Category: Media

Media Framing Informs and Influences

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 4 Comments

The media, like any other communicator, influences by what it says and how it says it, as well as what it doesn’t say. The media provides a window to the world by describing the goings on of the local council or of far away places. Surrounding this window is a frame that helps highlight facets of the events and issues to help the reader make connections. The reader opinion is thus shaped by the quality of the framing by the reporter.

Here’s a quick look at two recent news stories of the same thing. One frames the discussion and the other does not. One is for US audiences and the other is not. Which do you think would generate a more positive view of the profiled activities?

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Event: beyond broadcast 09

~ Matt Armstrong

Happening right now, beyond broadcast 09 explores the power of new media. Topics range “from the transition toward mobile content to evolving journalism business models.”

Check out the agenda and participate online. Today’s panels include: 

Building an Audience Through Engagement & Outreach. This session will explore the tools and techniques for identifying and expanding a target audience through active engagement and outreach.

Measuring New Media’s Impact. The digital media world is still developing the techniques and metrics for measuring its audience. The panelists will share their experience as they strive to create an accepted approach to measure the impact of new media.

Global Media’s Role in a Digital Era. A vital democracy depends not just on good national news but access to unbiased reporting on events around the world. This panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities of bringing stories from multiple sources to a global audience, in the context of new media and distribution channels.

Public Media at the National & Global Levels. Representatives from several world regions will explore traditional media organizations’ use of new media to further their public service mission, expand their coverage and build an audience. How do major media organizations leverage traditional and digital media assets to collect, curate and distribute information?

Public Service Media in Areas of Conflict. A panel of individuals engaged in making change in areas of conflict will explore the risks and opportunities for those involved in public service media in areas of conflict, with firsthand stories and discussion of impacts.

Event: Journalists’ Roundtable Discussion on Afghanistan and Pakistan

~ Matt Armstrong

Invite-only

Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Moderated By:
Bob Schieffer
Anchor, CBS News’ Face the Nation

Panelists:
Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Associate Editor, Washington Post; Author, Imperial Life in the Emerald City

Lara Logan
Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent & 60 Minutes Correspondent, CBS News

Hisham Melhem
Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Arabiya

David Sanger
Chief Washington Correspondent, New York Times

New York Times’ Policy on Facebook and Other Social Networking Sites

~ Matt Armstrong

From PoynterOnline, advice by The New York Times’ assistant managing editor who oversees journalist standards on using Facebook. Here’s the gist: you’re always representing your employer and what you say and do and “friend” can shape perceptions in unpredictable and potentially adverse ways.

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DOD issues instructions in support of ICT

~ Matt Armstrong

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) describes a general effort to overcome disconnectedness and to build up socio-economic capacity at the local level. It has tremendous potential for creating stable areas. Several years ago when I first started writing about the potential of ICT4D to deny sanctuary to extremism, a few pushed back suggested that keeping people in the dark and disconnected from any information was better lest the bad guys co-opt channels of communication to spread their hate, lies, and distortions.


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Free Media is Essential to …

~ Matt Armstrong

The State Department’s DipNote blog posted Secretary Clinton’s recent statement on World Press Day:

We live in a world where the free flow of information and ideas is a powerful force for progress. Independent print, broadcast, and online media outlets are more than sources of news and opinion. They also expose abuses of power, fight corruption, challenge assumptions, and provide constructive outlets for new ideas and dissent.

Freedom of the press is protected by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is a hallmark of every free society. Wherever media freedom is in jeopardy, all other human rights are also under threat. A free media is essential to democracy and it fosters transparency and accountability, both of which are prerequisites for sustained economic development.

The emphasis at the end is mine. A vibrant media is a requirement but of course when speaking to the press in celebration of the press it is not really appropriate to “consumer generated media”, otherwise improperly known as “new media”. Likewise, it muddles the statement also mention building pathways to information that include dead-tree publishing, broadcasting, and more.

