Capital Briefing: The Digital Revolution and Public Diplomacy
Watch the Briefing
9:00 Welcome: BBG Governor Susan McCue
9:10- 10:10 DISCUSSION
Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting in The New Media Era
The role New Media is playing in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere is up for debate. What’s certain, however, is that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media tools have changed the way people communicate. Today’s global media environment is a revolution in progress. How is the U.S. taking advantage of the potential unleashed by the digital revolution and what else must it do? Join a discussion with experts and practitioners led by Walter Isaacson, BBG Chairman and former president of CNN.
Moderator: BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson
Participants:
—Golnaz Esfandiari, Editor, RFE Persian Letters blog
—Rebecca MacKinnon, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
—Rebecca McMenamin. New Media Director, International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)
—Mohamed Al-Yahyai, Host, “Eye on Democracy”, Alhurra Television
Presentation of VOA-Citizen Global Project
10:10 Introduction: BBG Governor Michael Meehan
10:15 – 10:35 BRIEFING
Censorship, Signal Blocking, and Cyberjamming — Can the US Keep Up?
Behind the scenes, there is an information war being waged between closed and free societies. Autocrats are jamming the airwaves and blocking the Internet to prevent their people from accessing outside information. A senior U.S. official charged with overcoming these obstacles explains what the U.S. is doing about it.
–Ken Berman, Director, International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) Anti-Censorship Program
BREAK
10:45 Introduction: Libby Liu, President, Radio Free Asia
Comments by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1)
10:55 – 11:55 DISCUSSION
North Korea, Iran and Cuba: Bringing Accurate Information to Closed Societies
What do citizens inside Iran, North Korea, and Cuba know about their governments and the outside world? This group of experts and international broadcasters (including Kambiz Hosseini, Jon Stewart’s recent guest on “The Daily Show”) discuss what the U.S. is doing today to get accurate news and information inside these “information bubbles.”
Moderator: Jeffrey Gedmin, President, RFE
Participants:
—Christopher Walker, Director of Studies, Freedom House
—Carlos A. García-Pérez, Director, Office of Cuba Broadcasting
—Kambiz Hosseini, Host, “Parazit”, VOA Persian News Network
—Andrei Lankov, Professor, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
11:55 Conclusion: BBG Governor Dennis Mulhaupt