But, Snyder points out, "That law was designed in and for another era, when memories were still fresh of Hitler's propaganda pounded into audiences in Nazi Germany."
As a consequence, he adds, "Even informed Americans are kept in the dark about how our tax dollars are used to promote U.S. interests through international broadcasting."
The result, Snyder says, is that "America may soon see the English-language service of the controversial Arabic channel al-Jazeera, but not Alhurra.
We asked Snyder how today's public diplomacy broadcasts compare with those of the Cold War era.
"Our efforts then were most effective when broadcasts informed listeners about themselves. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty provided information about what was going on in the rest the world that impacted on targeted audiences. They also told listeners about what was happening in their own closed societies, that they didn't know. The Voice of America provided straightforward news and information from a trusted friend," he said.
He noted that "a lot of audience research was done by the U.S. Information Agency Foreign Service professionals on the ground abroad who knew their target audiences a whole lot better than we did. Ideas for program content flowed from them to us, and we received a lot more than we could handle. This could done just as effectively in today's world."
President Bush nominated Karen Hughes to be Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and she is expected to be confirmed by the Senate next week. Her deputy, already confirmed, is Dina Habib Powell, former White House personnel chief, who is now an Assistant Secretary of State with principal responsibility for educational and cultural exchange programs.
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