Category Archives: Political Communication
Obama Has Rebranded USA
Public diplomacy is alive and well — Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and other musicians and artists have been gussying up the brand image of the US abroad for decades. But according to a marketing study of Brand USA’s perception abroad, … Continue reading
Filed under Public Diplomacy
President of the World: Eyes on Obama’s Prize
Yes, I know. The Nobel Prize committee got it wrong. A couple of days ago, the Nobel Prize committee once again snubbed Philip Roth, an American author whose body of work is prize-worthy. I was honored to be a student … Continue reading
Politics, Policy & Principles
You’re a member of congress. There’s a contentious public issue facing you, the congress and the nation. You know where you stand and what you stand for. But you’re torn. On the one hand, there’s policy at stake. A bill … Continue reading
Filed under Ethics, Political Communication, Politics, Public Relations
Heckles and F-bombs
A public radio piece suggested that America is defining civility down. After Congressman Joe Wilson (“You lie!”) and Serena Williams (F#$%!!!) lost their respective tempers in a single week, their outbursts have set the agenda for another visit to civility … Continue reading
Filed under Political Communication, Politics, Public Relations
What Obama Should Say Over the Beers
SCENE: THREE MEN SEATED AT A PICNIC TABLE IN A REASONABLY PRIVATE SPOT ON THE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS. PRESIDENT OBAMA, PROFESSOR GATES AND SERGEANT CROWLEY. OBAMA: I know. I know. This is the biggest fishbowl in the nation. I’m almost … Continue reading
No Business Like Zoo Business
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 — Facing a brutal budget cut from cash-strapped Massachusetts, ZOO New England — Franklin Park Zoo and the smaller Stone Zoo — swung from its PR heels and hit what appears to be a PR home … Continue reading
What’s Behind Public Diplomacy’s Uncritical Dismissal of Public Relations?
It’s hard to think of a more despised social institution than public relations. So it’s not at all surprising to see the explicit rejection of public relations by some prominent public diplomats. Joseph Duffey, the director of the USIA (United … Continue reading
Filed under Political Communication, Public Relations, Uncategorized
Why Newspaper Deaths Should Scare Talk Radio
Tuesday, March 17, 2009. St Patrick’s Day. The Irish are drinking their beer and the newspaper folk are crying in it. It’s grievous to read the news today, oh boy, that the Seattle P.I. published its final issue this morning. … Continue reading
Filed under Media, Political Communication
B+ for Obama, A for Lincoln
In the Saturday, January 9, Weekend Wall Street Journal, novelist Jonathan Raban rates the writerly gifts of US presidents. And while Obama gets high marks for the literary excellence of Dream of My Father, Raban says Obama’s no Lincoln. The … Continue reading
Filed under Literary Criticism, On Writing, Poetry, Political Communication, Politics
