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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 6 - 2007
Edelman: U.S. Should Focus Less on Politics, Talk More To Bloggers, to Improve Global Image from PDW 
Edelman: U.S. Should Focus Less on Politics, Talk More To Bloggers, to Improve Global Image If America wants to improve its image overseas then it would be wise to downplay its politics and act like it's listening, public relations professionals said Wednesay at a "summit" in Washington overseen by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Fox News reports from the day-long meeting, which PDW first mentioned here a few days ago, at which prominent public relations leaders were asked to advise the govermnent on effective strategies for the United States to improve its image around the world. Also at the Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy, 150 top public relations professionals and State Department leaders "identified 11 action steps for greater private sector involvement and support for U.S. public diplomacy," the State Department said in a news release. The text of the press release is included at the end of this article. Richard Edelman, president and CEO of PR giant Edelman in New York City, has put his firm to work for the governments of several countries - including Israel. The first thing that needs to be done to bolster a nation's image is to "take it out of politics," he said. "Take it away from the part of the media that covers politics," Edelman recommended. "Kick it off the front page and move it to the business page or other parts of the newspaper. There will be good days and bad days in politics. This other stuff can be an everyday good news bureau." In the case of Israel, the focus on its role in the longstanding Israeli/Palestinian conflict was replaced by efforts to highlight its advances in technology, according to Edelman. The goal of the summit, which featured Rice and Bush administration international public relations chief Karen Hughes and was co-sponsored by the private-sector Public Relations Coalition, was "to identify clear action steps the private sector can take to support U.S. public diplomacy." Edelman suggested that another good move would be to change how the country communicates with foreign audiences. He suggested that the U.S. should try to become a part of the conversation and be able to make fun of itself rather than taking itself too seriously. "We should try to communicate not only top down but also peer to peer," he said. "Why not actually talk to bloggers - Chinese, Indian, German bloggers - and not have everything be the command-and-control environment?" That's an extremely intelligent idea - talk directly to people in other countries, via the blogosphere, rather than try to reach them through their national media. In related news, at the PR conference, Rice announced the creation of a new annual award to honor a company, academic institution or other nongovernmental entity that does the most to promote the U.S. image abroad through intercultural understanding. The Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy is designed to prod corporations and other nongovernmental groups to play a bigger role in public diplomacy at a time when the image of the U.S. government has been battered by a backlash, especially in the Arab world, from the invasion of Iraq. The Washington Post reports here from the conference. Here are Secretary Rice's complete remarks at the conference. The Summit was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen P. Hughes, Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Dina H. Powell and the Public Relations Coalition. The Public Relations Coalition, chaired by James E. Murphy, represents U. S. based professional organizations with over 50,000 members engaged in public relations, public affairs and related fields. According to the State Department, the summit included a presentation of private sector best practices followed by intense group discussions during which participants "identified actions that would have the greatest impact on private sector public diplomacy efforts." These include: Developing business practices making public diplomacy a core element of international corporate public action: Name a corporate officer responsible for public diplomacy; Incorporate U.S. business practices consistent with U.S. values of respect for the individual, opportunities and entrepreneurship. Promoting understanding of American society, culture and values: become part of the local community through employee volunteerism, strategic philanthropy, and greater engagement with responsible NGOs; create "circles" of influence through relationships with organizations, chambers of commerce, journalists, and local business leaders; create local opportunities to win internship opportunities in the U.S.; provide English-language training and overseas studies for disadvantaged students. Building relationships of trust and respect: support the creation of a corps of private sector "foreign service officers" made up of academics and business people with specialized expertise who could work abroad on short term assignments; provide incentives for non-U.S. workforce to visit U.S. and for U.S. work force to travel overseas; sponsor international short-term assignments for U.S. employees; have private sector public diplomacy summits in key geographies; provide financial support for some State Department educational and cultural exchanges. The key recommended actions will be published as part of a Public Relations Coalition report on the Summit. It will include other actions that the private sector can adopt in its continuing effort to improve public diplomacy. I look forward to reading that report. - By John Q Tourist |
EXHIBITS tn.doc  |