“Media as a Global Diplomat” Videos and Recap

With a new administration in office, improving the U.S. image abroad and creating more opportunities for Americans to connect with people around the world through new technologies have taken on greater urgency in American foreign policy. President Barack Obama’s debut TV interview was with the Arab TV network Al-Arabiya. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has designated public diplomacy as a pillar of a new foreign policy.

To explore this critical and evolving topic, on February 3, 2009 the Independent Television Service (ITVS) International and the U.S. Institute of Peace co-sponsored a pioneering multimedia event, “Media as a Global Diplomat.” A constellation of luminaries in the field, capped by distinguished veteran journalist and moderator Ted Koppel, participated. To reach a global audience virtual beyond the physical meeting space at Washington, D.C.’s Newseum, a host of Internet-based innovations were used.

ITVS President and CEO Sally Fifer, along with USIP leadership, kicked off the day framing the issue of media’s potential as a key role in helping shape America’s image abroad.

The first panel, “Public Diplomacy 2.0: Rethinking Official Media” addressed shifting definitions of public diplomacy and explored how media can best serve American policy. Panelists agreed that policies and actions are the best determinants of attitudes toward the U.S. worldwide and that the U.S. must actively promote its core values of democracy, rule of law and tolerance. However, not surprisingly, opinions from representatives from the USG, Google, Al Jazeera, UN Foundation and others differed on the most effective mediums to transmit such messages.

The second panel, “The Global Media Marketplace,” centered on the challenges of mass media ownership and profitability in the Internet era. Participants from Abu Dhabi Media, National Geographic, MTV, the Hewlett Foundation, The New York Times and others discussed the viability of traditional media outlets such as television, the atomization of media outlets through the web and the need to bring global stories to a U.S. audience as part of the public diplomacy effort.

The ITVS International-funded, Golden Globe award-winning and Oscar-nominated film WALTZ WITH BASHIR was a highlight of the event. The animated documentary focuses on the reflections of Israeli veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. I led the post-film discussion, which focused on the importance of independent documentaries as authentic and credible forms of communication, and on the role of artists as cultural ambassadors. Much of the discussion centered also on the need for this communication to be two-way, and the power of the ITVS Global Perspective Project to connect audiences and media professionals around the world.

The event was heavily interactive and was streamed live around the world. Citizen journalists from all over the globe sent in questions for the panelists and used live blogging and “tweets” (using Twitter, a method of transmitting short text messages to numerous recipients via the Web or mobile simultaneously).

ITVS was proud to be a part of this exciting day and to support the role of independent filmmakers as thought leaders and artists.

- Tamara Gould
ITVS Vice President of Distribution

Check out the videos from the event below:

ITVS President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer gives opening remarks.

“Public Diplomacy 2.0: Rethinking Official Media” addressed shifting definitions of public diplomacy and explored how media can best serve American policy.

Want to see all the videos? › Continue reading

Tags: digital, film resources, Ted Koppel

Blogging From Washington With Lois Vossen

Panelists from “The Global Media Marketplace” session.

Ted Koppel welcomed back the attendees for the second panel, titled “The Global Media Marketplace” by giving a brief history of the television news business. Koppel explained that when CBS launched 60 Minutes in 1968, it surprised everyone by making money. Suddenly, the network said “maybe news can be a revenue generator” and it went from being a bonus to being an expectation. The economic model has driven network news into a consistent mode of cost-cutting and having the primary goal as reaching younger audiences to maximize and monetize advertising dollars. Network evening news is somewhat of an exception to this rule, but it too has moved quickly to an advertising-based model.

The Global Media Marketplace panel includes Smita Singh, director of Global Development Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Edward Borgerding, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Media Company; Carol Giacomo, editorial board member of The New York Times; Mika Salmi, president of global digital media of MTV Networks; and Sydney Suissa, executive vice president of content at National Geographic Channels International. The first topic raised by Sydney Suissa was funding. According to him, the U.S. public television system is dramatically underfunded (especially compared to all other Western countries). As a result, the United States is not getting the amount of foreign news that it wants or needs in a democracy. Koppel asked Giacomo to predict what will become of The New York Times in the next ten years given the financial struggles it also faces. Giacomo said the owners remain committed to the longevity of the newspaper and to first-class domestic and international news coverage. Edward Borgerding of the Abu Dhabi Media Company then explained it is impossible to separate the business side of media from the content side. The business models are changing in fundamental ways because people can get access to content in other ways without paying for it (i.e. in the music industry where fans can get it online for less and therefore the revenue pie for the music industry has shrunk). The revenue graph for global media is a melting ice cube, Borgerding explained. The media industry is going through a fundamental shift in its business model and therefore how content is funded and created. “We’re trading analog dollars for Internet dimes,” he said.

