posts advisories on issues associated with various documentaries it produces. Its listing of Lebanon-related material, for example, is a worthwhile compilation of current elements of the political and cultural scene in a country buffeted by the pro-democracy demonstrations in neighboring Syria and other countries affected by the Arab spring.

Alan L. Heil Jr.

Board member

Summary: As a 36-year veteran of the Voice of America (VOA), Alan Heil traveled to more than 40 countries a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, and later as director of News and Current Affairs, deputy director of programs, and deputy director of the nation’s largest publicly-funded overseas multimedia network. Today, VOA reaches more than 125 million people in 44 languages.

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Author: Alan Heil

About:

• America Abroad
• Lebanon

The Revolving Door continues...

Monday, May 30th 2011

I was recently asked for my comments on the resignation of Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale.  While I am sure that Ms. McHale tried her best to reinvigorate PD and took some steps in the right direction to attempt to reassert some "command and control" of this function within the State Department, her tenure was only marginally successful.

William P. Kiehl

Treasurer / Board Member

Bill Kiehl is founding President & CEO of PD Worldwide, consultants in international public affairs, higher education management, and cross-cultural communication. Dr. Kiehl is currently the Book Review Editor and editor emeritus of the journal American Diplomacy, published by the American Diplomacy Foundation in cooperation with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He served as Executive Director of the Public Diplomacy Council from February 2004 through April 2007. Dr. Kiehl has taught public diplomacy at the Foreign Service Institute and has lectured at a number of colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He holds his Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania; his dissertation was "The Influence of Campus Internationalization on Local Communities."

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Author: Bill Kiehl

About:

• administration
• global
• McHale
• politics
• public diplomacy

What Other Agencies Are Doing To Understand Foreign Audiences

Thursday, May 26th 2011

The US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is building a system to understand human metaphorical speech.

Why metaphors? "Metaphors have been known since Aristotle as poetic or rhetorical devices that are unique, creative instances of language artistry (for example: The world is a stage; Time is money).

Over the last 30 years, metaphors have been shown to be pervasive in everyday language and to reveal how people in a culture define and understand the world around them," IARPA says.

One person has commented on this article so far

Brian E. Carlson

Board member

Summary: An experienced public diplomacy officer, Ambassador Brian Carlson advises the InterMedia research organization on military and foreign affairs issues and serves the State Department as a senior inspector. For the last three years he was the State Department liaison to the Department of Defense on strategic communication.

 

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Author: Brian Carlson

About:

• culture
• Department of Defense
• Farsi
• language
• research
• Russian
• science
• Spanish

2011: Tectonic shift for Western government overseas media?

Wednesday, May 25th 2011

The first three days of June offer unique Washington forums on the fate of international broadcasting in a critical year for the largest of the global publicly-funded Western overseas networks. At issue: the future of these enterprises in the face of a rapidly-evolving media environment and, in some instances, horrific budget cuts.

Alan L. Heil Jr.

Board member

Summary: As a 36-year veteran of the Voice of America (VOA), Alan Heil traveled to more than 40 countries a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, and later as director of News and Current Affairs, deputy director of programs, and deputy director of the nation’s largest publicly-funded overseas multimedia network. Today, VOA reaches more than 125 million people in 44 languages.

...click authors name for more info

Author: Alan Heil

About:

• Deutsche Welle
• International Broadcasting
• Radio Free Europe
• VOA

Washington Post Announces Personnel Change

Tuesday, May 24th 2011

It is often said that the best inter-office memorandum inside the Beltway is the Washington Post newspaper. 

One person has commented on this article so far

Brian E. Carlson

Board member

Summary: An experienced public diplomacy officer, Ambassador Brian Carlson advises the InterMedia research organization on military and foreign affairs issues and serves the State Department as a senior inspector. For the last three years he was the State Department liaison to the Department of Defense on strategic communication.

 

...click authors name for more info

Author: Brian Carlson

About:

• McHale
• public diplomacy
• under secretary