Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The U.S. State Department has launched Hi, a glossy, Arabic-language magazine intended to "build bridges of communication" between Arabs and the United States. Described by its editors as a non-political, lifestyle magazine, "Hi" features happy talk about topics such as sand-surfing, Internet dating, rock climbing and yoga.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair privately admitted before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction that could be used within 45 minutes, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has claimed," CNN International reports. Cook resigned his government post in protest of British involvement in Iraq. The Sunday Times of London published excerpts of Cook's new book, "Point of Departure," based on his diaries kept during the run-up to war.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The United States must drastically increase and overhaul its public relations efforts to salvage its plummeting image among Muslims and Arabs abroad, says a panel chosen by the Bush administration. "Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels," states a new report by the United States Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World. The report recommends a new White House office for foreign propaganda.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"The British intelligence chief responsible for a pre-war dossier on Iraq's weapons dropped a key sentence from it days before publication after prompting from Downing Street," Reuters reports. "The offending sentence stated that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was prepared to use chemical and biological weapons 'if he believes his regime is under threat.'"
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Saudi Arabia is denying a published report that it is interested in developing a nuclear weapon, according to a statement released by its PR firm, Qorvis Communications," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. The UK's Guardian, citing unidentified sources, reported that top officials in Riyadh are considering acquiring nuclear capabilities as
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Michels Warren, a PR firm in Adelaide, Australia, is collecting up to $107,000 from the Federal Government to sell the merits of a planned radioactive waste dump in South Australia.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"After a failed advertising campaign in the Middle East and then the war in Iraq, which most people in the region opposed, the Bush administration is struggling to find a better way to communicate," reports Sonni Efron. "Plans call for new messages as well as new messengers - including launching an Arabic-language satellite television station to compete with Qatar-based Al Jazeera. The administration's critics argue that the United States can do little to improve its image without major changes in unpopular policies, especially its close alliance with Israel.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Salam Pax," the already-legendary writer of a Baghdad-based weblog, tells how his site began as "an internet joke with a friend in Jordan" and grew to become the most famous web diary in the world.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"US popularity has plummeted in the Arab and Muslim world despite a nearly two-year-old State Department campaign to boost the US image, according to a Congress report," the Australian Financial Review reports.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Gosh, I thought this was just some lunatic conspiracy theory," comments Tom Tomorrow, the world's best cartoonist.
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