The case for bringing back Worldnet (updated). "Our former Worldnet TV service at the U.S. Information Agency would have been a perfect fit for President Obama, who plans to speak to Muslim audiences in the first 100 days of his administration from a venue somewhere in the Middle East. ... Sadly, when the U.S. Information Agency was disbanded in the late 1990s, international TV dialogues brought over to the State Department 'lost their traction', a Department official lamented to me. 'Except for posts in Africa and some in South Asia and Latin America, satellite TV conversations from the Worldnet system collapsed at U.S. embassies,' he said. 'Compared to the promises of the Internet, television was no longer viewed as the tool of choice for programming to large audiences. But we should have grown television as we grew the web.'" Alvin Snyder, USC Center of Public Diplomacy blog, 16 December 2008. In the meantime, we can be confident that anything that future President Obama says with the slightest relevance to the Middle East will be broadcast by Alhurra and Radio Sawa.
     Update: "As for Worldnet’s 'interactive TV capacity,' that also still exists through the American Embassy TV Network, 'the Department of State’s global television network and a direct U.S. television resource for international broadcasters.' Al Snyder’s source says that State Department’s television dialogues have 'lost their traction' since the days of Worldnet and the U.S. Information Agency. If that is the case, regaining the traction does not necessarily require a new, or revived, bureaucracy. It would be gentler on the taxpayers to do a better job by doing a better job." Kim Andrew Elliott, USC Center on Public Diplomacy blog, 6 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

RFE/RL provides Serbian-Albanian dialogue. "At a time of total breakdown in communication between Belgrade and Prishtina, which began after the proclamation on 17 February 2008 of Kosovo’s independence, the radio and internet pages of Radio Free Europe have become the only place for a Serbian-Albanian dialogue. RFE’s Most (Bridge) has initiated a series of dialogues - on the subject of how to unfreeze Serbia-Kosovo relations - between prominent individuals from Kosovo and Serbia." Omer Karabeg, Bosnian Institute, 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

A BBC for the French. "The French have always been jealous of the BBC, having failed to create a flagship, world-respected media entity of their own. In theory they’re in a great position to do so, being a powerful and influential nation and one which can provide a much-needed antidote to the Anglo-centric dominant international media organisations hailing from the United States and the UK." Blatherskite, 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Watching satellite television in Jordan. "Satellite TV in Jordan, I discovered on my recent trip there, is a chaotic pleasure. When my American friends talk about watching it, taxiing home after a long day, there’s a little dread mixed with the hope of going into the kind of coma that only television can put one. ... The sun never sets on the reach of the BBC, which has turned British colonial know-how into total situation awareness for all. See proof that CNN isn’t dumb (it just thinks we are) by watching its international edition. You’ll quickly notice how our domestic version pales in comparison even to the Kremlin’s English-language propaganda machine, Russia Today. The up-and-coming crown jewel is none other than Al Jazeera, an island of common sense from the Persian Gulf, which makes up for what it lacks in slick graphics and endless pundits with skilled journalists and commentary by real movers and shakers from all over, whether they be government officials or Taliban warlords." Nathan Schneider, The Smart Set (Drexel University), 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Egypt's Nile TV seeks expansion in Africa. Egyptian Ambassador to Namibia, Hadi El-Tonsi: "We are ... trying to bring our Egyptian channels in English to broadcast from here whether directly or through regional companies or cable services. It is important to have direct information between us and not through third agencies that have different ways of seeing issues. Channel Nile TV International broadcasting in English and French is available to African countries who want to receive it and it has programmes about African issues." New Era (Windhoek), 6 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

DW-TV Asia+ hires agency. "Deutsche Welle has appointed Singaporean start-up, Green Worldwide, for its communication needs as the German international broadcaster launches a new feed in Asia. ... The German broadcasters will look to launch DW-TV Asia+ on March 2, 2009 to offer a mix of European lifestyle, culture and the arts as well as in-depth reports from business and politics. 'Green will be tasked to spearhead our communication needs, lead in strategic thinking for our launch and appoint media buying agencies for our advertising campaigns,' said Petra Schneider, director of sales and service, Deutsche Welle." Haymarket Media, 6 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 5 January 2009. "Major US television channels also adopted the equal time approach, despite the reality that Palestinian casualties exceeded Israeli ones by a hundred fold. However, such comparisons were rare because the scripts read by American correspondents often excluded the overall Palestinian death count. By stripping the context, American viewers may have easily assumed a level playing field, rather than a case of disproportionate force." Habib Battah, Aljazeera.net. 5 January 2009.
     "BBC World interviewed a Gazan, Hatem Shurrab of Islamic Relief, who during the night apparently moved his family into the basement to escape the bombardment. Sympathetic interviewers asked him to describe how terrifying he had found the sound of the explosions. He obligingly described how terrifying this was and how his child had been crying all night. ... But there was of course absolutely no mention of, let alone an interview with any of, the thousands of Israeli families in southern Israel who for the past seven years have been forced to live in bomb shelters for month after month with no respite, with their children now suffering psychological damage from the unending terror from Palestinian missile attacks directed specifically at them." Melanie Phillips, The Spectator, 4 January 2009.
     "Many supporters of Israel have grown frustrated with hostile feedback posted to Web articles and on blogs since the start of Operation Cast Lead nine days ago. A group of Israeli students has decided to fight back. HelpUsWin.org is manned by social media experts and Israel activists around the clock, with the main "situation room" based at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, and sponsored by the Stand With Us education organization." Jerusalem Post, 4 January 2009.
     "When they shoot from the F16 aeroplanes, it sends waves of aftershock which blow out the windows. It interferes with radio and TV reception too. The only TV channel we can still receive is al-Jazeera English. Not the Arabic, not the BBC." Gaza resident Tamer, BBC News, 5 January 2009.
     "It should also be noted that Al Jazeera English, a station whose management is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, has been displaying a large graphic titled 'War on Gaza' during their coverage of the crisis." Family Security Matters, 5 January 2009.
     "At 2:06 pm on Saturday 1/3 EST, I was watching CNN, the US feed, which had temporarily switched to the London desk of CNN International. CNN International began an interview with PLO spokesman Saeb Erakat, the first time I have seen a Palestinian commenter on US television during the past week with the exception of the PA envoy to the UN. CNN US suddenly interrupted the Erekat interview and switched to Ben Wiedeman in Jerusalem to explain the task Israel had before it. It has been 20 minutes and they have never returned to finish the Erekat interview. Have any of the major magazine shows had any Palestinians at all on this week as commenters? 2:31 PM CNN US did a telephone interview with Mustafa Barghouti, who complained that CNN's coverage was all from the Israeli side." Juan Cole, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, 4 January 2009.
     "A group of Jordanian journalists have started a campaign urging the Arabic media to refrain from interviewing Israeli officials in order to avoid 'justifying' ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip. In a statement published on the Amman-based Khaberny news website, media activists said Israelis 'exploit' the Arab media to 'promote the Zionist perspective of the aggression and massacres' occurring in the besieged coastal enclave. ... Al Jazeera staff, however, stress that they themselves are supporters of the Palestinian cause and continue to interview Israeli officials. 'You cannot present your own story of the struggle without showing the other side,' Al Jazeera correspondent in Amman Yasser Abu Hilala told The Jordan Times, adding that by including the Israeli perspective, Arab outlets are able to 'prove to the West that our cause is just'. ... BBC Radio Amman correspondent Saad Hattar said a professional journalist, however, should not ignore any side of a conflict, adding that reporters should 'grill' Israeli officials who hold 'destructive' ideas. 'Talk to them, grill them and try to convince them that what they are doing is wrong.'" Jordan Times, 5 January 2009.
     "While CNN and BBC are broadcasting every bit of Palestinian propaganda it can get its hands on, Fox News is sticking more to the Israeli-American view, reporting the facts, not the propaganda." J.R. Dieckmann, RenewAmerica, 4 January 2009.
     "The Israel Defense Forces this week extended its airstrikes on Gaza to the Web, posting video footage of its air assault against Hamas militants on YouTube and using Twitter to spread its message." CNET News, 3 January 2009.
     "Al Jazeera, the BBC, CNN and other major international and national networks are focusing on the suffering of Gazans, and they neglect to cover the suffering of Israelis due to Hamas’ rocket attacks." Michael van der Galien, PoliGazette, 4 January 2009.
     "A Yemeni Islamist slammed the Satellite Channel of al-Arabiya as a 'Zionist trumpet' as he praised al-Jazeera as the 'nation's faith affiliate' over the war on Gaza covering. The Member of Parliament and mosque speaker, Mohammed Al Hazmi said that al-Arabiya channel is 'not less dangerous than Israel' on the nation warning men and women from watching it. 'What this channel, which is falsely called al-Arabiya, is doing is not less dangerous than what Israel does. ... It says that that Hamas is responsible for this war because it refuses the truce. ... I would like to very much thank al-Jazeera channel which expresses the nation's trends, goes with its options, and raises its vital issues.'" Yemen Observer, 5 January 2009.
     "Once again Arab television blanketed the airwaves with coverage of the conflict in Gaza. And once again Arab media gave a rather distinct view of the conflict, which differed starkly from the view presented to the West. Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel, broadcast interviews with victims of violence at a hospital in Gaza, asking survivors what they felt about the invasion." Raed Rafei, Los Angeles Times Babylon & Beyond blog, 4 January 2009.
     "Israeli Defense Forces took over Hamas' Al-Aqsa television station over the weekend -- the latest blow in a increasingly-sophisticated information war over Gaza. The channel became infamous in 2007 for broadcasting a children's show featuring 'Farfour,' an anti-semitic Mickey Mouse look-a-like. But the Israeli military considered al-Aqsa to be a serious enough propaganda threat that the station's main studios were hit on the second day of the latest air campaign against Hamas." Wired Danger Room, 5 January 2009.
     "I have lost confidence in the BBC World Service in their ability to present news in an unbiased manner. And I will be making a formal complaint to the Chairman of the BBC Trust. Yes. Perhaps I am one of the few remaining MPs who has consistently defended the BBC for their standards of journalism and impartiality. And when occasionally I have been angered by the output of their domestic services, I have consoled myself with the high quality of BBC World Service reportage. No longer. Being abroad for me always involves my taking a short wave radio in my back-pack. India, where I am now, remains on the ever reducing list of areas where the BBC is available on the radio. And I have been listening for several hours each day. I have been horrified and angered by the coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. While paying scant regard to the provocation of 10,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilians from Gaza over the last seven years, the BBC has chosen to broadcast 'human interest' stories reminiscent of salacious photos in the cheaper red top newspapers." Michael Fabricant MP, ConservativeHome.com, 5 January 2009.
     "The IDF dropped thousands of propaganda leaflets from the air to Gaza’s inhabitants. 'The Hamas leadership is leading you to ruin. Take responsibility for your future,' they read. In addition, the radio broadcasts of the Gaza Strip were jammed, and a statement in Arabic was read: 'We are not fighting against you, but against Hamas. Help us. Stay away from the battle areas.' Israeli officials went into chat rooms on the Internet and told Gaza residents, 'Help us. Give us information. Hamas will not know about it.'" David Bedein, The Bulletin (Philadelphia), 5 January 2009.
     "Television and Second Life are enlisted by Israel and Palestinian supporters during the renewed fighting in Gaza." Reuters video via Yahoo!News, 4 January 2009.
     From Jukka Kinkamo in Finland: "Al-Jazeera has their own dedicated website which is constantly updated by SMS, email and tweeters: labs.aljazeera.net/warongaza/#. The service is rather powerful indeed, provided the original sources are reliable enough. And, this is very interesting: The technology and pieces of software behind the service are discussed in more detail in Danger Room Blog. blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/getting-tweets.html." Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

