Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to look into newly arising public relations and public diplomacy campaigns launched and funded by international governments. In particular, this paper focuses on the campaign set in the Middle East by the United States, which utilizes Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV, a radio and satellite channel used to hopefully improve the image of the United States that people in the Middle East have. The biggest idea surrounding these two vehicles of communication, is whether or not they are effective. It has been shown that due to lack of trust on the part of the Arab viewers and listeners, an Americanized packaging and vocabulary, and lack of what exactly the audience wants, that both Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV have not enjoyed the wide success that the US was hoping for. The research goes into the specifics presented by William Rugh, previous Ambassador to Yemen and the United Arab Emirate, and his direct observations as to why these projects arent thriving. Keywords: Public relations, public diplomacy, Radio Sawa, and Alhurra TV.

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy Public relations is defined as the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution( public relations) by the Merriam Webster Dictionary. It is important to know what exactly the term public relations means, as well as the term public diplomacy which is defined by dictionary.com as any of the ways in which a country or organization such as the United Nations communicates with citizens in other societies, as opposed to diplomacy carried out between national governments (public

relations). Again, it is very important to know the definition of these two terms, and they constantly appear when one researches and discusses the United States public relations/diplomacy campaign in the Middle East. It is also very important to know what exactly public relations and public diplomacy is, and how it applies to the Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV, the two main programs that are currently in place in the Middle East. It is interesting to see the reactions and feedback to these stations, particularly because there seems to be a common theme, a common idea; that they arent effective, they arent trusted by the Arab people, and that they dont really make sense when it comes down to it. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent war in Afghanistan and Iraq, relations between the United States and most of the Middle East ran very high. Not only just between government officials and heads of state, but the citizens of various countries. Hate and stereotypes were quick to pop up and come into play, bringing about the realization that the United States was running into a large problem with their public image in these countries were conflict was on the rise. So they found themselves in a public relations and public diplomacy crisis.

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy

The image of the United States, United States government, and United States citizens had to be promoted and adjusted, and quickly. Thus came the creation of Radio Sawa (meaning together in Arabic). Radio Sawa was launched in an effort to start rebuilding the American image on March 23, 2002. Radio Sawa is an Arabic-language FM radio station, which plays constantly- reaching people 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Broadcasting Board of Governors states that Radio Sawa broadcasts an upbeat mix of Western and Arabic pop music along with up-to-the-minute news, news analysis, interviews, opinion pieces, sports, and features on a wide variety of political and social issues ( radio sawa ). The widest known aspects of Radio Sawa are the hourly news updates, and the blend of Western and Arabic music. Every hour a new block of music begins, a medley of different artists that appeal to the youth in the Middle East, followed by a ten minute news broadcast. Radio Sawa is known for the music played on the station, more so than the news broadcasts. The United States government also decided to push a positive American influence and image through the satellite channel Alhurra. Alhurra (meaning The Free One in Arabic) is a commercial-free Arabic-language satellite television channel for the Middle East devoted primarily to news and information (Alhurra TV). The satellite channel is broadcasted to 22 countries in the Middle East, in order to effectively provide another news outlet to the Middle East. It is comparable to Al Jazeera in the idea that the station is free of bias, free of opinion, that it is only the news.

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy The biggest goal of these two broadcast outlets was to help promote the image of the United States. Al Jazeera was the outlet through which Bin Laden

released all of his tapes. It has also been said that there was a media war occurring in the Middle East, not just a physical war. Norman Pattiz, who was the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors Middle East Committee, was quoted as saying The weapons of that war include disinformation, incitement to violence, hate radio, government censorship and journalistic self-censorship ( Gedda, G. ). Since the United States was already fighting a war on the battleground, it only made sense to fight the war on the public image as well. Radio Sawa was launched quickly, six months after the first bombs hit Afghanistan. The United States actively went after the war on public relations and public diplomacy, quickly and aggressively expanding Radio Sawa to make it more and more available and better known. While Radio Sawa was expanding, the talks of launching a satellite station were taking place in Congress, along with the debate as what exactly should be covered during the news casts featured on Radio Sawa. Radio Sawas original newscasts ranged somewhere from three to ten minutes, depending on the time of day. The whole idea was to balance what was covered through the newscasts, however Congress was heated about the idea of covering Islamic militants and their supporters ( Gedda, G. ). However, in the interest of covering all headlines and all goings on in the Middle East, opinions had to be thrown aside in order to keep from looking like a propaganda mouthpiece of the United States. Radio Sawa hasnt been the only broadcasting medium to run into problems. Alhurra TV has been faced with a consistent problem of whether