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The White House, Social Media, and Public Diplomacy

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

Be sure to read the interesting op-ed by Jim Hoagland in The Washington Post titled A President Goes Friending. It’s pretty clear Mr. Hoagland doesn’t quite know what to make of the new-fangled means of communication. To his credit, he admits it:

My reaction no doubt resembles that of a blacksmith at the turn of the last century catching his first thrilling, then horrifying, glimpse of a motorcar.

Mr. Hoagland is not alone. The media, many public affairs officers, and governments in general, tend to view “now media” as a distinct world and not another channel of communication. Of course with any new medium of engagement there’s a fear. The first “fast” media of the 20th Century, television, was not allowed to cover the US Senate in favor of the “slower” and more comfortable print journalists for decades.

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Empowering and Engaging the First Three Feet: an upcoming symposium

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

ASIG_Logo

The working title of a symposium I have in development is “Empowering and Engaging the First Three Feet”. The symposium will examine the US Government’s role in assisting and developing foreign media, both here in the United States and locally, notably in post-conflict environments and in repressive regimes. Is the United States doing enough to support the media, both American but primarily (for the purpose of this discussion) foreign, to…

  1. Get the truth out;
  2. Counter accidental misinformation and intentional disinformation; and
  3. Export the American concept of “Fourth Estate” responsibilities abroad?

These are the essential questions of this forthcoming event. Details, such keynote(s) to discussants to sponsors to date, are not set as of yet. 

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Simple Advice for Dealing with the Media

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

Very briefly, take a look at the following wallet card. The images are from the front and back of a card distributed to the Swedish Foreign Ministry by the Foreign Ministry.

mfa_presscard

There are a couple of minor linguistic differences between the Swedish and the English but the major difference between the two sides of the card is the Swedish bullet that’s not replicated: don’t ask sources. Sweden has very strong “whistle blower” protection laws so that a government official even asking about a source is against the law.

All the bullets are sensible and direct and come from a Foreign Ministry that gives media training to nearly the entire organization. Everyone, in their view, is a communicator.

Comments?

Guest Post: NATO and New Media: new landscapes and new challenges

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 2 Comments

Guest Post By Tom Brouns

The media landscape is quietly undergoing a revolution. NATO’s ability to remain relevant in this new media landscape as it evolves will significantly contribute to its success or failure in Afghanistan. Many observers characterize the internet as “underexploited terrain in the war of ideas” being waged – and according to some observers, being lost – over Afghanistan. Focusing only on the technology, however, overlooks a more fundamental change in the media landscape: the power to produce and disseminate information has irreversibly shifted from large organizations and corporations to the public. Technology has empowered the consumer as an increasingly equal partner in the production of information. The vital role of public perception in Afghanistan makes recognizing and adapting to this change critical to success in what is arguably the biggest test of NATO’s relevance in the 21st century.

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Pew: The New Washington Press Corps

~ Matt Armstrong

From Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism: The New Washington Press Corps: As Mainstream Media Decline, Niche and Foreign Outlets Grow (11 February 2009):

Read the headlines and it would be easy to conclude that as the new Obama Administration takes power, facing an array of domestic and international crises, it will be monitored by a substantially depleted Washington press corps.

It isn’t exactly so. 

The corps of journalists covering Washington D.C. at the dawn of the Obama Administration is not so much smaller as it is dramatically transformed. And that transformation will markedly alter what Americans know and not know about the new government, as well as who will know it and who will not.

A careful accounting of the numbers, plus detailed interviews with journalists, lawmakers, press association executives and government officials, reveals that what we once thought of as the mainstream news media serving a general public has indeed shrunk—perhaps far more than many would imagine. A roll call of the numbers may shock.

But as the mainstream media have shrunk, a new sector of niche media has grown in its place, offering more specialized and detailed information than the general media to smaller, elite audiences, often built around narrowly targeted financial, lobbying and political interests. …

… it is clear that editors now believe national reporting is less important to their charge than they once did. A survey conducted by Project for Excellence in Journalism earlier this year found a definite ambivalence to national news among newsroom executives far from the nation’s capital. Less than one in five (18%) of the 259 editors responding to the survey considered national news “very essential” to their news product. By comparison, 97% viewed local news as “very essential.” …

Elites who are plugged into the new fragmented niche media of Washington will know how that government is growing and what it means, and they will be learning it through new media channels. Their fellow citizens who rely on local or network television or their daily newspapers, however, will be harder pressed to learn what their elected representatives are doing.