The United States Good Listeners Agency. Among five "myths" of public diplomacy: "Myth 2: Everyone needs to get on the same page. A communications strategy is important. But reciprocity is at the heart of truly successful public diplomacy. We must listen as much as we transmit messages. A brass plaque reading 'Telling America's Story' adorned the building housing the US Information Agency until its oft-lamented demise in 1999. Perhaps it should have read, 'Telling America's Story Is Done Best by Good Listeners.'" Sherry L. Mueller, Christian Science Monitor, 5 January 2009. Actually, that was the basic idea of the name of USIA being changed to International Communication Agency during the Carter administration. During that time, the "Telling America's Story" plaque was removed from the front entrance. The Reagan administration restored the name U.S. Information Agency, and the plaque. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

BBC's Farsi television reckons with an unfriendly Iran. "Something is clearly going on between the Iranian authorities and the BBC. Relations are not good. In the next week or two the BBC will begin to broadcast a Farsi television service from London funded by a £15m grant from the Foreign Office. The BBC World Service has had a Farsi radio service for 68 years. Many in the Iranian administration do not welcome the BBC's new television channel, which will doubtless attract an audience of millions of Iranians when it begins to broadcast eight hours a day." Stephen Glover, The Independent, 5 January 2009. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

"Potential purchasers" for Worldspace. "Tomorrow, Jan 6, a hearing will take place in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to decide the date when an auction of Worldspace’s assets might take place, and to grant Worldspace another slice of operational cash as ‘Debtor in Possession’. The Court was told on Dec 30 that a number of potential bidders are conducting due diligence in preparation of bids for Worldspace’s assets. Worldspace is 'in discussions with a number of potential purchasers' said a Court affidavit submitted on Dec 30." Rapid TV News, 4 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Al Jazeera RSS feeds on Sony Ericsson mobile devices. "Al Jazeera has announced a new partnership with mobile handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson to provide built-in AJ RSS feeds on devices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region." journalism.co.uk, 5 January 2009. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan since the ban of foreign radio on FM. Kai Ludwig in Germany notes that the RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service, known as Radio Azadliq, is only using one shortwave frequency, 9485 kHz, at 1600-1700 UTC, according to the RFE/RL transmission schedule. Kai adds: "This single shortwave transmission had been reintroduced at the beginning of the B08 season [25 October 2008], I suspect as a precaution because the end of the rebroadcasts in Azerbaijan was already looming. I would have expected the amount of shortwave airtime to skyrocket now as well, but as of yesterday still only this lone hour is in use. Were they simply not able to add more until now because everybody is still on vacation?" -- VOA Azerbaijani has three shortwave frequencies, 9625, 9805, and 12025 kHz, at 1830-1900 UTC.
     "Work schedule of Liberty, Voice of America and BBC radio stations’ Azerbaijan bureaus was not changed after decision of National Television and Radio Council on conclusion of broadcasting international radios in national frequencies passed on December 30, Azerbaijani bureaus of above-mentioned radios told APA." Azeri-Press Agency, 5 January 2009.
     "Azadlyg political bloc has released a statement, sharply condemning the decision by the Azerbaijani National Television and Radio Council (NTRC) resulting in discontinuation of the air wave broadcasts by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). ... It should be reminded that Azadlyg bloc comprises the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, Liberal Party of Azerbaijan and Civil Development Party." Today.Az, 5 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

VOA drops Ukrainian radio, Urdu shortwave. After a reprieve for VOA Ukrainian radio in August 2008, its radio transmissions ended on 31 December. The service continues with television and an internet presence. See also VOA Ukrainian announcement about closure of radio. On this page, files containing WED are audio of VOA Ukrainian's last day. These will soon be unavailable, as the archive of VOA Ukrainian 2008 radio broadcasts is no longer available.
     VOA Urdu shortwave frequencies were dropped on 31 December, though still listed in this VOA schedule. VOA Urdu (Radio Aap ki Dunyaa) continues on medium wave (972 and 1539 kHz) and on television. -- "Effective 31st December 2008 VOA Urdu service has dropped all SW services to South Asia at 0100-0200 (9520 9820 kHz) and 1400-1500 (7440 9390 kHz) hrs. Only MW 972 and 1539 kHz are available at 1400-0200 hrs. There are many listeners in India and Bangladesh who are listening to this Urdu service on SW and many more especially after the closure of VOA Hindi service." DXAsia, 31 December 2008. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 4 January 2009. "Everybody is on the Gaza situation. Even MSNBC has interrupted its weekend of rerun filler to cover it. But if you'd like a decidedly non-American-centric take, Al Jazeera English appears to have reporters all over the place. And the Doha correspondent just had one of those exchanges with a spokesman for the Israeli PM that you just don't see on American TV. ... Those Israelis put their suits on with five-inch nails -- they're tough. Watch as the spokesflack gives as good as he gets. And they'll get right back on AJE and do it again in a couple of hours, if not sooner. And beam it into Israel, where AJE has (last I heard) replaced BBC World on the largest Israeli cable systems." Aaron Barnhart, TV Barn, 3 January 2009.
     "Boycott cable TV statiosn that REFUSE to broadcast al-Jazeera English. There are some Arab TV programs in the US, but they are useless compared to the power fo al-Jazeera Englsih, which is why al-Jazeera English has been banned from broadcast in this country. al-Jazeera English IS the media we NEED in this country and the mainstream media has excluded them. Protest THAT! Demand that Comcast Cable, for example, offer al-Jazeera English in their options packages." Ray Hanania, Arabisto.com, 3 January 2009.
     "Protesters calling for Israel to stop its assault on Gaza lined the sidewalk in front of CNN’s headquarters Saturday. ... The protestors decided to gather in front of CNN to call attention to media coverage of the attacks, which are in their eighth day. 'The media in the U.S. has a tradition of not providing an unbiased message,' said Ziyaad Lunat , one of the protest organizers. 'They dehumanize the Palestinians.'" Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3 January 2009.
     "The newspapers here tend to echo the elite MSM in the West, and CNN International here is big on 'equal time', so the war in Gaza is showing all sorts of gory photos. One rarely hears anything negative in our local papers about any Arab or Muslim misdeed: lots stories lamenting the problems of Palestinian refugees from 1948, none about the equal number of Jewish refugees fleeing pogroms in Arab lands back then." Nancy Reyes (Philippines), Blogger News Network, 4 January 2009.
     "As in the past, U.S. media coverage and commentary has overwhelmingly backed the Israeli actions (as it did in the Lebanon war in 2006, which turned into a fiasco). CNN has provided some helpful balance, starting late Saturday, but on the Sunday morning talk shows Democratic leaders said little, or nothing, critical of Israel. Of course, most on-the-scene coverage of civilian casualties in Gaza has been hindered, to say the least, by Israel barring foregin journalists from entering." Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, 4 January 2009.
     "Larry King on CNN first interviewed an Israeli spokesman, with a fluent English accent, all polished in appearance, and repeating the same 'message' that Western audiences are used to hearing. That is, Israel is a peace-loving, un-aggressive Western democracy that is only defending itself from filthy, ignorant, uncivilized, desert-dwelling, camel-riding, nomadic religious fanatics. For one thing, this looks a lot like re-enacting how Europeans colonized America, Australia and South Africa - they can relate to this image. And how does the Palestinian side react? The spokeswoman was articulate enough, but she was only heard by radio, despite the fact that humans are 90% visual sense animals. She was also too articulate, using big words that the audience didn't recognize as part of the 'story'. So, the American media can claim that this CNN story was unbiased, giving both parties a chance to speak, even though the Palestine side's message had zero audience impact." Neil Sutherland, Palestine Chronicle, 3 January 2009.
     "The Al-Aqsa TV channel, controlled by Hamas, reported resistance fighters disrupted communications between land units of the Israeli army. ... In turn, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV channel reported about Israeli shelling of the Al-Aqsa radio station, also belonging to Hamas." Itar-Tass, 4 January 2009.
     "Leaflets signed by the commander of the Israeli military were dropped over northern Gaza on Saturday morning, warning residents to 'leave the area immediately' to ensure their safety." IBNLive, 3 January 2009.
     "'Since the definition of war has changed, the definition of public diplomacy has to change as well,' said David Saranga, the head of media relations for the Israeli consulate in New York, which conducted the Twitter news conference on Tuesday. Some, including the MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow, mocked the idea of a government spokesman addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in tweets barely a sentence long. 'The Israeli government is trying to explain a conflict that people write books about, a conflict that newspaper writers struggle to explain in 2,000 words, in 140 characters at a time,' she marveled. ... Question from peoplesworld: 40 years of military confrontation hasn't brought security to Israel, why is this different? Answer from israelconsulate: We hav 2 prtct R ctzens 2, only way fwd through neogtiations, & left Gaza in 05. y Hamas launch missiles not peace?" New York Times, 3 January 2009.
     "The Israeli military created its own YouTube channel, where it has been publishing aerial videos of its bombings on the population of Gaza. The Foreign Press office of the Israeli Military heavily promoted one particular video which it said clearly showed the Israeli airforce targeting men loading homemade shells onto a truck. ... Despite the ban on media in the Gaza Strip, 55-year-old Gaza resident Ahmed Samur, managed to get a statement out of the besieged and imprisoned coastal strip that these so-called 'rockets' were actually oxygen canisters used in his welding business." International Middle East Media Center, 4 January 2009.
     "If you're interested in getting some information about what's going on in Israel and Gaza--you know, beyond the Israel-bashing, 'terrorists are victims' crap you get from the 'mainstream' media--the Israeli Defense Force has now entered the Web 2.0 age. The have a blog called IDF Spokesperson where you can catch some of the latest updates about the war against terrorism in the Middle East--specifically as it affects Israel. The IDF also has a YouTube channel where you can view footage of some of the IDF precision strikes against terrorist strongholds. Unlike the terrorists who intentionally target innocent civilians, the IDF does everything it can to minimize noncombatant casualties." Bob Ellis, Dakota Voice, 3 January 2009.
     "Facts appear to have been the first casualty in a public relations war that is being conducted as vigorously by Israeli defence officials as the fight against Hamas. This weekend Israel was celebrating the first week of a 'hasbara' campaign – the Hebrew word that has come to mean 'spin' and 'propaganda' – being waged on several fronts, including unprecedented use of the internet and other new media. ... The YouTube channel, established the day after the first air strikes, is currently the most popular on the site. The two dozen videos relating to the current operation have recorded hundreds of thousands of hits. ... According to the Israeli media, the army has been advising 50 influential bloggers in the United States alone." The National (Abu Dhabi), 4 January 2009.
     Jukka Kinkamo in Finland notes that the Israeli website DEBKAfile was down for a time. In an e-mail sent to its readers: "DEBKAfile's two sites in English and Hebrew have been under attack since 19:00 local time. We are doing our best to restore the service as soon as possible. Please check the site periodically." The site is restored when checked at 2300 UTC on 4 January. Jukka also observes that "on the radio front at the moment the Galei Zahal on 6973 kHz is audible (loud and clear) here." This is the only shortwave broadcasting still on the air from Israel, other than the Kol Israel Persian service.
     See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Another vote for keeping Jim Glassman as PD chief. "The under secretary of state for public diplomacy has been on the job for only six months, but he has already scored small successes in the U.S. effort to win over 'hearts and minds' in the Muslim world, a hard sell if ever there was one. Glassman has largely shelved the strategy of his predecessor, Karen Hughes, another onetime journalist, who waged this battle as an ad campaign, flooding the unreceptive market with positive 'messages' about the United States. Glassman is out to halt radicalism, and he is fighting the war of ideas in small and diverse ways: private-sector partnerships to teach English; conferences where liberals from around the world can swap ideas; social networks on the Internet that teach the virtues of democracy by rewarding the best Web video on the subject. Glassman has 'been very strong,' says a senior State Department official who didn't want to be quoted knocking Hughes. ... Because Glassman's approach is 'not yet institutionalized,' there's a danger a new appointee might reverse it, says another senior State Department official. That would be a shame, because Obama needs a light touch in public diplomacy." Adam B. Kushner, Newsweek, 3 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

