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Turkey has vastly increased the scale of its investment in public diplomacy tools. Although Turkey is considered one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, its media market is one of the fastest-growing in the world. In 2015, the Istanbul-based English-language TRT World was launched with the slogan ‘where news inspires change’, The channel promised to provide impartial coverage of global news, with its experienced journalists addressing global audiences. In this study, we investigate the interplay between public diplomacy and editorial policies at TRT World. After conducting in-depth interviews with TRT World journalists, we argue that the channel has shifted its style from being Turkey’s public diplomacy tool into becoming the AKP’s voice to the world. By examining TRT World, this study provides a framework to understand how international broadcasters operate in countries where media freedom is restricted.

This article focuses on international news channels in the Global South and the perceptions by audiences in Latin America. Designed with the intention of re-shaping global narratives, international broadcasting is considered instrumental to public diplomacy and improving the image of particular countries. While many studies focus on global media policies of specific countries or the messages broadcast by international media outlets, less attention has been paid to the impact on audiences. Based on a series of focus groups conducted in Mexico and Argentina, this article discusses how Latin American audiences perceive public diplomacy efforts as channelled by international news media and their effect on country image perception, by focusing on China’s CCTV-E, Russia’s RT and Iran’s HispanTV. The findings show that preconceived images contribute to undermine the acceptance of international broadcasters. In addition, participants were optimistic about RT’s prospects of success in Latin America, hesitant about HispanTV and pessimistic about China Central Television.

This article contributes to international broadcasting history through a case study of a local, independent television station in the Pacific Northwest. KVOS-TV was one of a few stations on the U.S./Canadian border that sought out a cross-border audience, but it is unique in its efforts to produce programming to bridge these audiences into a unified viewing public that it termed the Peace Arch Country. The station’s international programming constituted its viewing public as translocal citizens in ways that supported the broader global ambitions of the Pacific Northwest region, as well as responded to and promoted the global ambitions of western liberal democracy and capitalism in the fight against Communism. KVOS-TV’s constitution of Peace Arch citizenship shows how television was a tool for creating translocal citizens, educating and governing them from a distance.

This article examines the relationship between European (international) broadcasting and Islamist terrorism in Africa and positions media portrayal of Boko Haram within the larger picture of Europe’s relations with Africa. Two international broadcasters provide the basis for the analysis: France 24 and Deutsche Welle. The article compares and contrasts their discourse on terrorism to advance several arguments: 1) that through their respective portrayal of Boko Haram and Nigeria both France 24 and Deutsche Welle’s reporting is in line with their respective countries’ foreign policies towards Africa, 2) that discourse on both F24 and DW perpetuates the unequal relationship between African countries and Western powers, 3) that portraying terrorism in terms of ‘clash of civilisations’, as in the case of France 24, may unintentionally contribute to the strengthening of the extremist cause. This is due to the transformation of violent extremism into ‘new wars’. The concept, elaborated in the article, differently explains the logic of extremist behaviour and its relationship with media.

Poland, as all the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, was a target of Western international broadcasting before 1989. After the Velvet Revolution, the former receiver became communicator. Poland undertook efforts to promote democracy in Belarus, while reaching the audience in the country via a television station, basing these efforts on its own experiences from the communist times. Belarus, Poland’s eastern authoritarian neighbour, limits citizens’ access to information while controlling the state television and persecuting oppositional media and journalists. Thus, Belsat TV, financed by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Polish public service television, has been run as a station substituting for the domestic, Belarusian sources of information. The article sheds light on the motivation of the Polish government to launch alternative media for Belarus as well as on the political and media landscape in which these media operate. In the study, international broadcasting is understood as one of the components of Polish public diplomacy, used as a leverage to strengthen the position of the country as an actor in international communication.

‘Soft power’ has been a concept that has generated great political and scholarly interest in China, as it raises the question of how to achieve cultural standing commensurate with the nation’s growing economic significance. But from the perspectives of communication and cultural studies, we can identify limits with both ‘soft power’ as a concept and how it understands culture and communication, and the assumptions made about the capacities of state cultural promotion through media to appeal to global audiences. Drawing upon case studies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Japan and South Korea, this article identified challenges and opportunities for China in growing its international cultural soft power in a ‘post-globalisation’ era.