 

Read the whole article here, it’s definitely worth reading.

H/T MP

Twittering White House Press Briefings

~ Matt Armstrong

E&P is reporting some user-generated content during White House briefings. No, not the standing user, the sitting users:

Gibbsx A lot has changed since the days of Ari, Scotty and Dana — and not just the arrival of Obama and Robert Gibbs.  Chris Cillizza, the ace Wash Post political "Fix" blogger, started twittering or live-tweeting or whatever you call, the daily press briefings today.  Here are a few samples:

–"Stimulative" sounds dirty…it isn’t, but it sounds that way.

— Gibbs…heading into the 40th minute…Fix dreaming of a trip to "Breadline" shortly.

— Helen Thomas goes with the Afghanistan question. Direct!

Could be interesting to follow these…

What about the State Department YouTube channel Sean McCormack started? Well, a slew of videos talking about careers in the State Department were uploaded to it on January 20. Otherwise, no word on Briefing 2.0.

Smith-Mundt Symposium in the Blogosphere +

~ Matt Armstrong

The Smith-Mundt Symposium in the blogosphere and “formal” media.

VOA News Blog by Alex Belida (link)

VOA Director David Jackson, a panelist at the symposium, did make a couple of points we believe are worth repeating here. First of all, he stressed that all those working in the VOA headquarters in Washington are journalists. He said U.S. officials can “no more tell them what to write” than they can tell journalists at the Washington Post (newspaper) what to write.And he suggested that removal of the Smith-Mundt restrictions on VOA could help silence critics who claim the contents of VOA shows must be suspicious if the American people aren’t allowed to see them.

Intermap by Craig Hayden (link) ** REQUIRED READING **

Here are some basic takeaways:

1) The dissemination ban contained in the Smith-Mundt Act was for many an irrelevance.

2) The difference of perspective between what we might call “traditional” PD experts, usually from the ranks of the former USIA (retired or otherwise), and those charged with implementing new policies of public diplomacy.

Reliable Sources by Pat Kushlis (link)

A Rear Admiral on one of the panels admitted that the US military did not have and will not have in the near future anywhere near the number of language qualified troops needed to engage people overseas in their own languages. As a result, Uncle Sam relies on contractors to carry out the function. He later added that what was most important was that the Iraqis and the Afghans see what we do, not just rely on being told what to think.

Talking Smith-Mundt by Pat Kushlis (link)

State has just never “gotten” the importance of the information game – either at home or abroad. It’s not and never will be part of its “core diplomatic functions” so will always receive the short end of the stick. Secrecy and hierarchy are the rules of State’s road – and they’re so ingrained in the bureaucracy and its operation – that they just plain aren’t going to disappear.

Congressman to Propose Some Form of Update for Smith-Mundt Act by Fawzia Sheikh of Inside Defense (subscription only)

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) plans to propose some form of update for the Smith-Mundt Act, a Cold War public diplomacy law, but many experts who spoke at a recent, related conference argued the current statute is not problematic and no more than minor tweaks should be made.

Two Agenda Items for Next Week’s Smith-Mundt Pow Wow by Steve Corman (link)

The SMA impairs domestic oversight.  In response to a “so what” question from Spencer Ackerman, the panelists pointed out that the SMA prevents proper oversight of U.S. strategic communication by those outside the government.  For example if the press has questions about specific overseas communication efforts, the State Department can’t answer them for fear of violating the SMA.

Getting Past Smith-Mundt by Craig Hayden (link)

George Clack related some humorous stories about how his department has to navigate around the prohibition in order to help US students who wish to use its resources to do school work, and offered two interesting observations. First, in response to a question from Patricia Kushlis of Whirled View – he worried that a removal of the dissemination ban might muddle the divisions between messages designed for foreign audiences, and those that already are released to explain policies to the American people. Basically, he argued that the U.S. needs to retain its capacity to tailor its publications and messages to specific audiences, and not have that process be subsumed by the production of domestic, political talking points. Second, he concluded that the future of U.S. diplomacy will be defined by the notion of “dialogue” – and that the Department of State should embrace Web 2.0 technologies such as Twitter and other social networking tools.