And RFE/RL is looking forward to establishing a service for Alaska. "Russian economist Igor Panarin, for instance, has gotten a good deal of press attention (particularly in Russia, but abroad as well) for predicting that the financial crisis will lead to civil war in the United States and the partitioning of that country. He even suggested on Russia Today that Alaska will want to join the Russian Federation and that former Chukotka Oblast Governor and oligarch Roman Abramovich would make a good governor there. Watch out Sarah Palin, it appears that Vladimir Putin can see Alaska from his house too!" Robert Coalson, RFE/RL The Power Vertical, 3 January 2009.
     "Alex Jones, an Austin, Texas-based American talk radio show host and professional conspiracy theorist, has been a regular guest on Russia Today TV since the Georgia War in August 2008. ... Russia Today, an English language TV channel set up in 2005 as a Russian equivalent of the Qatar-based Arab television channel Al-Jazeera, often gives Mr. Jones a platform to expound his fringe views on a regular basis." Charles Ganske, Russia Blog, 3 January 2009. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

RFA scoop on essays by Chinese dissident. "The most prominent dissident still living in China has attacked the Communist party’s economic reforms and compared Deng Xiaoping, its late leader, to Louis XIV. ... The essayist is Bao Tong, 76, who was the highest-ranking official imprisoned after the 1989 crackdown on China’s democracy movement. He served a seven-year sentence and now lives under house arrest in Beijing. ... The essays were broadcast on the Chinese-language service of Radio Free Asia, a US-funded station, and have been posted on the internet. The fact that Bao has apparently not been punished suggests to Chinese analysts that the reformist faction inside the party remains influential enough to protect him." The Sunday Times, 4 January 2008. See also RFA, 3 January 2009 and links on that page to other essays by Bao Tong. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

New South Korean medium wave relay for VOA Korean. T. Yamashita in Japan, member of the Asian Broadcasting Institute, heard the VOA Korean Service relayed via HLKX, the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company station near Seoul on 1188 kHz medium wave, 1 January at 1330-1500 UTC. This via S. Hasegawa of the Nagoya DXers Circle, who was able to hear it well 3 January at 1400-1459 UTC, with slight interference from NHK station JOKP, Kitami, also on 1188 kHz, and from an unidentified Korean-language station, which might be a jammer.
DX Listening Digest, 3 January 2009. Thanks to Kai Ludwig for the news tip. Kai also points to a story in the website of South Korea's Christian Broadcasting System (CBS), in Korean, but if machine translated, indicates that some in South Korea are already challenging the legality of this relay of VOA by FEBC's station near Seoul. Christian Broadcasting System, 2 January 2009. VOA Korean broadcasts are targeted to North Korea. The 100 kW transmitter on 1188 kHz can certainly reach into nearby North Korea. It is also used for FEBC's own broadcasts in Mandarin. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

