2009.02.17: February 17, 2009: Headlines: Figures: Staff: Journalism: Daily Star : A new Murrow for US public diplomacy

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A new Murrow for US public diplomacy

A new Murrow for US public diplomacy

The United States needs to have someone heading its public diplomacy effort who can explain not only its policies but also its society and culture to others around the world with honesty and integrity. Obama understands that Americans must listen as well as talk and engage others in a candid dialogue that is based on respect for others' opinions, so his public diplomacy chief should follow Murrow's advice that to be persuasive the US must listen and always tell the truth. Where can we find such a person? Various names come to mind: Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, or Bill Moyers who, like Murrow, is a stellar journalist whose career includes service in the halls of policy. From the print world, Washington Post columnist and former International Herald Tribune editor David Ignatius leaps out. These journalists and a handful of others whom Americans have trusted to explain the world to them would bring a new dimension to America's outreach to the world. Journalist Bill Moyers was the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps under founding Director Sargent Shriver.

A new Murrow for US public diplomacy

A new Murrow for US public diplomacy
By Lawrence Pintak and William A. Rugh
Commentary by
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Almost 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy turned to America's most respected journalist to tell the nation's story to the world. Edward R. Murrow was the father of television journalism. His valiant reporting from wartime London during the Blitz galvanized the American public and won the gratitude of European leaders. His broadcasts about Senator Joseph McCarthy brought to an end a dark period in American politics.

Who better to serve as head of the United States Information Service, in charge of communicating the values of American democracy to the world? As historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. observed, "Under Ed Murrow, the Voice of America became the voice, not of American self-righteousness, but of American democracy."

What a contrast to his recent successors. It is true, they have been heavily burdened by President George W. Bush's unpopular policies, and public diplomacy cannot completely reverse strong criticism of policy. But with the right approach - and the right credentials - they could have done more.

It's time to revisit the Murrow option for US public diplomacy. President Barack Obama scored huge points in the Middle East by selecting Al-Arabiya, a leading Arab satellite news channel, for one of his first major interviews. That symbolism and the sense of empathy engendered by his discussion of his Muslim roots resonated around the world. Obama can follow that up by making a bold choice for public diplomacy chief.

Public diplomacy is much more complicated than selling Uncle Ben's Rice to American consumers. It requires a sophisticated knowledge of foreign audiences and an ability to use various tools to reach them in a highly competitive international media environment. The United States needs to have someone heading its public diplomacy effort who can explain not only its policies but also its society and culture to others around the world with honesty and integrity. Obama understands that Americans must listen as well as talk and engage others in a candid dialogue that is based on respect for others' opinions, so his public diplomacy chief should follow Murrow's advice that to be persuasive the US must listen and always tell the truth.

Where can we find such a person? Various names come to mind: Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, or Bill Moyers who, like Murrow, is a stellar journalist whose career includes service in the halls of policy. From the print world, Washington Post columnist and former International Herald Tribune editor David Ignatius leaps out. These journalists and a handful of others whom Americans have trusted to explain the world to them would bring a new dimension to America's outreach to the world.

The response to the naming of the next public diplomacy chief should not be, "Who?" even among the cognoscenti. The appointment of a journalist renowned in the US and respected in the halls of power abroad will require no explanation. The acclaim in America will echo in the international media.

Reporting the news and telling America's story to the world are - emphatically - not the same thing. Yet journalist-as-public-diplomacy-czar is not an oxymoronic concept. The job description is similar for both: Effective communication skills; an instinctual understanding that the people of the world view America through many prisms; and, most of all, credibility.

At the end of the day, the public diplomacy czar is an advocate, but one who is always truthful. The experience of the Voice of America over the past six decades shows that policy advocacy and journalistic integrity are compatible. A journalist working for the government does not have to check his or her values at the door. Reporting on American policy as well as on dissent from the official line is good public diplomacy because it is credible.

Foreigners will not always like our policies because they have different worldviews, but if we listen to them and try to explain our approach in an open discussion, rather than preaching, we will gain more support.

A half-century ago, Murrow argued that the US government should use "words not weapons" to make US policy "intelligible and wherever possible palatable."

The formula - and the role model - are just as relevant today.

Lawrence Pintak is the director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at the American University in Cairo and author of "Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas." William Rugh William Rugh is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Public Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, a former US ambassador to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, and an advisory trustee at the American University in Cairo. His most recent book is "American Encounters with Arabs: The Soft Power of Public Diplomacy in the Middle East." They wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.




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