China and Russia have devoted significant resources to developing their international broadcasting capacity as an instrument of public diplomacy. Focusing on CCTV-N (China) and RT (Russia), this article discusses the strategies each has developed to communicate with international audiences and further the foreign policy ambitions of policy makers in Beijing and Moscow. It highlights the differences between the two stations – namely CCTV-N's ambition to rectify perceived distortions in the global flow of news about China, and RT's focus on reporting events in the US. Hence the case studies expose the fine line between propaganda and public diplomacy.

The use of international broadcasting, a tool of public diplomacy since World War I, can be divided into two chronological periods. The first, which began during World War I and declined in the post–Cold War era, was characterized by international government-sponsored radio broadcasters. The second began with the emergence of privately owned global news networks (e.g., CNN, Sky News, and MSNBC) in the 1980s and 1990s, which were deemed more credible than government-sponsored stations. Based on an 8-year study of Al-Jazeera’s coverage of Saudi affairs throughout the Qatari–Saudi conflict, which revealed a strong correlation between Al-Jazeera Arabic’s tone toward Saudi affairs and the development of the Qatari–Saudi conflict, the article argues that Qatar invented a new model of public diplomacy by operating Al-Jazeera as a hybrid state-sponsored/private network, effectively transforming the network into a highly potent public diplomacy tool. Accordingly, the article discusses the interplay among news networks, ownership, and use of public diplomacy tactics in contemporary international broadcasting.

This article offers an inquiry into the discursive construction of ‘terrorism’ by France 24, the French international broadcaster, in the aftermath of the attacks on Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in January 2015. The article argues that the broadcaster seems to employ a relatively narrow definition of terrorism linking it to Islam and Muslims. France 24 portrays the attacks as an external phenomenon coming to France from outside. The blame is assigned to non-French factors, mainly to foreign extremist organisations, Islamist ideologues and overseas training. No reasons for violence are sought inside the country. Internal developments, such as discrimination, youth marginalisation, lack of educational and work opportunities, relations between law enforcement and the Muslim community that could potentially contribute to the acts, are not explored by the broadcaster’s investigative journalism. This narrow interpretation of ‘terrorism’ that assigns responsibility to Muslims, Islamic indoctrination and overseas training may further alienate Muslim communities in France’s already divided society. It points to narrow policy responses that focus mainly on stricter monitoring of Muslim minorities, on limiting combat and cross-border movement. This type of discourse excludes long-term policy solutions that address broader socio-politico-economic conditions in which ‘terrorism’ might flourish.

As part of an overall strategy to influence public opinion in the Muslim world, the US government implemented two new international broadcasting tools — Radio Sawa and Alhurra (a satellite television network). In the face of declining support of US government policies in the Muslim world, this study examines the credibility and effectiveness of Radio Sawa in an attempt to understand its effectiveness as a communication tool. The study explores differences in credibility and other dimensions among the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population; surveying both those who use this new medium and those who do not. Results of the study reveal the effectiveness of the US government in reaching its objectives in the region.

This study examines Voice of America’s (VOA) services in the post-Cold War era within the framework of the information revolution and globalization. The use of new information venues has caused VOA to evolve from a pure propaganda machine to a notion of informational soft power. However, this study finds that not only is there a gap between VOA’s target audiences and its actual website visitors but its website attracts more American and western users than users in the societies it intends to influence the most. The role of informational soft power in articulating appealing ideas, values, norms and ethics through all manners of media and new information and communication technology to create the perception that US hegemony is benign poses challenges for the US’s information strategy.

National image is not only a channel to wield a state’s national power, but also an important national power resource. It has become critically important for China as it tries to rise in a relatively favorable international environment. Following a theoretical discussion on national image management in international relations and a historical review of China’s national image management, this article examines China’s strengths and weaknesses in its national image management. On the one hand, China’s national image benefits from its strong commitment to cultural diplomacy, effective employment of information and communication technologies in international broadcasting, and close connections with the Chinese diaspora around the world. On the other hand, China’s national image management is constrained by such hurdles as weak political credibility, reviving popular nationalism, and various missteps in its foreign policies. This study concludes that China’s national image management will remain an uphill battle in the long run.