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy something is to graphic to air. This all began when a U.S. military helicopter swooped into Baghdad and began spraying bullets into a crowd near a disabled Army armored vehicle (McCarthy., Ellen. (2004). ). Both Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera aired this footage and the follow up scene of a victim of the shooting, Mazin Tumaisi, who plead for help as he lay dying. The editors for Alhurra viewed the footage and deemed it to graphic to show, resulting in an uproar from other Arab channels, instantly saying that Alhurra TV is a propaganda mouthpiece. Hafez alMirazi, a Washington bureau chief of Al Jazeera stated that It is very questionable for them not to show it (McCarthy., Ellen. (2004). ). Of course because it did involve a U.S. military helicopter, it is very suspicious, although the editors did decide that there was a line to be drawn when it came to the graphic nature of the incident. The controversy that continued to follow what was and was not aired on Alhurra TV ranged in everything from not broadcasting information about the assassination of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, to the idea that Alhurra has stigmatized the Arabic competition. The constant idea that there was a public relations war of sorts going on, lead to the idea that the Arab people were getting their misconceptions about The United States, the States leaders and people, from Arab news outlets. William Rugh, the former ambassador to Yemen and the United Arab Emirate, has spoken out, stating that this isnt true, and that the constant accusations and stigmatization of Arab news outlets has resulted in the suspicion following Radio Sawa and Alhurra TVs news. Tight government control over what is broadcasted and how it is broadcasted is a norm in the Middle East. Most news outlets are controlled and

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy owned by the governments or the ruling families, thus the entirely strict rules that generally prohibit criticism of the head of state, defamation of religion, or undermining public order (Rugh, W. ). Of course the successful launch and huge

demand for Al Jazeera resulted in a change in demand of programming and the way things were portrayed, however in a huge market that is overly saturated with tons of channels, the satellite market is very hard to break into, which is one of the many reasons why Alhurra TV hasnt enjoyed the same widespread popularity and success like that of Al Jazeera. In commentary given to the United States, William Rugh made it very clear that the Arab people regard Alhurra TV with suspicion as it is generally assumed to be a U.S. government broadcaster. In reality, it is U.S. government funded; however a private company holds Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV. Regardless, this does not change the larger problems that cause the distrust of the Arab people. It was noted that the channel seems very Americanized, that it tends to focus on subjects from an American point of view and that there isnt enough care taken in the use of words in the broadcasts. Rugh also noted that al Hurra is not effective as a newsgathering agency in the Middle East ( Rugh, W. ). A combination of reports that arent as good as Al Arabiyas and Al Jazeeras, along with the short focus on actual issues and events in the Middle East has lead to the idea that if one really wants to know that is going on, they must look past Alhurra TV and look at a more reliable venue. The public opinion seems to be stuck on the idea that Alhurra TV has failed to cover more humanitarian rights and more U.S domestic issues as well. It is almost as if Alhurra was just launched, a kind of jack of all trades network that doesnt necessarily specialize in one thing, nor satisfy the audience enough to

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy draw viewers from the other highly competitive satellite channels. Radio Sawa has run into problems as well. The biggest flaws of Radio Sawa are the target audience, association with the U.S. government, and at the time of Rughs report on April 29, 2004, audibility. Radio Sawa targets a young adult audience with the Western and Arabic music popular among that age group. The group reports liking the mix of music and news, however Rugh found that Arab adults much [preferred] BBC Arabic Radio, because BBC carries much more interesting and useful news about the region and the world, and they regard BBBC as relatively objective ( Rugh, W.). This is hugely important to the success of Radio Sawa, or at least the idea of a radio station being used to help the public diplomacy of the US. Unfortunately not everyone is always going to be pleased, so it is important to pick one group and go with one thing, and its very clear that Radio

Sawa targets those more interested in music and a younger target age. However, the huge population of people who dont fit into this category should have been considered as well. More research should be done, particularly regarding when the older populations would be tuning into Radio Sawa, and more news should be broadcasted during those times, in order to get more listeners. Obviously, another idea is to create another radio station that is more news central, however it is very costly. Why not just conduct more research and appropriately adjust the broadcasts and when broadcasts are made, in order to maximize their target audience? How is a radio station supposed to be successful, especially in establishing a more positive image of the US, if a large sect of the population is neglected? Rughs other documented problems with Radio Sawa are the recognition

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy with the US government, and the audibility. As of his report, the reception of Radio Sawa was limited, particularly in important countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. So not only is part of the audience cut out, but the station isnt accessible.