New book is critical of 24-hour news channels. "From CNN to Al Jazeera to Fox, Sky News and the BBC News Channel ... there's plenty of naffness, bias and cock-ups to complain about. ... Howard Rosenberg and Charles Feldman, ... No Time To Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle is an assault on the entire rolling news venture. Their main criticism, as the title suggests, is the sheer speed of modern news-gathering and the impetus to get the story to air quickly – without the time to check, or even think about the ramifications. ... But they are woefully wrong to suggest that baby, bathwater and all have little of value and threaten democracy." Review by Charlie Courtauld, editor of "Frost Over the World" on Al Jazeera English, The Independent, 4 January 2009. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan: demand for shortwave radios "has skyrocketed" since ban of foreign radio on FM (updated). "'Everyone would listen to Azadliq [RFE/RL Azeri service] , from taxi drivers to housewives. This was enough to shut down the station. Where else you would hear alternative voices?' Mammad Suleymanov wrote in an opinion piece in 'Bizim Yol.' Alternative voices are still being heard through Radio Azadliq -- but fewer people are able to hear them. Azadliq is still able to broadcast on shortwave frequencies, and shopkeepers say the demand for radios that receive shortwave has skyrocketed in past days. Others tune in on Azadliq's website, where they can hear not only current broadcasts but also older ones from the archive." RFE/RL Watchdog, 2 January 2009.
     "The Azerbaijan National Television & Radio Council (NTRC) will hold intensive monitoring to prevent airing of movies in foreign languages, Gafar Jabiyev, a member of the Council, told TrendNews on Jan. 3. ... On Dec. 30 in 2008, the Council made a decision on broadcasting of all telecasts at the Azerbaijani TV channels only in the Azerbaijani language beginning from Jan. 1 in 2009." Trend News Agency, 3 January 2009.
     Update: "Sözün Düzü, for example, posts a video from YouTube where a group of Azeri youth celebrates the New Year in solidarity with the station's staff in the last minutes of Azadliq. One of the youth interviewed in the video says that he had come to share the grief of the radio station while another comments that 'they can close Azadliq, but Liberty will surely come to this country.' ... Meanwhile, various Facebook groups have been set up in support of Radio Liberty, VOA and the BBC in Azerbaijan. One such group, which at time of writing has 768 members, is Support Radio Liberty, VOA and BBC in Azerbaijan!!!" Ali S. Novruzov, Global Voices, 4 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update. "Day after day, night after night, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel broadcasts the atrocious pictures: heaps of mutilated bodies, tearful relatives looking for their dear ones among the dozens of corpses spread out on the ground, a woman pulling her young daughter from under the rubble, doctors without medicines trying to save the lives of the wounded. (The English-language Aljazeera, unlike its Arab-language sister-station, has undergone an amazing about face, broadcasting only a sanitized picture and freely distributing Israeli government propaganda. It would be interesting to know what happened there.)" Uri Avnery, The Palestine Chronicle, 1 January 2009.
     "For users of Twitter.com, Al Jazeera English is offering updates via a dedicated Twitter AJGaza channel." Al Jazeera McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, 3 January 2009.
     "The Israeli propaganda effort is being directed to achieve two main aims. The first is to justify the air attacks. The second is to show that there is no humanitarian calamity in Gaza. Both these aims are intended to place Israel in a strong position internationally and to enable its diplomacy to act as an umbrella to fend off calls for a ceasefire while the military operation unfolds. Israel has pursued the first aim by being very active in getting its story across that Hamas is to blame. The sight of Hamas rockets streaking into Israel has been helpful in this respect. It has also allowed trucks in with food aid and has stressed that it will not let people starve, even if they go short. ... Israel has bolstered its approach by banning foreign correspondents from Gaza, despite a ruling from the Israeli Supreme Court. The Arab television news channel Al Jazeera is operating there and its reports have been graphic and have affected opinion across the Arab world. The BBC also has its local bureau hard at work." Paul Reynolds, BBC News, 3 January 2009.
     "The al-Jazeera network ... a player that does not adhere to all the media rules, and uses the medium similarly to that knife in the boxing ring – in order to eliminate Israel. This is prominent on normal days, and is even more conspicuous at this time of confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians. The news stories aired by the network constitute blatant incitement with no regard for the truth. Al-Jazeera features no balance, as for every minute of airtime featuring an Israeli spokesperson presenting Israel’s positions, the network airs long hours of horrific sights from the Palestinian side, including close-ups of the dead and wounded, and of crying and suffering Palestinians. Meanwhile, reports of attacks on Israel are normally covered briefly and in a sterile manner, with no proportion to the descriptions of what is happening in Gaza. ... There is only one conclusion here: We must immediately shut down al-Jazeera’s Israel offices and prevent its employees from working for it. Once Israel does it, many other countries will follow suit, particularly in the Middle East, for their own reasons." Mordechai Kedar, ynetnews, 3 January 2009.
     "Israeli troops have detained two journalists from Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television in an area close to the Gaza border that has been decreed a closed military zone." AFP, 3 January 2009. "The Al Jazeera team were later forced to hand over two discs containing footage which had been filmed during the morning." The Peninsula, 3 January 2009.
     "The satellite TV network Al Jazeera contrasted footage of Obama wearing shorts and playing golf in Hawaii with scenes of the carnage in Gaza, by way of highlighting what it called 'the deafening silence from the Obama team.'" Chicago Tribune, 3 January 2009.
     "Several hundred people opposed to the fighting in Gaza yesterday rallied outside the Lucas County Courthouse [Toledo], flashing peace placards and shouting anti-war chants. ... Amjad Doumani, 50, one of the rally organizers, said his wife is from Gaza and his family feels fortunate to have been able to contact relatives there by phone. ... 'If the American people could see the footage that is being shown by other media, like [Arabic TV station] al-Jazeera, Americans would take a stand against these attacks. But Americans are not getting the whole story,' he said." Toledo Blade, 3 January 2009.
     "Cairo residents interviewed on Friday resented the criticism from other Arabs as unfair and unjustified, citing Egyptian aid to Palestinian victims. But they were also uneasy with Cairo’s open blame of Hamas and with its failure to criticize Israel more loudly. Nearly everyone interviewed said they watched Al Jazeera and praised it for its realistic, if bloody, coverage of Gaza, contrasting it with the tame images shown on national television." New York Times, 2 January 2009.
     At BBC headquarters in Wales, protesters, "a man and a woman, said that they wanted to demonstrate against the BBC's biased coverage... . 'We have super-glued our skin to the main doors of the BBC in protest at the irresponsible reporting of the Middle East issue by the public broadcaster.'" Mathaba News Network, 2 January 2009.
     "A Morocco-based Islamic group hacked into DomainTheNet’s registration system server today, hijacking several domain names, including ynetnews.com (the English-language Web site of Yedioth Ahronoth) and Bank Discount, and sending users to pages featuring anti-Israeli messages. ... This latest attack follows the defacement of more than 300 Israeli Web sites with anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. messages in a 48-hour period last weekend. Today’s attack did not hack particular Web sites, and are believed to be retaliation for Operation Cast Lead in Gaza." The Jewish Journal, 2 January 2009.
     "The International Federation of Journalists condemned Israel for targeting and destroying the offices of Al Aksa TV in Gaza on Sunday. 'The IFJ and other press freedom advocates have consistently condemned attacks on unarmed media installations which are not being used for military purposes,' read a statement it released following the attack. One might be able to argue - though not very persuasively, given its locale and raison d'etre - that Al Aksa TV falls under the category of an 'unarmed media installation.' One might even attempt to prove that it is 'not being used for military purposes,' as well - though this is even less credible, given the inflammatory material it broadcasts regularly." Ruthie Blum Leibowitz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 2009. See also IFJ, 28 December 2008.
     "An Iranian newspaper was closed by authorities after publishing a statement critical of the government's support for Hamas. The statement was made by a pro-reform student group to 'Kargozaran,' a paper affiliated with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [read more in Persian]. During a discussion of the Gaza conflict, a Radio Farda listener in Tehran calls Hamas an obstacle to peace [listen in Persian]. Another listener from Southern Iran wonders why the government is sending support to the Palestinians when there are so many problems at home [listen in Persian]." RFE/RL, 1 January 2009.
     See previous post about same subject. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

DW adds to its mobile access. "Rubberduck Media Lab, a leading provider of mobile TV solutions, announces today a new collaboration with German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. ... Deutsche Welle broacast to an international audience with radio channels in 30 languages and TV for instance in German and English. Deutsche Welle's users has previously had access to live channels on web and mobile internet and will now also be provided with video clips on their mobile through the new agreement with Rubberduck Media Lab. Through mobile portal mobile.dw-world.de users gain access to a wide rage of programs in news, entertainment, culture, motor sports and more. The offering includes regular TV- and radio shows from Deutsche Welle's archives, but also programs that have been adapted to the mobile user behaviour, which means clips that are 2-5 minutes long. The service can be used regardless of operator, and viewers only pay for data costs." Rubberduck press release, 18 December 2008.
     "Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is recruiting young journalists from around the world for its two-year master’s program in International Media Studies, which trains students in topics including media and development, journalism, communication science and media economics. ... The Master’s program is bilingual (German-English). Entering students are required to have a bachelor’s degree, more than one year of experience in media or a related field, and proof of their communication skills in both languages. The degree is a joint effort of the University of Bonn, the Bonn Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and Deutsche Welle." International Journalists' Network, 1 January 2009. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

Another aspect of the decline of shortwave. "Recent news from NASA that the ionosphere is now at lower elevation than in the past. I suppose this means that worldwide shortwave signals might not propagate as far." Tad Cook, K7RA, American Radio Relay League, 2 January 2009. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration instruments aboard an Air Force satellite launched in April [discovered] that the ionosphere was not where it had been expected to be. During the first months of the satellite's operations, the transition between the ionosphere and space was found to be at about 260 miles altitude during the nighttime, barely rising above 500 miles during the day. Those altitudes, said NASA, were extraordinarily low compared with the more typical values of 400 miles during the nighttime and 600 miles during the day." UPI, 17 December 2008. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