Demonstration of “Now Media”

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

Very briefly, we need to stop thinking in terms of “new media” versus “old” or “traditional” media. It is “now media” and it matters very much in the global information environment. Below is required viewing for the Obama Administration’s quick reaction force, which must include blogs like DipNote, America.gov, and WhiteHouse.gov as well as DOD IO, PSYOP, and PA.

This isn’t crisis communication, but crisis awareness through Now Media…

H/T Hill & Knowlton’s Brendon Hodgson.

Also check out screen captures of various sites as the story developed below the fold.

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Kill My TV: where’s the news?

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 7 Comments

Hmmm. Rob at Arabic Source offers a suggestion.

I want to second Abu Muqawama’s Kill_Your_TV post.   American tv coverage of the events in Gaza is beyond bad – its horrible.  CNN.  NBC.  All of them are garbage.   Who gives a crap about Rod Bagloyavic?   Who cares whether Sarah Palin is now a grandmother.  Maybe that’s news if there was nothing whatsoever going on.  But how ’bout this thing called Gaza?   Isn’t  it a national security issue when the American people are getting such poor quality information about events that are critical  to US  security in the Middle East.   Might not the American people have a need to know  about them?

If I was US National Security Adviser or Secretary of State,  here’s what I would do to critically improve US National Security:  The first thing I would do is have the US government fully subsidize a new network,  next to CBS, NBC and ABC, that broadcasts only quality news and documentaries on world affairs and current events.    Nothing but serious programs on all of the important issues that people need to know about.   American Idol, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton would never, ever get a mention on this new TV station.   Anyone who mentioned even one time, any of of these three, would immediately be fired.

People need to know what’s going on.  Dumb voters elect dumb politicians.  And dumb politicians make dumb policies.  So  what’s $50-100 million to run a 4th network featuring only serious world news?

This is spot on with my three reasons why the domestic dissemination prohibition of the transformed Smith-Mundt Act must be repealed. As the media has retreated from reported what goes on overseas out of a combination of budgets and interest, the American public are increasingly subjected to a combination of no information and half-truths from foreign sources without challenge (including the now widely read Russian psychological warrior Panarin – and here, reality check is here).

Introducing a new source of information, based on journalistic standards and public diplomacy standards to tell the truth, inform, and explain would, hopefully, raise the bar and challenge American media who no longer view informing the American public as a public service or a profit center. The purpose of the prohibition on domestic dissemination came not from the fear the Government would unduly influence the public, but that the State Department, full of Communists and Socialists, would undermine the Government. This was held by Congress, the FBI, and academics who questioned State’s loyalty of ability to manage both the information services and the exchange of persons programs.

What was done overseas in America’s name and with America’s money was intended to be shared within our borders by the media, Congress and academia. This created the necessary transparency and accountability of not just the programs but of the Government itself. At the time, holding the media accountable was not the issue. Today, it is as revenue streams shape content and headlines more than the need to now.

After the passing of “Deepthroat”, Mark Felt, someone observed that Watergate would probably not happen again because the major news organizations won’t fund such long investigations. This would have to come from “new” and independent organizations.

This is a good subject for the upcoming Smith-Mundt Symposium.

Noteworthy

~ Matt Armstrong ~ 2 Comments

Highly abbreviated list due to deadlines, holidays, etc.

Listen to VOA on DC AM radio at WFED (AM 1500) Tuesdays and Thursdays. (h/t VOA, unofficially of course)

Al Jazeera reaches out via new media. (h/t KAE)

Still wondering how this upcoming USIP event can be titled Media as Global Diplomat when the only media (domestic or foreign and MTV doesn’t count) is the moderator and there are no non-US observers on the panel.

There’s a new website to watch: Building Peace. I’d subscribe but I can’t find an RSS for it… update: an RSS is now available