Smita Singh of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation spoke about being the odd one out on the panel since she does not come from commercial media. Following 9/11, many Americans were asking “How come the world hates us so much?” and the Hewlett Foundation board of directors asked the question, “Why do Americans know so little about the rest of the world that they have to ask this question?” Through that question, the Hewlett Foundation began to understand how they could become a catalyst in the media landscape and support international filmmakers in the U.S. media marketplace. The goal of their funding of ITVS International is to stimulate an appetite for international stories across the entire scope of the U.S.

The panel discussion wrapped up with a final question about the future of news and its financial sustainability. Former Ambassador James Collins summed up that in the marketplace, “News is a loser.” It doesn’t make money. It can’t sustain itself financially in the business model that is now pervasive in the media world. Sydney Suissa of National Geographic feels that the solution is a strong, well-funded public broadcasting system. Mika Salmi of MTV joked that the government could buy Facebook. While the idea is meant as a joke, Salmi believes that the U.S. government must support expansive media. Carol Giacomo of The New York Times thinks that if we believe news sources like The New York Times are vital to a healthy democracy, then we must find a way to fund and support them, perhaps even with public funding. Ed Borgerding of the Abu Dhabi Media Company reminded us that there will always be news and what we need to focus on is how to keep it from being commercially corrupted. Smita Singh of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation made a call for more public funding of media that will advance public diplomacy, but also stipulated she’s not advocating that government create media but rather they need to be arms length away from the content creation. Koppel closed the panel by pointing out the popularity of NPR’s two morning news shows that have an audience of 14 million, and that alone proves there is an appetite for substantive news.

-Lois Vossen, vice president and Independent Lens series producer

Tags: international, public policy, Ted Koppel

Morning Report from Washington, DC With ITVS Blogger Lois Vossen

ITVS President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer gives introductions.

Moderator Ted Koppel

It is snowing here in Washington, DC and we’re tucked inside the Freedom Forum at the Newseum for the one-day “Media as Global Diplomat” conference, moderated by Ted Koppel. About 250 people are gathered at the forum to ask key public and private sector leaders how the United States can best use media to reinvigorate its public diplomacy strategy and international influence in order to strengthen efforts to build a more peaceful world. In an age of disruptive and constantly changing period of media, comes an opportunity.

The morning session began with introductions by Ambassador Richard Solomon and Sally Jo Fifer, president of ITVS. Moderator Ted Koppel welcomed the first panel with the very hip name “Public Diplomacy 2.0: Rethinking Official Media.” The panelists include Kathy Bushkin Calvin, executive vice president and COO of the United Nations Foundation; Ambassador Edward Djerejian, founding director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy; Abderrahim Foukara, Washington, DC bureau chief of Al Jazeera International; Ambassador James Glassman, former Under Secretary of State Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. State Department; Andrew McLaughlin, director of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs for Google; and James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute.

Koppel opened the discussion by challenging the concept of “public” diplomacy and whether or not it is possible for the public to have a positive effect on diplomacy. As the panel continued, the term was defined and redefined by different panelists. The expansive topic led to a vast array of topics. Andrew McLaughlin spoke about the dramatic changes in the media landscape and specifically how any American with a computer and Internet hook-up can speak to anyone else in the world. Twenty years ago, the opportunity for an “average” citizen to do this was non-existent. Now, almost every American citizen is possibly a citizen ambassador. Abderrahim Foukara spoke about the history of the BBC (established originally as a propaganda outlet against Nazi Germans). Despite that birthright, people quickly embraced the BBC and continue to trust what they hear on it.

McLaughlin challenged the panel to refocus on the real issue with the statement: “Debating whether television should be state funded or privately funded is like arguing if the Titanic should have been government funded or privately funded.” Koppel countered, “It ain’t the media, it’s the message” and then talked about the commandments on tablets with a final thought, “Great message. Lousy medium.”

Koppel then introduced Oscar Morales Guevara from Colombia via Skype. Guevara recapped how a Facebook posting led to more than 5 million people marching to protest the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In addition to the massive support the viral campaign generated inside Colombia, the campaign grew internationally as Colombians around the world joined the cause. Koppel asked the panel to consider if this event was the greatest example of public diplomacy, and if and how it should be replicated? Ambassador Glassman responded by citing examples of continued work in this area including a YouTube campaign.

Foukara both supported and challenged earlier comments by McLaughlin by saying it is increasingly true that it’s not, “what’s on television” but “what’s online” and if the Internet had existed long ago, King Lear would have said “My Kingdom, my Kingdom for a lap top” rather than a horse. However, illiteracy is still a very large problem in many developing, third world countries and that fact cannot be ignored in terms of how powerful the Internet is right now. In short, television is still the primary media outlet for most developing countries.

In addition to bringing in the voice and experiences of Oscar Morales Guevara live from Colombia, Koppel is taking questions from bloggers around the world–the latest being from Bahrain.

Be sure to watch the live feed above continuing throughout today!

-Lois Vossen, vice president and Independent Lens series producer

Tags: digital, public policy, Ted Koppel