More Gaza media notes. "Israeli Captain Avichai Adarai, who conducted an on-air interview with al-Jazeera just hours after the attack began ... chastised al-Jazeera, much as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did in her appearance, for broadcasting images of the dead and dying people of the Gaza Strip. Captain Adarai demanded to know why al-Jazeera didn’t devote as much time to the suffering of Israelis during the war. But al-Jazeera’s ability to do that in Israel, where the government is carefully managing media coverage, is unclear at best." Antiwar.com, 1 January 2009.
     "The media is reporting how the Arab world is outraged by Israeli actions, but this is also not a complete account of the facts. First, most of the Arab world does not get its news from the Western media, which at least claims a measure of objectivity; the leading source of news for most Arabs is Al-Jazeera. This network has no pretensions that it is balance and presents non-stop coverage from a Palestinian perspective with the aim of generating hostility toward Israel. Al-Jazeera has not been reporting on the incessant rocket fire on Israel or its impact on the population." Mitchell Bard, News Blaze, 1 January 2009.
     "After a week of Israeli strikes on Gaza, whose savage nature has been highlighted by the reporting of the Arab satellite TV stations like Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which show much more gory footage than western equivalents like the BBC, popular anger is sharpening against Egypt in particular." Christopher Walker, Yorkshire Post, 2 January 2009.
     "The images broadcast on the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera since the start of Israel's operation are graphic and at times, seemingly uncensored. ... Analysts say that these and similar images broadcast around the world have played an important role in mobilizing the Arab street to protest by the tens of thousands, burn effigies and Israeli flags and demand action from their governments. ... Israeli officials, along with the Palestinian Authority, have long accused the station of being pro-Hamas. They say its treatment of Israel's current military operation is no different." Jerusalem Post, 31 December 2008.
     "Dr. Tal Samuel-Azran, a researcher at Ben-Gurion University's Communications Department ... tracked some 1,600 broadcasts on major American networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, and the use these agencies made of the footage being shown in the largest Arab network, Al-Jazeera. His findings: Al-Jazeera has not been able to 'inject' its perspective - including its more liberal use of bloody images and video footage - into American news broadcasts because it is perceived as too one-sided." Jerusalem Post, 31 December 2008.
     "The leader of Iran has used his very effective Press TV channel to convey Iran as the moderate voice of the Muslim world and to organise international opinion against Israel." Editorial, London Daily News, 2 January 2009.
     "A group of Palestinian activists have reportedly jammed Israel Army Radio signals in southern regions of the occupied Palestinian territories. Palestinians, who according to Israeli officials took control of the airwaves from the Gaza Strip, broadcasted statements in Arabic, Press TV's Beirut bureau reported. Jaffa-based Israel Army Radio, commonly known as Galatz among Israelis, is operated nationwide by Israel Defense Force and is mainly funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Palestinian resistance groups had earlier disrupted transmission signals of two other Israeli radio stations - South Radio and Radio Darom - and managed to air programs targeting audience in south Israel." Press TV, 31 December 2008.
     "Israel has been standing by its claims that the air strikes in Gaza have been surgical and that any claims to the contrary are an attempt by Hamas to manipulate the media." Belfast Telegraph, 2 January 2009.
     "Israel believes its has won broad international support in the media for its actions in Gaza thanks to its PR strategy, which through a new body has for months been concerned with formulating plans and role-playing to ensure that government officials deliver a clear, unified message to the world's press. The body, known as the National Information Directorate, was set up eight months ago following recommendations from an Israeli inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war. Its role is to deal with hasbara - meaning, in Hebrew, 'explanation', and referring variously to information, spin, and propaganda. ... Last week the directorate started a YouTube channel showing Israeli bombings in the Gaza strip. 'New media is a new war zone within the media - we are planning to be relevant there.'" The Guardian, 2 January 2009.
     "In addition to the air raids on Hamas in Gaza, Israel has mounted a campaign to 'conquer' Arab satellite television channels as part of Operation Cast Lead. The initiative has been spearheaded by Arabic speakers in the Israel Defense Forces and the Foreign Ministry, joined in their efforts by senior government officials. ... Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai ... spoke to the Arab media, with both addressing Al-Jazeera viewers in spoken, informal Arabic, the type usually not heard on Arabic media channels. Other Israeli officials have spoken to the Arabic media in English, with a simultaneous translation into Arabic appearing on screen." Ha'aretz, 2 January 2009.
     "After some unpleasantness with Facebook, the Israeli government is now using Twitter in a bid to turn the tide in the propaganda war following its unpopular air strikes on the Gaza strip. The Consulate General of Israel in New York will hold a 'Citizen's Press Conference' with David Saranga, Consul of Media and Public Affairs, will be taking questions about the situation in Israel and Gaza via Twitter." ITExaminer.com, 1 January 2009.
     "Russian war correspondent Sergey Grankin has reported from Iraq, Kosovo and West Bank, but right now he can’t get into Gaza - and it’s not because he’s afraid to go there. ... Each day he goes to the border but is stopped by the Israeli army who say it’s for his own protection. ... Meanwhile, the Israeli army has created its own YouTube channel, with an entire department dedicated to blogging on the internet. At the end of the day who wins the war in Gaza will depend as much on what is said here - in cyberspace - as to what happens on the ground. ... It was the British army during the Falklands war that decided for the first time to isolate a war zone from the camera lenses." Russia Today, 1 January 2009.
     "The BBC World Service's 'World Have Your Say' will be hosting a Hamas representative live on air answering calls, e-mails and texts from listeners. Please do not allow Hamas propaganda to go unanswered." HonestReporting, 1 January 2009. Audio of that program on 1 January, and with an Israeli spokesperson on 31 December, available at World Have Your Say podcasts.
     See previous posts about same subject on 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2008. Posted: 02 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan gets an earful about its decision to ban foreign radio (updated again). "The European Commission warned Azerbaijan Wednesday that its planned ban of local-language broadcasts by the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty could hit plans for deeper ties." AFP, 31 December 2008. "The European Union is criticizing Azerbaijan's ban on international radio broadcasts. ... EU official Benita Ferrero-Waldner says it will deprive listeners of 'valuable and independent sources of information.' She says the EU's commitment to increase economic and other ties with Azerbaijan hinges on respect for democracy and human rights." AP, 31 December 2008. "In early December the EU proposed a new "Eastern Partnership" aimed at boosting ties with its neighbours in the former-Soviet sphere, including Azerbaijan. However, 'respect for freedom of expression and of the media are essential elements' of the package." DPA, 31 December 2008.
     "'These media organizations play a crucial role in supporting democratic debate and the free exchange of ideas and information,' said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid. 'This decision, if carried out, will represent a serious setback to freedom of speech, and retard democratic reform in Azerbaijan.'" AP, 30 December 2008. "We remain committed to working with the government of Azerbaijan to find the proper legal framework within which these radio and TV broadcasts can continue." State Department press statement, 30 December 2008.
     "'The people of Azerbaijan are the real losers,' said D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees VOA and RFE/RL. 'The decision appears to be part of a concerted official effort to limit access to unbiased information. We urge the Azerbaijani authorities to reverse this decision and to continue to work to resolve this situation, as they had indicated they would. Meanwhile, we will pursue all available alternatives for broadcasting the popular programs of RFE/RL and VOA to Azerbaijan.'" Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 30 December 2008.
     "Free media are essential to any society that values liberty. Radio Liberty, the Voice of America and the BBC should remain on the air to serve listeners in Azerbaijan with unfettered access to information and a variety of viewpoints. Depriving listeners of these services is a violation of the right to free expression that will constrain debate in Azerbaijan, undermining its commitment to democracy in the eyes of the world. The government of Azerbaijan should rescind its decision to block these broadcasts." Rep. Howard L. Berman, chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee, 30 December 2008.
     “We are baffled by this. What kind of impression does President Ilham Aliev expect to give by insisting on isolating his people from news and information behind an iron curtain? They will temporarily lose access to quality news outlets but they will know who to blame. In the end they will undoubtedly find ways to get round the constraints that the government has tried to impose, to the detriment of Azerbaijan’s image. It is a strategic error.” Reporters sans frontières, 30 December 2008.
     "'We are not closing down foreign radio stations but we want their activities to be regulated according to international practice,' Ali Hasanov, head of the political department of presidential administration, told reporters." Reuters, 30 December 2008. See also UPI, 30 December 2008. And VOA News, 30 December 2008.
     OSCE representative on media freedom Miklos Haraszti: "Opening borders to a free flow of information is one of the oldest Helsinki commitments regarding human rights, pledged by the participating States more than 30 years ago. Closing down FM news radio broadcasts that were among the few remaining sources of varied, public-service quality information is a serious step backwards for an OSCE democracy. ... Internet usage in Azerbaijan is low, the expansion of satellite radio is unrealistic and shortwave radio is unable to provide modern-day reception quality." ISRIA, 31 December 2008.
     "Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), very much regrets the decision by the Azerbaijani National TV and Radio Council not to renew the broadcasting licence of foreign radio stations." Girodivite, 31 December 2008. See also VOA News, 31 December 2008.
     "Nushirvan Magerramli, chairman of the country's State Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting insisted Tuesday the decision had nothing to do with politics. 'Nobody raised concerns when we stopped Russian, Turkish and French television and radio broadcasts in Azerbaijan.'" AFP, 31 December 2008. See previous post about same subject.
     Azerbaijain is singled out for criticism in this instance, but it actually is joining a large club of nations that do not allow the rebroadcasting of foreign stations on their FM bands. The EU criticism is interesting, given that many European nations have not welcomed foreign (or at least non-EU) stations on their FM dials. In the 1980s, VOA Europe's business plan depended on such access, which largely was denied. VOA Europe was therefore not able to gather much of an audience, and went off the air in the 1990s.
     Update: "Azerbaijan has also tightened requirements for domestic TV and radio channels. All broadcasts must be in Azerbaijani, except for news broadcasts, which can be in Russian and English, but with Azerbaijani subtitles, according to Council chairman Nushirevan Magerramli. Magerramli said educational programs were also allowed to be broadcast in foreign languages, but with subtitles, and they must not be longer than 30 minutes." RIA Novosti, 1 January 2008. Posted: 02 Jan 2009 Permalink

"Innocuous" Radio Liberty versus "hard-hitting" VOA. "As Radio Liberty’s Russian radio programs were becoming more innocuous in recent years due to pressures from the BBG to make them sound more acceptable to anti-Western Russians in the interest of pursuing the questionable marketing goal of 'marrying the mission to the market,' Voice of America journalists based in Washington have tried to offer more hard-hitting news and comments and thus serve the role of a surrogate radio broadcaster that RFE/RL is no longer able to play in Russia." Ted Lipien, Free Media Online Blog, 30 December 2008. This blog entry shows that the war of words continues continues apace into 2009. I am referring to the war of words between the supporters of VOA and the supporters of the "surrogate" Radio Free stations. Only when that war finally ends can U.S. international broadcasting hope to compete with BBC, Al Jazeera, and other international stations that are disappearing over the horizon. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

"The Return of Cultural Diplomacy." "During the cold war, Washington strove to share America's cultural heritage through scholarly and professional exchanges, artist and writer tours, libraries, translations and culturally oriented international broadcasting. Any new investment in American 'smart power' should include a substantial cultural component. But it won't be easy: ever since Sen. Jesse Helms attacked the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1980s for supporting works such as Robert Mapplethorpe's sadomasochistic photographs, American artists have expressed hostility toward their government, often through their art. Can the government be blamed for not wanting to export such work? Still, plenty of artists do not trade in politicized shock. The way to reconcile democracy and civilization is to exercise good taste in ways that are open and communicable to all. One example: a 2004 production of Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' mounted by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, performed in colloquial Arabic by some of Egypt's leading actors—a highly regarded and universally accessible bicultural treatment of home, community and the swift passage of time that showed just as the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal was breaking.' Martha Bayles, Newsweek, 31 December 2008.
     This is a thought provoking essay. Government deciding which U.S. cultural content is worthy for export is as problematic as government deciding which religious writings should be displayed in front of City Hall. Cultural diplomacy, therefore, would be a good project for "private public diplomacy," e.g. Business for Diplomatic Action.
     There are vaults containing a wealth of programming from U.S. public television and educational audio-visual producers. These include plays, concerts, histories, and performances of all sorts. Much of this can be translated into other languages and made available to television stations around the world at prices so attractive they cannot afford to say no. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

