CIAO DATE: 10/2009
June 2009
United States Institute of Peace
* Over the last decade, America's image abroad has declined, and public diplomacy is often cited as the reason for that decline. According to the BBC World Service Poll in 2008 and the University of Maryland's Program for International Policy Attitudes, publics in twenty-three countries view America's influence in the world more negatively than the influence of North Korea. Citizens in a NATO ally, Turkey, view the United States (64 percent) as the greatest threat to their country in the future.
* Digital media have fundamentally changed the way Americans learn about life overseas and how foreign audiences learn about America. According to the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism, in 2008 the Web became a regular and even primary destination for most Americans. The number of Americans who said they got most of their national and international news online grew 67 percent in the last two years.
* As citizens talk to each other throughout the world, public diplomacy needs to adapt to a multidirectional media model in which there is an exchange of views between Americans and overseas audiences that promotes a democratic, global conversation.
* A new U.S. administration that understands information technologies and the power of the Internet creates new opportunities to leverage that technology to improve America's image abroad. The United States must catalyze public-private partnerships that invite foreign perspectives through interactive and social networking media.
* Public diplomacy in today's media climate favors a decentralized approach that reflects the fragmentation of information and builds on local partnerships that go beyond U.S. governmental broadcasting to foreign audiences. Media companies, NGOs, and third-party news outlets can reach certain communities that the U.S. government media cannot.
* Citizen-to-citizen exchanges and citizen journalism allow for more access and participation in the "grand conversation" that takes place outside government channels. The United States needs to tap the potential of citizen media and citizen networks to enhance U.S. understanding of foreign cultures and overseas understanding of America.
Resource link: Media as Global Diplomat [PDF] - 216K