The transformation of television has altered the capacity of the state to control the agenda for making war, convening peace, and otherwise exercising its foreign policy options. In the age of the state gatekeeper, there was at least the illusion (and often the reality) that the government could substantially control the flow of images within its borders. With transformations in television systems, national systems of broadcast regulation have declined, replaced by transnational flows of information where local gatekeepers are not so salient. The rise of satellites with regional footprints and the spread of the Internet give governments the ability to reach over the heads of the state and speak directly to populations. Both receiving and sending states will have foreign policies about the meaning of the right to receive and impart information and the extent to which satellite signals can be regulated or channeled.

International broadcasters, like all media institutions, adjust to reflect the existence of new distribution technologies. Technological change is part of a new media landscape that has rendered older definitions and contexts of international broadcasting insufficient. The pace and extent of adjustment differs among the players. Adaptations range from the superficial to the highly integrative and, on the other hand, from the merely adaptive to the pervasively transformative. Can one compare, among institutions, how this process takes place and what factors influence the patterns of accommodation? Theories of organizational structure shed light on which factors lead international broadcasters to which path. This article considers U.S. international broadcasting as a model to tease out some of these factors, among them organizational complexity, political influence, and control and contradictions embedded in institutional purpose. In this scenario, technological adaptation can mask a critical need to address institutional transformation.

/ For many years, international radio broadcasting has been used by nations around the world as a foreign policy tool. As the world political system changed following the end of the Cold War, so the importance of international radio broadcasting to some nations has changed. Although there has been some scholarly work devoted to international radio broadcasting, such work has focused mainly on the station and has neglected the system in which the station operates. This article uses systems theory and organizational communication principles to develop a framework for analyzing how and why nations are using international radio broadcasting.

This article analyses German public diplomacy efforts via international broadcasting to the Arab world post-9/11. After defining the field’s major relevant concepts and models and pointing out the conceptual convergence of public relations and public diplomacy, the article presents a critical analysis of the requirements of dialogue drawing on Habermas’s (1984) Theory of Communicative Action. For the time being, the question whether Germany’s broadcast public diplomacy in the Arab world is based on ‘dialogue’, as has been posited by the main protagonists, needs to be answered cautiously. What is visible is a determination of Deutsche Welle to at least present a quest for dialogue as a projection of the country’s national values, policies, self-image and underlying myth. The invocation of ‘dialogue’ via DW may reflect a reassertion of the very self-image Germany feels most comfortable with: that of the Open-minded Society of Consensus as the country’s grand narrative.

This paper is designed to examine the changing paradigm of regulating and institutionalizing broadcasting in recent years. The first section of this paper defines broadcasting regulations in general and the reasons applied to these restrictions, as well as the methods used to carry them out. The second part esamines the rapid change in the methods pointed out in the first section, and also discusses its reasons and trends. the third section takes these basic understandings and applies them to the case of Korea, for further examination. This paper concludes that international broadcasting thends are headed towards the era of open competition at full speed; whether policy makers like it or not. Adapting to intermational trends is no longer enough. It is imperative for receivers, broadcasters and policymakers etc. to fully understand the fundamental aspects and characteristics of broadcasting regulation in order to supplement the weaknesses that these trends possess.

The ABC, desperate to meet the government's direction to slash its budget by $55 million next financial year, has seized on the recommendations in the 'Mansfield report that it stop international sound broadcasting and sell off its international television service. The ABC hopes to pocket Radio Australia's budget of more than $20 million, and Australia Television's budget of more than $6 million. But the recommendations have brought a storm of protest from many quarters, and a Senate committee is inquiring into the role and future of RA and ATV. Some in Australia have suggested that shortwave broadcasting is passe. But the BBC World Service, the Voice of America and Radio France Internationale are spending millions on new shortwave services, and Radio China International has bought new shortwave transmitters to strengthen its output.

This study examines U.S. international broadcasting efforts through the Office of War Information and Voice of America to provide a philosophy and foundation for the use of Alhurra Television. This station was launched during the Iraq war to reach audiences and influence public policy in the Middle East. This study found high percentages of Alhurra viewing classification using the discriminant function, suggesting that the combination of key cultural indicator variables is a sound predictor of viewing this news source. Thus, this study validates the premise of U.S. policy as it confirms the challenges faced by international broadcasting 70 years ago and today—the role key cultural indicators play when these viewers decide to turn to or away from Alhurra for news and other information. Demographic, media usage, and attitudinal variables were used to test a model developed to understand cultural differences for prediction of Alhurra viewing or nonviewing.