RFI Russian will continue on shortwave, at least through 2011. Sergei S. in Moscow translates this announcement from the Radio France International Russian Service: "I'd like to tell you that RFI's Russian service had its own Christmas miracle. As reported by AFP, the petition to save our SW and MW radio service reached President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Fillon, Minister of Culture Albanel and all deputies of the National Council. After that out leadership immediately announced that their decision to shut down the Russian radio service was actually under 'consideration' and that in any case our SW and MW broadcasts will continue until the end of 2011. Now we'd like to ask all our listeners to be vigilant. If you don't hear us on our usual wavelengths at usual time, please inform us immediately. Also, our leadership invited us to return to our old format of two one-hour programs daily. Right now we have two 30-min. and one 60-min. broadcast. If only you knew how much we fought in the past that we might continue with two one-hour programs! Truly, a new broom sweeps very clean in order to prove that the old one didn't do the work well." RFI Russian, 24 December 2008. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

International broadcasters this Sunday on Meet the Press. On NBC's Meet the Press, 4 January: "The fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Insights and analysis on the situation from our foreign policy roundtable: NBC's Richard Engel, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, BBC World News America's Katty Kay, Al-Arabiya's Hisham Melhem, and NBC's Andrea Mitchell." MSNBC Meet the Press page, 31 December 2008. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

Notes on the Gaza PR war (updated). "Once again, Israel has shown that it will 'never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity' to capture the high ground in the news wars that are the main battleground in the Middle East these days. Even when it has the facts on its side. Israel failed to launch a first strike with its weapons of public diplomacy. Israel needed a global truth squad campaign to show the world Hamas' evil intent. Bring in cameras from CNN, BBC, German, French, Japanese, Russian and Chinese TV -- and especially Al Jazeera. Show the world the terror Hamas inflicts by firing rockets upon Israeli civilians in towns, villages and farmlands near Gaza." Martin Schram, Scripps Howard, 30 December 2008.
     "In a region known for not paying attention to public opinion, or where public opinion is dictated by the regimes, an appeal to the masses has usually been viewed as an act of desperation, not policy. Hamas can rack up its first victory for its methods as several European countries are already talking about a 'humanitarian' cease-fire, and Egypt has been fixed in the public eye as a collaborator with Israel." Ha'aretz, 31 December 2008.
     "While the air strikes are done with medical precision, Israel is already losing the war in the Public Diplomacy Front. The world is waking up, angrier than ever before. The constant bombardment of Israeli towns and cities, ongoing for years, has not bothered the giant: nothing but flies that were to be ignored. When Israel is finally taking action, the giant has been disturbed from its rest, soon to start roaring with anger." Ari Bussel, Canada Free Press, 29 December 2008. See previous post about same subject.
     Al Jazeera English-language coverage is fairly easy to find, direct from Aljazeera.net and through portals such as Livestation.com. Less easy to find are Israeli broadcasts, which are available at Kol Israel International.
     Update: "The insistence on learning from mistakes made in the Second Lebanon War ... extended beyond having a press center ready to roll, and toward the message that was being put forward. 'I’m trying not to limit myself,' [Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Andy] David said. 'My message is to say that the aim is very simple: that what has happened in the last eight years [rocket fire in southern Israel] will not happen in the future. The aim is to change the reality.' He said that the purpose of the public diplomacy effort 'was not to convince everyone they like us, but that we have the right, the will and capability to do what we think necessary.'" Forward, 31 December 2008.
     "The YouTube cartoon shows rockets striking France’s Eiffel Tower, Britain’s Big Ben and the German Bundestag. Then comes the tagline: 'How do you like it? In Sderot, people have been living like this for eight years.' The video was posted by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, part of a battle for world opinion being waged in parallel with Israel’s military strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. ... Ofir Gendelman, director of Arab press and public affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said he is giving 15 interviews a day to Arab-language radio and television stations, as well as answering comments posted on the YouTube site. Going a technological step further, the ministry yesterday held a press conference on Twitter, an instant-messaging community site." Bloomberg, 1 January 2009. See also Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arabic YouTube channel.
     "On Tuesday morning I checked the English-language website of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see how Livni's PR epicenter was holding up. Lest Palestinian suffering interfere with Israel's own propaganda purposes, the number of dead tabulated on the main page was currently four Israelis." Belén Fernández, The Palestine Chronicle, 31 December 2008. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

Cuba's pioneering bloggers. "Some change is coming from the ground up, as a new generation of tech-savvy bloggers emerges. [Yoania Sanchcez's blog Generación Y] chronicles her everyday observations of Cuba, from the abundance of José Martí statues to bored youth and the workings of Cuba's black market. ... She heads to one of Havana's Internet cafés once a week, a practice that is extremely expensive. (One hour at an Internet café in Havana typically costs 160 pesos [US$6], about one-third an average monthly salary on the island.) But Sánchez works fast, quickly uploading her files from a flash memory drive and downloading readers' comments and e-mail." Committee to Protect Journalists, 31 December 2008. See also Global Voices, 1 January 2009. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

Deutsche Welle commentator piques National Review commentator. "Over at Deutsche-Welle's Across the Pond, a contributor concludes I'm (surprise!) 'off the mark' for noting that Obama is 'doing exactly what President George W. Bush has been doing and got hammered by the press – taking lengthy vacations.'" Jim Gerachty, National Review The Campaign Spot blog, 31 December 2008. Posted: 01 Jan 2009 Permalink

"Those Weird Commercials from Russia Today." "A year into the phenomenon of Taxi TV — the channels that now play in the back of New York City cabs — and one of the major advertisers deserves more scrutiny. The advertiser is Russia Today, a pro-Kremlin site and YouTube channel that is part of a 24-hour English-language news channel in Russia. ... The newest enigmatic Russia TV ad, which is in heavy rotation in many NYC cabs, is graphically fascinating—and completely disconcerting. I can’t get that mistaken-pill thing—the trucker with the blister pack—out of my head." Virginia Heffernen, New York Times The Medium, 30 December 2008, with YouTube video of the ad. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

More critiques of Gaza television coverage. "Millions of Arabs across the Middle East and north Africa are watching vivid and often shocking coverage of the Israeli military onslaught on Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Arabic satellite TV channels, with al-Jazeera again leading the field. Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, has four correspondents in Gaza and its bulletins are broadcasting graphic images that would never find their way on to western TV screens. ... Precise audience figures are hard to come by, but al-Jazeera claims it has a regular audience of 50 million, rising during a crisis of this magnitude. Anecdotal evidence suggests that from Yemen to Morocco it is easily beating its nearest satellite rivals, the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya and the BBC Arabic TV, launched this year." The Guardian, 31 December 2008.
     "There are several free options if you would like to get more balanced coverage in your elusive search for the truth. One option is to go to www.livestation.com and download the application. After downloading, you will be able to watch English language Al-Jazeera, or listen to BBC and other stations to get a more balanced view of the realties in Gaza and the Israeli massacre. Additionally, you can check PressTV, which is based in Tehran at www.PressTV.com and watch it live. You also can go to www.LinkTV.com which provides feeds from many news channels across the Middle East." Ashahed M. Muhammad, Mathaba.net, 30 December 2008.
     "Although my network, Al Jazeera English, has been the only TV outlet broadcasting internationally from the strip since the blockade began, the Arab world has been awash with images of the suffering people are enduring there. Israel's disproportionate use of force against the 1.5 million Gazans, half of whom are children, is widely portrayed as a war crime that undermines America and its friends in the region." Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst, Al Jazeera English, International Herald Tribune, 30 December 2008.
     "A producer with Fox News e-mailed me, asking for an interview on what the situation was like in Gaza. Like many people, he didn't realize that I'm not actually in Gaza and that Israel has prevented journalists from entering since the conflict began. The poor guy was clearly desperate for some sort of on-the-ground perspective, and I saw my opportunity. I told him by phone. 'You know, I can get you in touch with a really good reporter and fluent English speaker who's been reporting from the Gaza Strip for months.' He got excited. I waited for a few seconds to build anticipation. 'His name is Ayman Mohyeldin and he's with Al Jazeera English.' I could actually feel him deflate through my cellphone. 'Oh ... well, I don't think I can pull that off.'" Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times Babylon & Beyond blog, 30 December 2008. And, yes, I looked for negative opinions about Al Jazeera's coverage. They will show up eventually. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

CNN's Oakley departs. CNN European political editor Robin Oakley on leaving CNN: "After my eight years (nearly) as European Political Editor Tony and I have agreed that on December 31 I should end my full-time role at CNN, a fast-evolving organization with fresh needs and priorities." Media Bistro, 30 December 2008. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

And Press TV is probably treating her very well. "Former Sunday Express journalist Yvonne Ridley has been awarded more than £20,000 in compensation and £5,000 costs after winning a case for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against the Islam Channel. ... Earlier this year Ridley won nearly £14,000 in damages after winning a four-year unfair dismissal case against Arabic TV station al-Jazeera. ... She ... now works for the Iranian-based 24-hour English language news channel PressTV, where she fronts her own London-based current affairs show, The Agenda." The Guardian, 31 December 2008. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

The politics of Radio Australia's Indonesia coverage, 30 years ago. In 1978: "The Australian government considered moving ABC journalists out of Indonesia to avoid offending the Indonesian government with reports about East Timor and the corruption of the Suharto regime. In a submission to cabinet released by the National Archives of Australia, foreign affairs minister Andrew Peacock said he had regular complaints from the Indonesian government about ABC reports. Mr Peacock was critical of journalists, including the late Richard Carleton, for their role in what he saw as fanning the flames of anti-Indonesian sentiment, particular in relation to East Timor. He went as far as to ask that the government use its proximity to the ABC to influence the type of journalists and managers in charge of broadcasts to Indonesia. 'Radio Australia, because of the ABC's statutory relationship with the Australian Government and because it has a large Indonesian audience, is particularly closely monitored by Indonesian officials for the possible dissemination of "unhelpful" views and opinions about Indonesia,' the submission stated." The Age (Melbourne), 1 January 2009. See also Sydney Morning Herald, 1 January 2009. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