Lastly, Radio Sawa, much like Alhurra TV, is viewed as a faction and broadcast of the U.S. government. Listeners automatically assumed and picked up on an Americanized way of broadcasting, which is obviously a problem as it ether A) keeps people from listening, or B) causes the automatic assumption that it is some sort of government faction, and/or propaganda mouthpiece. However, what was particularly interesting about Radio Sawa is that it has been said that Radio Sawa has set minor goals and achieved major successes, according to Bert Kleinman ( Schneider, C. P. ). Of course goal setting is necessary and not that out of the norm, but it is the particular goals that were set in place for Radio Sawa that were interesting. The station reaches people on their own terms- in their cars, in the home- but it does not and cannot compensate for policy. At best, it can remind its listeners of what they like about America. ( Schneider, C. P. ). Finding this statement was entirely interesting, however not shocking. Of course a radio and a television station isnt going to change how people feel! It wont make people accept the foreign policy of another country, and to assume so is silly. Its entirely unfortunate that these assumptions have fallen into place, both about Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa, however, they really are very poor U.S. positivity campaigns. Yes, something does need to be done, from both the Middle East and the United States, in order to promote better relations and help end the negativity and stereotypes. Yes, Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV are valiant attempts to put the first

Radio and Television as means of Public Diplomacy foot forward and try to begin the process of establishing better relationships. However, both stations have many flaws, and its clear that more research and development needs to be put in place. The idea that a war is being fought when it comes to the image of the United States needs to be done away with, first and foremost. All these stigmatas about each sides media needs to be squashed and anything that is said against either side needs to be monitored. If everyone keeps running around saying that side is Anti-American or the Americans hate Arabs

and this is why or whatever may be spread, we will never move past that. Constant retaliation isnt effective for either side, particularly the United States side when the mission is to establish a better image and relationship with the Middle East. Even if someone feels that a particular Arab channel is Anti-American or whatever it may be, to spout off and try to combat it very publicly will never help resolve this issue. It is up to producers and editors and promoters to start keeping those opinions to themselves, and quit saying that Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV are the tools necessary to combat those ideas. Following those ideas is the concept of further research. How can you effectively gain viewers or listeners and expect to keep them, if you dont figure out what it is they want to hear or view? To make blind assumptions and applying an American perspective to things isnt the proper way to broadcast to anyone, much less the vastly diverse Middle East. Yes, government restrictions make conducting research difficult, and they make accessing the people difficult. However, something has got to change, more effort needs to be made if either of these channels is to succeed. A lot of money is sunk into these channels each year, and for the numbers

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of viewers and listeners to dwindle, and the respect and trust for both networks to decline is an entirely unfortunate and unnecessary side effect of the lack of research. More work needs to be done on the actual content of the broadcasts, the way they are presented and commented on. The American views and vocabulary needs to be dropped and more of what the people want and expect, that being more reliable news, more humanitarian news, and more domestic US news, needs to be presented. You have to give the people what they want! While the idea of a radio station and a satellite channel do not immediately come to mind as active and appropriate venues for a public diplomacy campaign, respect does have to be given to those who took it upon themselves to initiate and create these ideas. As previously mentioned, a hip radio station and a satellite channel that plays cooking shows and news broadcasts, isnt going to help a mass of people accept another countrys foreign policy. It may change their attitude towards the country or their citizens somewhat, but it isnt going to quell the overall anger and disgust that people possess due to violence, war, and disagreements. One has to take into consideration that these people are intelligent, they think and understand what is going on, which is why they automatically assume these two broadcast stations are propaganda filled government programs. To assume that these people are not intelligent enough to pick that out is a huge mistake, and only proves as a cause for more distrust and dwindling viewers and listeners A fine line appears between a genuine interest in achieving and promoting better relations between ones nation and a whole slew of nations, and a propaganda train. The United States has to be very, very careful that the propaganda

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line is steered far, far away from, if there is any hope in continuing the use of these mediums to continue the campaign. More research has to be done, and it has to be done quickly and effectively. The results must be put into place, and if it turns out that these expensive broadcast stations arent doing the job, then its time to adjust, or bite the bullet and pull the plug. Ones image is entirely important, yes, but one cannot improve ones image by blindly throwing what they presume to be a bandaid at a situation, without getting real experience and feedback. Perhaps Radio Sawa will continue to grow in popularity, and hopefully Alhurra TV as well. Until then, Congress should be brainstorming new public diplomacy and public relations campaigns, because the route we are taking right now just isnt effective enough.