More than eighty governments support international broadcasting services. There are also commercial, religious and other kinds of station. Both the number of stations and their hours of output have greatly increased since the war, and expansion continues today. The development of the transistor led to rapid growth in radio set ownership in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the Third World. New listeners were attracted to international broadcasts in large numbers, particularly where local choice was poor. Audience research shows the comparative size and nature of audiences for the major international broadcasts in four continents. In some countries audiences for the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Radio France and others are large enough to rival domestic stations. BBC listeners mostly give news and current affairs as their principal reason for listening. Most international broadcasters, however, reach few listeners. This article considers the significance of international radio broadcasting and what we know of its audiences.

The past twenty-five years have witnessed the development and spectacular growth of international broad casting, for a number of reasons: international political conflicts, the national pride of having such a capability, and the development and widespread use of the transistor radio. The character of the audience has changed during these years, and has, in turn, influenced the broadcasters. Where once the listener was willing to tune into a specific program at a given time, he is now more mobile, has more leisure, and has numerous channels of communications competing for his time; therefore, he is unable or unwilling to listen at a certain time. In an attempt to keep pace with the contemporary listener, the Voice of America (VOA), like several other broadcasters, is changing some of its concepts about broadcasting. In place of specific programs, it is initiating what might be called a "service," a blending of program elements built around certain basic landmarks such as news. An international broadcaster today, in order to retain and expand his audience, in the face of competition from other international broadcasters and domestic media, must establish an identity representing his society which the audience can recognize—and he must tell the truth about that society.

What has happened to shortwave radio, a weapon widely used in the major capitals of the world during the war, is described here by Mr. Gerber, who served as wartime director of the shortwave listening station for CBS.

These facts emphasize in a graphic way that radio broadcasting has become as wide as the world it coversas wide as the physical world, whose boundaries the concert mentioned above explored in fairly thorough fashion, and as wide as the world of thought, whose boundaries are inexplorable. It is the world of thought in which we are perhaps more interested today than in the physical world, or, to put it in an apposite way, we are interested most in the opportunities which the physical world gives us to enter through radio broadcasting into the world of thought. That is the function of international broadcasting. It is the gift that science and invention have given to the promotion of international amity. It has been bestowed upon us while most of us have been unconscious that any attempt was being made in that direction-while we have rested oblivious in

The amount of international broadcasting car ried on by government, public/private, religious, commercial, and clandestine stations has been growing steadily since the war and has now reached 16,000 hours per week. There is little prospect, during this decade and the next, for direct television or radio broadcasting via satellite, but current and planned con struction of short- and medium-wave transmitters for use in the game of international broadcasting indicates that the stakes are going up and all the players hope to win. Whereas domestic television may be cutting down on nighttime listening in the urban areas of Europe and the Americas, the population explo sion and rapid rise in the production of transistor radios promise an even larger audience and greater influence for international radio in the foreseeable future.

To what extent can peoples speak to peoples? Problems of international broadcasting are surveyed and realistic programming is suggested, based on reaching specific audience targets.

in Canada knows that broadcasting has become a part of daily life, but few think of it as more than a cheap means of being amused or of hearing the main outlines of what is going on. It supplements the newspapers, the magazines, the cinemas, and the theatres. It is convenient, because it can be switched on and off in the home. Reception is usually easy, and most people are quite content to ring the changes on three or four stations all of which are probably situated within a radius of a hundred miles from the listener's home, either in Canada or just over the border in the United States. Some enthusiastic knob-twiddlers may go further afield, and may even search the shortwave bands, but few among them listen consistently to any of the far-away stations they pick up. It follows that the great volume of highly purposeful broadcasting directed across frontiers is quite unheeded, and the majority of people are ignorant of what is being said, some of it on their behalf, on the international air. The picture is quite different in Europe. The existence of international broadcasting, and its significance, are only too well known in countries which either during the war or since have been under foreign domination or subject to totalitarian regimes. The foreign broadcast can make for people in those countries the difference between mental life and death. In