Another UK fan of World Service. "Obviously, I have to flirt around a bit but there are stations I really ought to go steady with. BBC World Service for one. Digital radio makes it available round the clock, without fiddling to find Short Wave or waiting for it to take over from Radio 4 in the small hours. Quantities of unexpected delight were to be found in Too Many Santas (World Service) on Boxing Day. This gem of a feature, midwinter tales from the far north, was presented by Heidi Mikalsen and produced by Matt Thompson." Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph, 29 December 2008. And many North Americans use the internet to listen to BBC Radio 4, because it's like BBC World Service used to be. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

In Germany, a New Year's Eve international broadcasting tradition. "Millions of Germans will settle down in front of their TV sets on New Year's Eve for what has become an annual ritual -- the airing of an ancient British comedy sketch starring a long-dead, music-hall comedian. This year is the 45th anniversary of the broadcast, which has become as much a part of New Year's Eve for Germans as singing 'Auld Lang Syne' is in English-speaking countries. The 15-minute sketch, acted by Freddie Frinton and May Warden, this year will be televised by every major regional public TV channel in Germany and by a scattering of commercial networks as well. The black-and-white British slapstick sketch, totally unknown in the English-speaking world, has become the highest-rated TV show in German history, and has spawned fan clubs and a cult following of viewers who stage parties to recreate the sketch at home." DPA via Deutsche Welle, 31 December 2008. See the video on YouTube. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

Chinese president addresses world via CRI. "The New Year's bell is about to ring, and 2009 is soon to begin. At this beautiful moment of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new, via China Radio International, China National Radio and China Central Television, I'm delighted to extend New Year wishes to Chinese of all ethnic groups, to compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, to overseas Chinese and to friends all over the world!" President Hu Jintao via China Radio International, 31 December 2008. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

Via the internet: authentically degraded shortwave signals. "If you've ever wanted to try out a shortwave radio and listen to commercial stations from all over the planet, you can do so over the Internet. Just go to http://www.tinyurl.com/BITS-026 where you can actually operate a shortwave radio located in New York from your home here in Beautiful Marion County ... and yes, you CAN hear whatever the radio picks up ... that's kind of neat!" Emery Schley, Ocala Star-Banner, 30 December 2008. Actually, shortwave has mostly noncommercial stations. For commercial stations, direct internet audio streams are a better bet. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

Listening to the world see in the new year. Is it the last day of 2008 already? In past years, I devoted great energy to listening to the coming of the new year on radio stations throughout the world, formerly on shortwave only, more recently adding internet radio.
     Today, I slept right through Radio New Zealand at 1100 UTC. Using www.reciva.com or other useful portal, here is what I will try later today: 2030-2105 UTC: a Russian station. 2130-2205: a Ukrainian, Finnish, or South African station. 2230-2305: Radio Nacional de España (RNE1). 2305-2358: BBC Radio Scotland. 2359-0000: I'll listen to the 61-second minute, because of this year's leap second, on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's WWV. (For more about that, see Contra Costa Times, 31 December 2008.)
     As usual, I probably won't stay awake for the 0500 UTC new year in Washington, but the 0330 UTC new year on a Newfoundland station is a possibility.
     Thanks to all of you for reading this website, and for writing in. All the best for 2009.
     PS: And please bear with me as I type "2008" when I should type "2009" for the next two weeks or so. Posted: 31 Dec 2008 Permalink

Shortwave anyone? Azerbaijan affirms ban of foreign stations on its FM dial. "Azerbaijan's National Television and Radio Council has ruled that it will ban international radio stations from broadcasting on national frequencies. The ban, which is due to come into effect on January 1, will terminate radio broadcasts by the BBC, Voice of America, and RFE/RL's Azeri-language service, Radio Azadliq. The council first announced the proposal in late October, but this ruling finalizes the decision. The council has argued that national FM and medium-wave radio frequencies are the property of the government, and as such cannot be used by international broadcasters. ... Although the banned broadcasters will still have access to satellite, cable, and Internet platforms in Azerbaijan, the ban on radio transmissions is expected to eliminate the vast majority of the stations' current audience." RFE/RL News, 30 December 2008.
     "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President Jeffrey Gedmin called today's decision by the government of Azerbaijan to take foreign broadcasters off the air 'a sad day for the Azeri people, who will now find themselves without access to free and independent media.'" RFE/RL press release, 30 December 2008.
     "'The decision also refers to Europa Plus [Russian commercial] radio station. We have given a chance to them to bring their activity in compliance with Azerbaijani radio stations within two years. Yet, in fact they function as a foreign radio and transmit in a foreign language most of the time. In this connection we will appeal to the court to annul license of this radio station', announced chairman of the National Council." Today.az, 30 December 2008. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Cuba opening its airwaves is about as likely as the United States giving up a broadcasting bureaucracy. "It's time for Cuba and the United States to replace pugilism with diplomacy — time for both to make some meaningful concessions to bring this fight to an end. And just what concessions do I have in mind? Well, to begin with, the incoming Obama administration should shut down TV and Radio Marti, the U.S. federally funded Spanish-language stations that attempt to penetrate Cuba's airwaves with "news" shows largely controlled by Cuban exiles in South Florida. In return, Cuba should open its broadcast airwaves to legitimate news programs that come from beyond its borders so that its people — like those in many other countries — can get a broader perspective of the world." DeWayne Wickham, USA Today, 30 December 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Did Reagan telegraph plays to RFE? "Exponents like Ronald Reagan (once a top baseball commentator) would lie through their teeth about plays they were getting third-hand over the news wires. Later, when president, Reagan used this falsifying of what actually happened at baseball games as a template for how he wanted Radio Free Europe and other US propaganda organs to work." Steven Wells, The Guardian's The Sport Blog, 30 December 2008. There were concerns about the journalistic independence of U.S. international broadcasting during the Reagan administration (and during other administrations), but I've never heard of his applying his baseball play-by-play technique to RFE, etc. I think he had bigger fish to fry. For some details of Reagan's baseball announcing career, see Corey Deitz, About.com. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

We are paying a dear price for eliminating a bureaucracy. "In the 1990s, the Clinton Administration and Congress abolished the United States Information Agency, the key agency through which the nation fought its war of ideas with the Soviet Union. In the heady thinking of that decade, the spread of free markets and rising living standards across the globe were supposed to reduce the threats to our well-being from abroad. But while that 'Washington Census' held sway in the West, a rabidly anti-modern, anti-American ideology spread along the rocky terrain of Afghanistan and in mosques and madrassas across the Muslim world, planting the seeds of death and destruction. Thus came the bombings of the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, of the World Trade Center in 1993, of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and of the USS Cole in 2000, all of which culminated in the flames of 9/11." Lawrence J. Haas, North Star Writers Group, 30 December 2008. All that because USIA was eliminated? And USIA did not disappear until 1999. The writer airbrushes out the fact that the late Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) was the prime mover in the folding of USIA into the State Department. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Supporters still want NTDTV back on ill-fated satellite. "Five European Parliament (EP) Members are inviting the chairman of France-based satellite company Eutelsat to their next plenary session amidst reports that the company caved to pressure from the Chinese communist regime. The company ceased broadcast of an independent Chinese-language network [New Tang Dynasty TV] into communist-controlled China in June, citing technical reasons. ... 'There is plenty of spare capacity on Eutelsat's Satellite W5, particularly since the US Broadcast Board of Governors has withdrawn from it, for instance. Voice of America left Satellite W5 as of August 1, leaving excess capacity available,' said EP Member Bart Staes. 'The fact is, they're giving in to pressure from the Chinese communist regime.'" Epoch Times, 29 December 2008. NTDTV and Epoch Times are associated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
     "Eutelsat W5 satellite, which back in June suffered a major power-failure, has lost a fifth transponder. This is the satellite that has caused Eutelsat more than a little publicity over the closure of a controversial Chinese channel. ... Following the failure of one of W5’s two solar panels on June 16, satellite builders Thales Alenia initiated an inquiry board to determine the cause of the problem, and has now issued its findings. Thales Alenia and Eutelsat, in a statement Sept 3, said the incident has reduced the satellite’s service life by some three years." Rapid TV News, 3 September 2008. See also Thales Alenia Space statement, 3 September 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Iranian blogger on hunger strike, in prison. "Shahnaz Gholami, an online Iranian journalist and rights activist, has begun a hunger strike in Tabriz city prison. The editor of the 'Azerzan' blog, Gholami was accused of publishing propaganda against the Islamic republic and jeopardizing national security. She was sentenced to six months in prison last month. ... The blogger’s arrest in November came a few days before a pro-government publication, 'Sobh-e Sadegh,' called the Internet a Western tool of subversion. In its article, 'Sobh-e Sadegh' accused the U.S. government of attacking 'the opinions of young Iranians and the world population for its own interests.' Among other 'tools of subversion,' the Iranian publication listed RFE/RL, Voice of America, and CNN, as well as Google and Yahoo! search engines." RFE/RL Watchdog, 29 December 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Why is Al Jazeera Arabic not available in the USA via Livestation? "Middle East-based news station, Al Jazeera Arabic, is now available live over broadband on the Livestation network. ... Al Jazeera Arabic is available on Livestation in every country except the US, where it is blocked." IPTV Watch, 29 December 2008. Blocked? Or just unavailable due to rights issues? The Livestation press release of 11 December 2008 does say that "Al Jazeera Arabic ... can be received anywhere in the world except the USA by anyone with a broadband connection." I can receive Al Jazeera Arabic via livenewscameras.com and the English version directly from aljazeera.net. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Israeli psyop calling Gaza telephones? Recorded-voice "phone calls have become common across the Gaza Strip, in what many see as a new stage in the psychological campaign to destabilise the Hamas-controlled territory. The messages vary, spreading fear and confusion, according to Sari Bashi, of the Israeli human rights organisation Gisha. Some tell people that they must leave their homes immediately to avoid being harmed, others are similar to the warning received by Mohammed. Some are direct threats: 'Leave your house; it will be bombed soon.'" The Times via The Australian, 30 December 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Critiques of television coverage of the Gaza fighting (updated). "Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie Whbee on Sunday criticized international media outlets who were not giving sufficient voice to Israel's take on the fighting in Gaza. 'Some of the foreign media are not getting the Israeli side into their reporting,' Whbee told The Jerusalem Post. This means the international media have often failed to report on the pervasive Kassam attacks that preceded the [current] violence, he said. ... Despite repeated requests, the Post could not obtain a response from international media bureaus in Israel, including the BBC and Al-Jazeera." Jerusalem Post, 28 December 2008.
     "If you were up all Saturday night watching the Gaza horror show on different TV channels, you would have noticed the glaring discrepancies in coverage. Predictably, BBC, CNN and, of course, "fair and balanced" Fox News, did not broadcast the images edged in the minds of all those who saw Al Jazeera - Arabic and English - on Saturday. If you missed the regional stations, then you would have missed the scale - and cruelty - of the Israeli attack, and its most telling images." Omar Shariff, Gulf News (Dubai), 28 December 2008.
     "Tim Marshall, of Sky News, is walking proof that 'a little knowledge is dangerous'. ... Turn to Sky 514 or 515, Al Jazeera English or Press TV and you'll see what's really happening. Once you have done, you'll find it hard to watch Marshall again." George Galloway, Daily Record (Glasgow), 29 December 2008.
     "CNN International's coverage of yesterday's fighting in Gaza concluded at midnight with a rush of images: mangled civilians writhing in the rubble, primitive hospitals overflowing with the wounded, fireballs mushrooming between apartment complexes, the funeral of a Palestinian child. Missing from the montage, however, was even a fleeting glimpse of the tens of thousands of Israelis who spent last night and much of last week in bomb shelters; of the house in Netivot, where a man was killed by a Grad missile; or indeed any of the hundreds of rockets, mortar shells, and other projectiles fired by Hamas since the breakdown of the so-called ceasefire. This was CNN at its unprincipled worst, grossly skewering its coverage of a complex event and deceiving its viewers." Michael Oren, The New Republic, 28 December 2008.
     Update: "Using figures taken from a Foreign Ministry media tracking operation run out of the television studios in Neveh Ilan, Shir-On cites an eight-hour period between 4 p.m. and midnight Sunday during which tracking of CNN, the BBC, Sky News, Fox, Al-Jazeera English and France 24 yielded 335 combined minutes of Gaza coverage. Of these, 58 minutes were given to Israeli representatives, while only 19 were given to Palestinian ones." Jerusalem Post, 30 December 2008.
     "Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni criticized Arab media bias in an interview with the pan-Arab network Al-Jazeera on Monday. 'When you show one-sided images from Gaza you're not helping peace,' she told her interviewer. Arab media outlets broadcast images that inspire rage and hostility, Livni said, adding, 'We want a better future for this region.' Arab media have repeatedly broadcast images of children supposedly wounded or killed in the Gaza operation, and many outlets have failed to mention that the vast majority of those killed were armed members of Hamas and other terrorist groups." Israel National News, 29 December 2008.
     "Say what you will about Al Jazeera, but the landmark Arab satellite news channel has absolutely led the pack in conveying the realities of the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. In both its original Arabic and fledgling English-language versions, Jazeera has blanketed the story, bringing real-time images that it's likely most American viewers will never see." Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times Babylon & Beyond blog, 29 December 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

Israeli public diplomacy deals with its Gaza actions (updated). "The Foreign Ministry launched a public relations blitz Saturday to counter the pictures coming out of Gaza, stressing that the goal of the operation was to strike a major blow to Hamas‚ terror infrastructure and protect Israeli citizens. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and spokespeople from the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the IDF Spokesman's Office took to the airwaves - including the Arab satellite stations - with the message that Israel has been patient up until now, but could not tolerate the unending attacks, and that Hamas was the party responsible for the suffering that would incur." Jerusalem Post, 28 December 2008.
     "For years, Israel has been totally defeated on the 'soft power' battlefields, which are dominated by the UN, the media and powerful nongovernmental organizations funded by European governments that claim to speak in the name of human rights and international morality." Gerald M. Steinberg, Jerusalem Post, 28 December 2008.
     Update: "Olmert asked Netanyahu to join Israel's public relations efforts as he did during the Second Lebanon War. Netanyahu's spokesman said he responded affirmatively and without hesitation despite being the leader of the opposition in the middle of an election campaign. ... The Likud leader ran into trouble after he traveled to the United Kingdom as part of a public diplomacy campaign during the Second Lebanon War. A television investigation months later revealed that he had spent large sums of money in London on a posh hotel, food, laundry, theatre tickets and a hairdresser for his wife, Sara." Jerusalem Post, 29 December 2008.
     "Unlike in previous military crises, 'we have close coordination and unified messages between agencies,' says Yarden Vatikai, the director of the National Information Directorate, which is seeing its first trial by fire. Established in the wake of the Winograd Report's criticism of insufficient coordination in the media effort during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the NID's purpose is to synchronize the content and tone of Israel's message across the many organizations that carry it to the world, whether official or unofficial." Jerusalem Post, 30 December 2008.
     "In the midst of its Gaza operations, the IDF is entering yet another conflict zone: the Internet. The Israeli army announced yesterday the creation of its own YouTube channel, through which it will disseminate footage of precision bombing operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as aid distribution and other footage of interest to the international community." Jerusalem Post, 30 December 2008.
     "Reporters from every major news organization, from the BBC and CNN to The New York Times and The Washington Post to NPR and McClatchy to AP and Fox News, are being barred by Israel from going into Gaza to cover the deadliest military campaign there since Israel seized the area from Egypt in the 1967 war. The Foreign Press Association, of which McClatchy Newspapers is a part, has called the Israeli closure 'insufferable' and asked the Israeli Supreme Court to take immediate action to lift the ban." Dion Nissenbaum, Jerusalem bureau chief, McClatchy Newspapers, 29 December 2008. Posted: 30 Dec 2008 Permalink

VOA and RFE Cold War history, embellished a bit. "This Dec. 16, 1953 file photo shows Jiri Wertheimer, left, and Zdenek Volf at a press conference in Regensburg, Germany. The two stole a single engine plane from the Prague Communist Youth Flying Club and flew it across the frontier, evading Czech Air Force Messerschmitts and gunfire from Soviet watch watch towers to escape from communist Czechoslovakia in December of 1953. The press conference was broadcast to Eastern Europe by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe as part of the psychological warfare aspect of the U.S. Escapee Program." AP, 27 December 2008. The picture shows VOA and RFE microphone flags of that era. Psychological warfare? Maybe, but the story would have been covered by VOA and RFE as part of their normal current affairs coverage. See also accompanying AP, 28 December 2008. Posted: 29 Dec 2008 Permalink

Will BBC "explore new opportunities" in Asia? "BBC veteran, Nic van Zwanenberg is to quit his job as director, distribution and development, Greater and Indo-China, with effect from Wednesday. Sources within the BBC said van Zwanenberg's departure was 'entirely voluntary' and 'not about reducing headcount,' in the Hong Kong office, though others point to a forthcoming reweighting to Singapore of the BBC's personnel in Asia.
... 'After 15 rewarding years in programme development, distribution and strategic relations in both London and (for the last 8 years) in Hong Kong, I am taking a short break in Europe. After the Chinese New Year in Singapore, I will be back in Hong Kong to explore new opportunities,' van Zwanenberg said in an email sent to business contacts." Variety Asia, 29 December 2008. Posted: 29 Dec 2008 Permalink

BBC World News will have a new perspective. "BBC World News (formerly BBC World) is going 16x9 on SKY from January 19, 2009." Throng (NZ), 29 December 2008. Posted: 29 Dec 2008 Permalink

Radio station broadcasts to a country where Liberty is not Free. "The prosecutor’s office in the city of Yekaterinburg ordered a local construction company to pay back wages to Tajik workers, Radio Free Liberty reported this month." New York Times, 27 December 2008. Posted: 28 Dec 2008 Permalink

Now broadcasting internationally: the Chechen channel. Sergei S. alerts us to this Russia Today report: "Chechnya TV's main channel, which was founded five years ago, is now available on global satellite networks. With nearly 200,000 Chechens living outside Russia, it thus becomes the major information outlet for the diaspora scattered around the world." In Chechen and Russian for now, plans to add English and Arabic. YouTube, 26 December 2008. Posted: 28 Dec 2008 Permalink

Death of Carol Gombakomba, VOA Studio 7 broadcaster (updated). "The Association of Zimbabwe Journalists would like to convey its deepest sympathies to the Gombakomba family following her passing away late Thursday afternoon after a long and brave fight with cancer. ... After a decade with the ZBC, [Carol Gombakomba] left to go to Canada in 2001 and was recruited by the Voice of America to become one of the pioneers on Studio 7, a radio station that broadcasts from Washington D.C. to Zimbabwe on a daily basis. She was still with Studio 7 at the time of her death." Association of Zimbabwe Journalists, 19 December 2008.
     Update: "Carole's meticulous and thoughtful reporting, her calm, authoritative on-air presence, and her determined coverage of health issues--including Zimbabwe's devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic--made her an editorial mainstay of Studio 7 and a beloved figure among listeners." Brendan Murphy, Committee to Protect Journalists blog, 26 December 2008. See also her last VOA byline, 25 November 2008. Posted: 27 Dec 2008